Preface
Founded in 2018 in Hangzhou, Westlake University is the first university in mainland China to rely on social forces, and it has naturally become a new type of research university supported by the state.
Although it is not like 985 and 211 and other universities that focus on scientific research, the school has received attention from all parties since its establishment, and has also received donations from the local government and social units, with an overall fund of 20 billion!
At the beginning of its establishment, President Shi Yigong said at the annual meeting that it would surpass Tsinghua University and Peking University in five years, and in 15 years, it would be comparable to the California Institute of Technology! So what kind of school is Westlake University, and why does President Shi Yigong dare to make bold statements?
Smelly of money?
Many people go to Westlake University and have an experience, this university is good in terms of faculty and equipment, which makes people jealous, why do you say that?
Because Westlake University has always invested heavily in scientific research, almost all of the students recruited are doctoral and graduate students.
In the words of the teachers of Westlake University, the four-year tuition fee paid by students is simply not enough for the school's expenses, and the overall income is beyond the means.
Moreover, several majors at Westlake University are very money-burning majors.
For example, physics, chemistry, and biological science majors, so it is not wrong to say that Westlake University is full of money.
Since its establishment, Westlake University has attracted attention from all walks of life, and at the same time, it has also received a large amount of donations.
In 2019, Niu Liu, the CEO of Youde Holding Group, donated 100 million yuan to Westlake University.
The rest are the well-known Wanda boss Wang Jianlin, Tencent's penguin father Ma Huateng, Mixue Bingcheng also donated 15 million yuan, Deng Feng, Wu Yajun and Zhang Lei, etc.
Among them, there is also a local tycoon in Zhejiang, 60-year-old Wang Jinhua, chairman of Jinshi Group, who donated 200 million yuan alone!
It can be said that as soon as the school was built, nothing else should be done, and the donation can write history......
Catch up with Qingbei?
The first thing to state is that President Shi Yigong's original words back then were to strive to compare Tsinghua University and Peking University.
Because some media have taken words out of context and have been attacked and slandered by all sides, can the current Westlake University be comparable to Westlake University?
Not to mention anything else, Westlake University has still made a lot of scientific research achievements in the past five years.
For example, in the "2023 Academic Ranking of World Universities", it entered the world's top 600 for the first time;
In the ICLR 2024, its latest achievements are included;
The biology major is also among the top in China, and the seven major fields of biology are taught by thirteen chair teachers.
Because Westlake University is a pure science professional school with no liberal arts, the entire faculty is working hard in the direction of scientific research.
In the past five years, he has made many original breakthroughs in the world, and even in the biomedical circle in Shanghai, he is very famous.
At present, Tsinghua University and Peking University are still first-class universities in China.
Compared with these two universities, Westlake University is first of all much later in its completion.
Tsinghua University and Peking University have a history of 100 years, while Westlake University has only been around for more than five years.
The first two schools have cultivated countless talents, with more than 18 billion yuan in revenue every year from alumni donations alone.
This is a virtuous circle, and the number of alumni is counted in the millions, which also lays the foundation for the cultural heritage of Tsinghua University and Peking University.
In terms of scientific research, Tsinghua University has won 46 National Science and Technology Awards (General Projects) the most in the country, and is the champion of the 2023 National Science and Technology Awards of Chinese Universities by the Alumni Association.
The achievements of Peking University's famous "two bombs and one satellite" physics have laid a solid foundation for today's China, which can be described as the cradle of scientists.
Therefore, regardless of scientific research achievements or even its status in China, Westlake University, which has only been established for more than five years, still has a long way to go.
In those 15 years, surpassing California Polytechnic University, surpassing Rockefeller, Princeton and other universities, this is also the goal and desire of President Shi Yigong, so can it be realized?
Can Westlake University catch up with the top Western universities?
In order to understand the problem of proof, we need to understand what is the level of famous foreign universities such as Caltech and Rockefeller?
First of all, Caltech is well-known in the world, ranking 15th in the QS World Ranking 2024.
On the mainland, Peking University and Tsinghua University are ranked 17th and 25th, respectively, while Princeton and Rockefeller Universities are ranked 18th and 103rd.
Then just from the rankings, California Polytechnic University and Princeton University are on a par with the two mainland universities.
These three foreign universities have a history of 100 years, among which Princeton University is also one of the 14 founding universities in the United States and one of the members of the famous Ivy League.
In terms of the cultural heritage of the university, Westlake University is far behind, so in terms of scientific research, can Westlake University be on the list in the future?
If you look at the QS world rankings, most institutions are determined to train researchers.
In particular, Cal Poly is generally considered to be superior to Tsinghua University in terms of global academic rankings, scientific research strength, and leading position in its professional field.
Therefore, Westlake University still has a lot of shortcomings, and it is much worse than the University of California, but can it squeeze into the world's top 100 universities in the future?
Based on the current ranking of Westlake University in the world's more than 600, there is still a big gap in the strength of the above three universities in 15 years.
The level of scientific research, the degree of internationalization and world influence, Westlake University needs to put in more effort and time......
It is not easy for Westlake University to have today's achievements in only five years after its establishment, although it is still inferior to some old universities in China, I believe that the future of Westlake University is bound to be better!
epilogue
In fact, no matter which university it is, it is to cultivate talents for the country, so it is also very beneficial to academic research in the healthy competition in China.
And our country will become more and more prosperous, and at the same time, we also hope that more talents can do their part for the motherland.
Just like Qian Xuesen and other scientists of the older generation, they can resolutely return to China to help the scientific research of the motherland, and this spirit is worth learning from our younger generations!
Information source: "How is the development of the high-profile Westlake University?Shi Yigong said ......" - The Paper 2023-11-19