1. President Xi Jinping praises Wuhan University’s Research
On July 21st and 22nd, during his visit to Hubei, President Xi Jinping came to inspect two of WHU’s research developments, both of which he commended. At a silicon exposition center, Chinese Academy of Engineering member Liu Jingnan introduced WHU’s independently developed Beidou satellite system to President Xi, who later pointed out that a country’s success lies in science, innovation, technology and talent. At the WHU’s State Key Lab of Hybrid Rice E-Zhou experimental base, President Xi examined and praised the Honglian hybrid rice cultivated by Chinese Academy of Engineering member Zhu Yingguo’s team.
2. Wuhan University Holds Eighth Party Congress Successfully
From December 19th to 21th, the Wuhan University Chinese Communist Eighth Party Congress was successfully held. The congress passed the WHU seventh council’s and the seventh discipline inspection council’s work reports and selected the eighth WHU council and eighth WHU discipline inspection council. The congress further developed its “three step strategy” and called on all university communist party members, faculties and students to work hard to achieve the “Wuda Dream” and “Chinese Dream”. Han Jing was selected as the WHU council chair.
3. Wuhan University Celebrates its 120th Anniversary
On November 29th, Wuhan University celebrated its 120th anniversary. Notable guests from around the world including Nobel Prize winners Jean Marie Gustave Le Clézio and Christopher A. Pissarides, gathered for the event. There were a series of activities for the celebration, in which students, teachers and society participated. Central and local media gave detailed coverage to WHU’s history and scholastic success.
4. 11 Disciplines Reach Top 1% in the World while Chemistry Reaches Top 100
WHU’s academic disciplines received their highest ratings in 2013. Among the 22 disciplines published denoted as ‘Essential Science Indicators’, 11 of WHU’s disciplines were considered in the top 1% of the world and Chemistry ranked 97 in the world. Chemistry is WHU’s first discipline ranked so high.
5. Wuhan University Advances in National Discipline Assessment
On January 29th, Ministry of Education published its National Third Discipline Assessment. WHU had 23 disciplines ranked in the top 10, 14 disciplines ranked in the top 5 and 9 disciplines ranked in the top 3. 4 disciplines were considered best in China: Surveying and mapping, Library information and archives management, Marxist theory and geophysics.
6. Wuhan University Receives Second Most Awards in Humanities and Social Sciences
43 scholastic works from WHU obtained the ‘sixth higher education outstanding achievements in scientific research (humanities and social sciences) prize’, ranking second of all Chinese universities. In total, WHU received 3 first prizes, 15 second prizes and 25 third prizes.
7. Wuhan University’s ‘National High Quality Classes’ Rank Number One
61 classes from WHU made the Ministry of Education’s three lists of National High Quality Classes. The selected classes use high-tech IT equipment and are available to the public on the internet.
8. French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault Visits Wuhan University
On December 7th, French Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault came to lecture at Wuhan University’s old library. His wife Brigitte Ayrault, a former French Prime Minister and various other French government officials attended his lecture. He also visited the WHU affiliated Zhongnan Hospital’s emergency center. He applauded Wuhan University’s contribution to Sino-France cooperation in culture, education and science.
9. Five Medical Students Save a Stranger’s Life
On the evening of June 4th, five medical students Jiang Shan, Zhang Min, Le Linli, Guo Wei and Ma Xiaofeng performed emergency medical care to a critically ill passenger on a bus. Their behavior helped save the passenger’s life and was commended by the media.
10. Wuhan University unveils “Zhou Enlai’s Former Residence and Historical and Cultural Education Base”
Zhou Enlai’s former residence at Wuhan University was reconstructed and reopened as a historical and cultural site on November 21th. Exhibitions inside the building show Zhou Enlai’s life in Luojia Shan and the building of “Shi Badong” in 1930s.
2013 Wuhan University Person of the Year
Tao Delin is a famous philosopher and a senior professor at WHU in humanities and social sciences. He has devoted his life to researching Marxist theory and has made great achievements. In 2013, he published an article “Practicing Marxism and Striving to Achievement Chinese Dream”, arousing strong opinions on the practice of Marxism in modern China. On November 21st, Guangming Daily published a long article about Tao Delin’s pursuit of truth and his devotion to Marxist theory research. He was selected as one of Guangming Daily’s model figures.
