On November 19, 2024, the launch meeting for the Ministry of Education’s Statistics “Project 101” under the Fundamental Disciplines Initiative, guided by the Department of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education, hosted by Tsinghua University, and organized by the Department of Statistics and Data Science, was held at the Reception Hall of the Main Building. Hou Yongfeng, First-Level Research Fellow of the Department of Higher Education of the Ministry of Education, and Yang Bin, Vice President of Tsinghua University, attended the meeting.
Group Photo
Representatives from the 16 participating universities in the Statistics “Project 101”—including Tsinghua University (the lead institution), Peking University, Renmin University of China, East China Normal University, Xiamen University, Beijing Normal University, Nankai University, Northeast Normal University, Fudan University, Shanghai University of Finance and Economics, University of Science and Technology of China, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Southwestern University of Finance and Economics, Yunnan University, Jiangxi University of Finance and Economics, and Southern University of Science and Technology—attended the meeting, together with more than 70 renowned statisticians from China and abroad.
Remarks by Hou Yongfeng
Hou Yongfeng noted that statistics is an important component of China’s fundamental disciplines and, as one of the key disciplines driving the development of the digital economy and artificial intelligence, is playing an increasingly important role across a wide range of fields. He called on the statistics community nationwide to build consensus and work in concert, with a focus on cultivating top innovative talent in statistics and advancing the exploratory implementation of the Statistics “Project 101”. He emphasized the importance of clearly defining and strengthening four foundational elements: first-class core courses, first-class core textbooks, first-class core teaching teams, and first-class core practice projects. He also stressed the need to deepen reform in undergraduate education in statistics on all fronts so as to better serve major national strategic needs.
Remarks by Yang Bin
Yang Bin stated that, as the lead institution for the Statistics “Project 101”, Tsinghua University is keenly aware of its significant responsibility and honored by its mission. He noted that in July 2024, Tsinghua established the Department of Statistics and Data Science to strengthen the development of fundamental disciplines in statistics and data science, promote interdisciplinary integration, and actively serve the development of the national data technology industry and the Digital China initiative. He affirmed that the University will fully support the implementation of the Statistics “Project 101”, continue to increase investment in undergraduate education in statistics, and provide strong coordination and institutional support.
John Hopcroft, Visiting Chair Professor at Peking University and Foreign Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, underscored the importance of the Statistics “Project 101”. He suggested that textbook development should differentiate levels of difficulty according to target learners and teaching objectives, thereby improving the relevance and effectiveness of instruction.
Chen Songxi, lead expert for the Statistics“Project 101”,Chair Professor at Tsinghua University, and Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, introduced the implementation framework of the project. He noted that, through collaborative teamwork, the initiative will be effectively advanced, strengthening talent cultivation in the fundamental discipline of statistics and fostering more internationally competitive, high-level innovative talents in statistics and data science for China’s modernization.
Remarks by Yang Huabing
Yang Huabing, Deputy Editor-in-Chief of Higher Education Press, introduced the progress of support for the development of the core textbooks for the Statistics“Project 101”. He stated that the Press has long-standing experience in textbook development, faculty training, and the international dissemination of educational materials, and expressed the hope that it would leverage its platform advantages to help ensure the smooth implementation of the initiative.
At the launch meeting, an expert panel for the Statistics “Project 101” was formally established. Yang Bin presented the letter of appointment to Chen Songxi as the lead expert of the project, and Chen Songxi, in turn, presented letters of appointment to 16 experts.
Lead Authors of the Textbook Development Projects Introduce Their Plans
The Statistics “Project 101” proposes the development of 13 core courses in statistics. The leaders of the textbook development projects for these core courses introduced their plans, and experts and scholars engaged in in-depth discussions on the guiding principles, objectives, and expected outcomes of textbook preparation.
The “Project 101” under the Fundamental Disciplines Initiative is a foundational project for cultivating top innovative talent in China. Its key tasks are to develop a group of first-class core courses that are advanced, innovative, and challenging; a group of first-class core textbooks that reflect the international academic frontier while embodying Chinese characteristics; a first-class teaching team led by distinguished educators; and a group of first-class practice projects integrating science-education and industry-education collaboration. By making targeted improvements in such foundational elements as courses, textbooks, teachers, and practice projects, the initiative seeks to address major issues in talent cultivation and drive breakthroughs in higher education reform. The Ministry of Education first launched the pilot undergraduate teaching reform project known as the “Project 101” in the field of computer science in December 2021, and then expanded the fundamental-disciplines series in April 2023 to include mathematics, physics, chemistry, biological sciences, basic medicine, traditional Chinese medicine, economics, and philosophy. The convening of this launch meeting marks the formal inclusion of statistics as a new member of the Fundamental Disciplines “Project 101” series.
