USST Rises to Shanghai’s Top 5 in National Disciplinary Competition Evaluation

From February 19 to 22, 2019, the China Association of Higher Education officially released the evaluation results for innovative talent training and disciplinary competitions at Chinese universities. In the top 100 of the evaluation results of undergraduate competitions in 2018, University of Shanghai for Science and Technology (USST) was shortlisted for 38 awards, with a total score of 73.24. USST climbed 20 places to 66^th in the country and ranked 5^th in Shanghai, second only to Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Fudan University, Tongji University and East China Normal University. In the top 300 of the 5-year ranking from 2014 to 2018, USST ranked 78^th among universities across the country (up from 85^th last year), ranking just under Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Fudan University, Tongji University and Shanghai University, of universities in Shanghai.

Disciplinary competition is an important part of scientific research and education in colleges and universities. It serves as a kind of teaching based on the initiative of college students and features collective research activities. It is not only an effective way to promote college students’ innovation, creativity and team work, but is also an important stage for demonstrating the innovation and achievements of college students. The evaluation of disciplinary competitions stands as a comprehensive appraisal of the overall contributions made in various competitions, taking into consideration four dimensions, namely, the competition level, the competition form, the competition history and the amount of awards. It is mainly based on university student competition grants issued by the Ministry of Education in 2007, 2008 and 2010, and includes such competitions as “Internet +”,  “Innovation and Entrepreneurship Competition for National College Students”, “Challenge Cup”, “ACM-ICPC Programming Competition for International College Students”, and “Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program Annual Conference for National College Students”.

USST has always attached great importance to the innovation and entrepreneurship of college students. The school insists on promoting learning, teaching, and reform through competition, giving full play to the important role of competition in the cultivation of innovative and entrepreneurial talents. In 2018, up to 10,000 students in our school participated in various competitions and won nearly 800 awards, including 63 first prizes at the national level and above. Excellent achievements were made in “Internet +”, “Youth and Entrepreneurship Competition”, “Innovation and Entrepreneurship Training Program Annual Conference”, “Mechanical Innovative Design Competition for National College Students”, and “RoboMaster”.

The improvement of the evaluation results of USST fully reflects the effectiveness of the school’s efforts to create an upgraded version of innovation and entrepreneurship education. The school, in the spirit of building a high-level university, will establish a series of platforms for innovation and entrepreneurship training as well as for disciplinary competition, which will further strengthen students’ innovation training, providing a better environment for students’ innovation, entrepreneurship and creation, and we shall strive to cultivate more outstanding innovative talents.