With 90 years of development, especially with the preferential policies of “Project 985” and “Project 211”, Ocean University of China (OUC) has made great breakthroughs in the development of disciplines and faculty teams. The school’s innovative capability and ability to serve community have strongly improved. Significant achievements have emerged, and with international technological cooperation and exchanges new ground has been broken.
OUC’s academic level and influence have improved greatly.
The university has placed great emphasis on disciplinary development, which has led to the establishment of a system with distinctive characteristics, and prominent strengths, as well as coordinated development. At present, OUC boasts two national disciplines, ten national sub-disciplines (including one key discipline), 13 disciplines leading to Doctoral degrees and 34 disciplines to Master’s degrees. OUC also has Master’s degree programs in 13 different majors and Doctoral programs in energy and environmental protection, making OUC one of the earliest institutions approved to confer specialized engineering PhD degrees in China (there are 25 institutions authorized nationwide). According to the statistics of the Essential Science Indicators of the US in July, 2013, OUC ranked in the top one percent in academic fields among global scientific and research institutions, placing 16th among the national key universities included in “Project 985”.
The development of high-level scientific research teams has yielded significant results.
OUC spares no efforts to implement the strategy of “Making OUC strong by Talented personnel,” centering on the development of a high-level faculty team which focuses on the recruitment and training of high-level talented personnel in a coordinated and comprehensive way. OUC makes the most of such national, provincial, and municipal programs as “National 1000 Plan”（Recruitment Program for Overseas Experts） and “Taishan Scholars Program for Overseas Experts of Shandong Province,” as well as its own projects to bring in competent personnel, such as “Zhufeng/Green card/Fanrong / Young Talented Professionals.” Hitherto, OUC has successfully brought in and trained for the university’s new and strategic disciplines a large number of academic forerunners,s who have innovative thinking and strategic vision, leading their research to international scientific frontiers, catching up with and surpassing international advanced levels.
The development of innovative teams is steadily increasing. In line with the organizational pattern of “Outstanding academic forerunners + internationally renowned scholars + strong academic teams,” excellent innovative teams have been established, involving academicians, principal investigators of “Program 973” (National Basic Research Program), guest professors of “Changjiang Scholars Program,” laureates of National Natural Science Funds for Distinguished Young Scholars, distinguished guest professors in the “Taishan Scholars Program for Overseas Experts” in such featured and strong disciplines as marine science and fishery science. Furthermore, nine innovative teams have been launched at the provincial level or above, including an innovative team funded by the Ministry of Science and Technology in key areas, innovative research group of National Natural Science Foundation of China, and an innovative team of “Chang Jiang Scholars and Innovation Team Development Plan” under the Ministry of Education, which greatly strengthened the core competitive edge of OUC.
Scientific research platforms keep improving, with enhancement of the capability for undertaking major scientific programs.
OUC, having focused on international development and major demands of national strategy, continues to further the development of innovative scientific system. Thanks to the experience of key projects as “Project 985” and “Project 211,” the university’s equipment for scientific research has seen significant improvement, with instruments, research methods, and capability enhanced. The layout of the scientific research base has become more efficient. A platform for scientific innovation and transformation that is reasonable in layout and complimentary in functions has taken form, composing of such important organizations as the National Research Center for Marine Pharmacy, 10 Provincial Level Key Laboratories, and four Project Research Centers under the Ministry of Education, facilitating major projects of OUC and functioning as a source for technological wisdom. In recent years, the university’s overall scientific research ability has seen significant improvement, with research funds steadily increasing on a yearly basis. In 2013, the effective research fund of OUC totaled 550 million yuan. As one of the major institutions for undertaking national key scientific programs, the university was responsible for 10 programs under the National Basic Research Program of China (or Project 937) and National Key Research Program of China, constantly setting record highs in the number of projects supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the amount of funds received. In 2013, the research funds the school received exceeded 100 million yuan for the first time, covering all the eight sectors of the foundation committee, facilitating improvement in its overall basic research capability, making it the cradle for training, and producing competent personnel for scientific and technological research. The implementation of such National High-tech Development Programs (or Program 863) as “Internal Wave Observation Technology and Testing Systems in Deep-water Areas of the South China Sea,”“Seed Project of Mariculture,” and “Research and Demonstration Program of Ocean Energy Integrated Power Supply System” have significantly promoted theories in marine science, fisheries, and ocean engineering technology to combine with real-life application. This enhances a balanced development between basic research and engineering technology, blazing new trails for OUC’s scientific and technological development. The university has also taken an active part in such projects as the Special Comprehensive Survey and Evaluation of China’s Offshore, Special Survey on Global Changes and Air-sea Interaction, Special Comprehensive Survey on Polar Environment and Resource Evaluation, and Special Survey on National Marine Environment and Resources by China Ocean Mineral Resources R & D Association, and China Geological Survey. Nearly 100 million yuan worth of special funds on average is received every year since the 12th “Five Year Plan,” making contributions to accessing the marine resources in China’s territorial waters and related sea areas, while at the same time, providing strong data support for the university to conduct marine related research.
Great achievements have been made in terms of major high-level research.
The research of energy transfer and mixing in the deep Southern Ocean has witnessed major breakthroughs. The findings were published in Nature Geoscience (2011, 6), a -world-renowned journal. Furthermore, part of the results have been published in intensive reports in the Journal of Geophysical Research-Oceans as “highlight findings.” Progress has also been made with regard to the global subtropical western boundary currents, which was published in Nature Climate Change (2012, 3).New proof has been found to support the theory that the Walker Circulation has been weakening in the past six decades. Breakthroughs have been made with respect to research in climate change; related results were published in Nature Family of Journals (2013, 11). Ground-breaking achievements have been reached in the sub-division of systematology, taxonomy, and cytology of the study of ciliates, bringing the study to a “record world level,” as acclaimed by many internationally reputed scientists. The research of the origin and evolution of vertebrate’s liver and adaptive immune system also yielded good results, which were recognized by internationally prestigious scientists as “new findings” and “new observations.” Since the 11th Five-Year Plan, OUC has been honored with nine national prizes for science and technology, and granted 15 international patents, as well as 640 national patents. In addition, OUC has put in place a protective network of technology and intellectual property rights in many key areas, and has striven for turning them into a productive force. At the same time, OUC boasts over 12,000 high-level academic papers in mainstream international magazines and journals (SCI, EI, ISTP), including the Nature family of journals. According to the rankings released by the Institute of Scientific & Technical Information under the Ministry of Science and Technology of the PRC on universities and institutions in terms of the number of academic papers published in SCI, OUC ranked 6th and 14th in China in the category of Geoscience and Agronomy, respectively.
The ability to promote economic and social development is strengthening.
While prompting the national marine economy, OUC keenly seizes the opportunities provided by the development of the Efficient Ecological Economic Zone in the Yellow River Delta and the Blue Economic Zone in the Shandong Peninsula, which have been upgraded to national strategies in order to facilitate national and regional development. OUC gives full play to the advantages of marine and fisheries science, especially in such areas as the transformation of fishery fine breeds, the integration of healthy cultivation technology, the highly-valued marine biological resources, and the forecasting of marine environments. This boosts the integration and transformation of technology, commercialization of products and the capability to better facilitate national marine management, thus providing technological support for the marine economy. The investment in such programs has exceeded 100 million yuan for three consecutive years. The breadth and width of university-industry-research cooperation have seen great improvement, which makes considerable contribution to ocean observation (monitoring) technology; the exploration of offshore oil, gas, and mineral resources; and the utilization of marine biological resources. In addition, in response to the new wave of aquaculture, OUC boasts extensive research, boosting the development of China’s marine resources, namely, the production & application techniques of Marine Derived Characteristic Oligosaccharides, the construction of a monoclonal antibody collection on White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV), the cultivation technology of chlamys farreri’s offspring seed, the efficient utilization of fishery protein, saccharides and lipid resources, the nutrition and feeding research of major marine farmed animals, the application of environmental-friendly marine antifouling paint, and the development of the key technologies in ocean engineering safety and disaster prevention. The university has established cooperative relationships with local governments and major enterprises, such as Zhoushan City, the China National Offshore Oil Corporation (CNOOC), and Zhangzi Island in Daian City to promote their development by providing them with advanced technologies.
International scientific and technological cooperation and exchanges have entered a new chapter with the school focusing on its key disciplines and featured areas.
OUC has carried out various international programs in a deeper and wider manner, thus creating a sound environment for international cooperation. Greater efforts have been made to bring in talented, high-level professionals from overseas and to mint an international talent team to promote OUC’s capability of independent innovation. Striving for excellence in science and technology, OUC and its partners have continued to deepen their cooperation and undertaken various joint international projects of science and technology. Adhering to the strategy that “Taking talented professionals as the core, and promoting programs which are reinforcing and complementary,” the university has witnessed big strides in international cooperation and exchange.
At present, OUC enjoys partnerships with more than 140 internationally prestigious universities and research institutes in over 20 countries and regions. Substantive cooperation has been conducted in terms of scientific research and high-level professional training. International programs have been launched, among which is the Center for Sino-Germany Cooperation in Marine Sciences, funded by the Ministry of Education of China and the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research. This Center was the university's first state-level base for international cooperation in science and technology. In this project, the university has been approved to set up innovative bases in four disciplines to bring in experts from outside, namely, Physical Oceanography, Aquaculture, Marine chemistry, and Ocean Engineering, as well as a provincial scientific cooperative base of Shandong Province. The aforementioned high-level programs constitute OUC’s international network of scientific cooperation and communication. In collaboration with international partners, the university has organized and hosted more than 130 international cooperative projects in science and technology.
The university has newly initiated the building of a Joint Research Centre for International Cooperation with the Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution, a top marine research institution in the world. It has also jointly established a Marine Strategic Alliance with the University of East Anglia which is an internationally renowned institution in environmental and marine research. The Sino-Australian Joint Research Centre for Ocean Engineering was also established with Curtin University in Australia which is one of the top-notch research institutions for deep sea technology in the south hemisphere. In addition, OUC is also involved in the joint building of the Joint Research Center for Ocean Energy with the University of Liverpool, University of Southampton, and the National Oceanography Center in the U.K.
