Chinese university eager for recognition (2)

English>>Education

Editor's Pick

Chinese university eager for recognition (2)

By Yan Weijue (Chinadaily.com.cn) 08:13, August 05, 2013

Email|Print|Comments

twitter

facebook

Sina Microblog

Yu Hongzhi, a professor from Northwest University for Nationalities, elaborates on her project on building an information system for minority groups. (chinadaily.com.cn)

Cultural preservation

Since 1954, NWUN has been collecting and translating Gesar epic songs that were originally created by Tibetan nomads to pay tribute to King Gesar in the 12th century.

Gesar epic songs are reputed as the longest (over 1.5 million lines) and only active epic composed of a very large body of versions, each with many variants. It was listed as an Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization in 2009.

Over the past century, the university has achieved academic success in Gesar research. It has compiled six volumes, including 8.5 million words, and published a series of works on Gesar research.

"Besides academic studies of Gesar epic songs, we also attach great importance to talent training. NWUN began taking in master's degree candidates in Gesarology in 1995 and PhD candidates in 2004," said Ning Mei, dean of the Gesarology Research Institute.

Scientific achievement

Beyond liberal arts, NWUN is acting as an alpha dog in many scientific areas, highlighted by bioengineering, engineering research of animal cells, and biopharmaceutical technology.

In the past three years, laboratory staffers have published more than 40 papers, five of which were included by Science Citation Index, according to Bo Jialin, deputy director of the Research Center for Animal Cells.

The university commercializes scientific research achievements such as animal serums and starch-vinyl acetate emulsion off-heat energy composite blocks, producing great social and economic results, he said.

Meanwhile, the laboratory has established cooperation with a slew of agencies including Utah State University; University of California, San Francisco; China National Biotechnology Group; National Institutes for Food and Drug Control; and China Animal Husbandry Group, said Bo.

Looking back at his 10-year tenure at NWUN, Zhao De'an said he now loves the university with all his heart, and he feels its establishment was a "great decision" by authorities from the central government.

Now he hopes it can find more support in finance and policy, as rough times still linger, especially when it comes to recruitment of elite teachers and students, scientific research funding, facilities construction and brand promotion.

"I've been to 16 or 17 countries and more than 20 universities abroad, but I haven't found any that have similar functions as NWUN, a high-level education institution for nationalities. NWUN can't stop growing, which is good for the cultivation of talent. It is of great significance," he said.