New Institute for Tibetan StudiesChina Institute for Tibetan Studies, a new organization for promoting Tibetan studies, will be jointly run by Sichuan University and Tibet University, with approval from the Chinese Ministry of Education.The new institute, which will be based inside Sichuan University in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province, is one of the 100 key research bases of humanities and social sciences under the Ministry of Education. It will be officially inaugurated later this month. The Chinese Ministry of Education has decided to earmark 300,000 yuan for research allowance at the institute annually, while universities in Sichuan and Tibet will also spend more than 300,000 yuan to cover research each year, respectively. Professor Huo Wei with Sichuan University, also head of the new institute, said that his institute would carry out comprehensive research into the present situation and social development in Tibet and other areas inhabited by ethnic Tibetan people, their history and religion, archaeology and art in Tibet, while striving to combine a basic theory and application in Tibetan studies. Huo pledged his institute would be open to all Chinese specialists of Tibetan studies and would introduce a system of competition in research. Two foreign Tibetan studies experts will be invited to do academic exchanges each year, and the institute will also send its researchers to do advanced studies abroad. China now has 50 institutions specializing in Tibetan studies, most of which are located in Tibet, Beijing and Sichuan. According to Huo, the first group of 31 scholars, whose research topics have passed appraisal of the academic committee of the institute, will soon start work with the institute. |
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