Welcome to the Fourth NAU-Zhongshan International Forum for Young Scholars

The Zhongshan International Forum for Young Scholars sponsored by Nanjing Agricultural University (NAU) deals with the issue of building a top agricultural university in the world, focusing on the construction of “Double World-Class” disciplines, so as to provide a high-level platform of academic exchange for outstanding young scholars in China and in the world. The forum has been held three times at NAU with great success, making itself an important way of high-level talent introduction for the university. Given the special epidemic situation of COVID-19, the Fourth Zhongshan International Forum for Young Scholars, in 2021, will be held on- and off-line at the same time. We will invite, with greater sincerity, outstanding young scholars to get a feel for NAU and come to know us, to explore academic frontiers and probe into hot research topics in related disciplines, and to facilitate exchange and seek cooperation.

About NAU

Situated in the well-endowed, historic and cultural city of Nanjing in China, Nanjing Agricultural University is a national key institution of higher education under the direct administration of the Ministry of Education and is well-known for good establishment in disciplines in agriculture and life sciences and for balanced and comprehensive development in diverse branches of learning, including agronomy, sciences, economics, management, engineering, humanities and law. NAU is a university covered in the national “211” Program, has been selected as one of the Innovation Platforms for Outstanding Disciplines listed under the National “985” Excellence Initiative Project, and is now also in the list of the institutions of higher education for world-class disciplines construction under China’s Double First-Class University Project. Having Weigang Campus, Pukou Campus and Baima Teaching Base, the university consists of 20 colleges and departments, and offers doctoral programs in 17 first-level disciplines and 15 postdoctoral programs. In the fourth-round national first-level discipline evaluation by the Ministry of Education, the university had four disciplines listed in Class A+, ranking itself the 11th of the top universities in China. In the ESI rankings, it had nine disciplines ranked among the top 1% worldwide, and two of the disciplines, Agricultural Science and Plant & Animal Science, among the top 1‰. Currently, NAU is ranked the seventh of the best agricultural universities in the world in the US News.

The Disciplines Concerned at the Forum

The forum concerns the disciplines:

In the advanced interdisciplinary fields, the recently established (in 2020) Academy of Advanced Interdisciplinary Studies focuses on interdisciplinary construction in the fields of artificial intelligence and smart agriculture, traditional Chinese medicine and human health, green agriculture and rural construction, and food security and natural resources management, with research orientations including but not limited to Phenomics, Artificial Intelligence, Bioinformatics, Agricultural Informatics, Smart Agriculture, Biosensor Technology, Health and Nutrition, Synthetic Biology, Chemical Biology, Biophysics, Green Agriculture, Horticultural Healthcare, Traditional Chinese Medicine and Pharmacology, Rural Revitalization, Food Safety, Food Security, Natural Resources Management, Digital Humanities, and so on.

In the traditional fields of agricultural sciences, including Crop Science, Horticulture, Plant Protection, Agricultural Resources & Environment, Animal Husbandry, Veterinary Science, Fisheries Science, and Grass Science; of science and technology, including Biology, Ecology, Environmental Science & Engineering, Food Science & Engineering, Landscape Architecture, Agricultural Engineering, Statistics, and Computer Science & Technology; and of humanities and social sciences, including Management, Economics, Finance, Sociology, Legal Science, History, and Linguistics.

The Young Scholars to Be Expected at the Forum

The following young scholars are expected at the forum:

1. Young scholars working as assistant professor or in a higher professional position in famous overseas universities and famous overseas scientific research institutions;

2. Ph. D graduates, aged 35 or younger, from well-known Chinese or overseas universities; and

3. Postdoctoral researchers, aged 40 or younger, from renowned Chinese and overseas universities or scientific research institutes.

The Schedule for the Forum

The schedule and arrangements for the forum will be as follows:

1. Date: May 27 to 28, 2021.

2. Form: The Fourth Zhongshan International Forum for Young Scholars will be held on- and off-line at the same time, by means of ePlatforms, in the form of “main forum + sub-forums”. The sub-forums will be of two types: the college forums and the advanced interdisciplinary studies sub-forum.

2.1. The main forum will be hosted by the university and will be synchronously broadcasted at a video conference platform with the following sessions: presentation on NAU’s talent introduction policies, academic reports by invited experts, and interaction and exchange activities by the attendees on the forum.

2.2 The college sub-forums will be hosted by the related colleges and will have the sessions of introduction to the college, academic exchange, on- and off-line discussions concerning talents introduction, and so on.

2.3 The advanced interdisciplinary studies sub-forum will also be hosted by the university, at which young scholars doing advanced interdisciplinary research are particularly expected. The sub-forum will mainly consist of academic exchange concerning advanced interdisciplinary studies, and talks and discussions on talent introduction and research cooperation, etc.

2.4 Talent introduction talks and agreement signing will be held during the forum. Outstanding young scholars attending the forum and with interest in joining us may sign an intention agreement with NAU on talent introduction. NAU will provide the introduced high-level talents with competitive conditions of research and living. Those gaining the position of professorship at NAU will enjoy extra allowance for introduced high-level talents besides a professor’s salary. For exceptional talents, consultation will be conducted personally on treatments and conditions. NAU will offer personalized service and encourage introduced talents to apply for provincial and national talent programs; and, for those whose applications are approved of in a national program, NAU will offer a supporting fund of the same amount as that of the granted national fund. Young talents who do not fully meet the conditions for NAU’s high-level talents introduction may be recommended to apply for the position of a researcher of the Zhongshan Scholar Program of the university with a competitive salary and other favorable treatments.

Registration for the Forum

If you intend to attend the forum, please register before May 10, 2021 by filling in a registration form (see attached file No.1). Please use your cell phone to scan the two-dimensional code or QR code for registration (or recommendation), or please email your registration form directly to

[email protected]

with an email subject consisting of “your name + the college to contact + forum for young scholars”. We will send formal invitations, by email, before May 20, 2021, to those of you whose registrations have been accepted, and will inform you of your ways to attend the forum.

We welcome you to actively register for this forum and to give a close attention to the NAU websites of

http://www.

njau.

edu.

cn

and

http://zsforum.

njau.

edu.

cn

and the WeChat official account (NJAU-RCB) of the NAU Talents Office.

Contact: Ms. Liu Hongmei (NAU Talents Office)

Cell phone: +86-25-84399039; 18652999049

Email address:

[email protected]

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