National Key Disciplines

 ∷Constitutional and Administrative Law

ZhejiangUniversity is one of the first institutions of higher learning in China to offer the administrative law course (as early as the mid and late 1980s). The discipline of constitutional and administrative law was authorized to confer master’s degree in 1994, and Ph. D. degree in 2000. In 2007, it was approved to be a national key discipline.

Through two decades’ development, the faculty has accumulated distinct academic strengths, with 2 “National Top Ten Outstanding Young Jurists”, one member of “National Hundred, Thousand and Ten Thousand Talent Project”, 2 members of Trans-Century Training Programme Foundation for the Talents of the Ministry of Education. Most faculty members have the Ph. D. degree or studied abroad.

As to the academic research, “meso administrative law” has been widely recognized in the Chinese and overseas jurisprudence circles. The research results about conventional public law theories from perspectives of “law’s control over administration” and “procedural jurisprudence” provide strong academic support for the basic theories of the discipline. Constitutional law methodology created by “normative constitutional law” opens up a new area for research on constitutional law. In addition, the discipline leads China in its researches on the principles of administrative procedure law, liability of illegal administration and government regulation, the structuring of invalid administrative behavior. Over the past 2 decades, the faculty members have undertaken nearly 200 research projects, providing excellent theoretical support for national and local legislation.

The discipline stresses academic standardization and diversification in academic systems. The new generation of scholars educated at the discipline lectures public law at famous universities in China. The discipline founded “www.chinapublaw.com” in 2001, Public Law Research in 2002, and published “Public Law Era” series of books in 2004.

 

∷History of Education

The History of Education discipline of ZhejiangUniversity is among the first group authorized to confer master’s degree in China. It was approved to confer Ph. D. degree in 1986 and became a national key discipline in 2007.

The discipline was founded by Professor CHEN Xuexun, a celebrated expert of history of education. Through generations’ hard work, it has developed an academic team led by young and middle-aged scholars. At present, the discipline has 9 professors and 2 associate professors, with 7 faculty members holding Ph. D. degrees. Professor TIAN Zhengping is the current director.

For many years, the discipline has developed its strengths in History of Educational Modernization in China, History of Chinese-Western Educational Exchange, History of Higher Education in China and Foreign Modern History of Education, thus become a leading base for research on history of education and talent education recognized at home and abroad. Over the past 5 years, the discipline has undertaken 35 National Social Science Foundation projects and projects at the ministerial or provincial level, won 14 awards above the ministerial or provincial level, including 5 first prizes and 3 national book awards. It has produced nearly 100 master graduates, over 50 Ph. D. graduates (including one American graduate and one winner of National Top 100 Ph. D. Dissertations Award) and more than 20 post-doctoral fellows. It has established close partnerships with institutions of higher learning in UK, Japan, USA, South Korea, Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan, and successfully hosted a number of influential international conferences.

In 2006-2010, the discipline brings into full play its overall strengths, upholds the philosophy of innovation and strives to produce milestone research results. It establishes extensive and long-term international partnerships, aims to cultivate a group of world-known high-level experts and young backbone experts, thus maintaining its leading position in the world.

∷Management Science and Engineering

The Management Science and Engineering discipline enjoys a long history. In 1979, Institute of Science Management was founded at ZhejiangUniversity, the first of its kind in China, recruiting the first group of postgraduate students. In 1986, it was among the first group in China to offer Ph. D. programs of management science and engineering, set up the post-doctoral research stations in 1998, and was approved to be a key discipline in ZhejiangProvince in 1999, and also a key discipline of ZhejiangUniversity in the framework of “Project 211” and “Project 985”. In 2007, it was officially approved to be a national key discipline. Professor XU Qingrui, the first social science academician of ZhejiangUniversity, plays a leading role in the discipline. Its main research focuses include information technology and e-commerce, supply chain and logistics optimization and management, neuromanagement, project management and management of technological innovation.

The discipline features inter-disciplinary cooperation with enterprise management, economics, computer, machinery and civil engineering. It lays stress on international horizon in its academic research and has developed four international conferences over the past decade: International Symposium on Management of Technology (ISMOT), International Conference on Value Engineering and Technology Innovation (ICVETI), International Symposium on Global Manufacturing and China (GMC, in partnership with University of Cambridge), International Conference on Neuroeconomics and Neuromanagement.

Relying on the discipline, National Institute for Innovation Management has been approved to be a National Innovative Research Base of Philosophy and Social Sciences under “Project 985”. Meanwhile, the institute sponsors Journal of Industrial Engineering and Engineering Management, a leading academic journal on management science and engineering in China. It has also the first neuromanagement lab in China.