"You are not just students, but also creators of this university's form." This message greeted Jiangxi student Xiao Xiong when he received his acceptance letter from Fukuyao University of Science and Technology on July 24th. Opening the package, he first saw the signature of President Wang Shuguo, knowing it was personally signed for each of the 50 students, all numbered 0001.
Fukuyao University of Science and Technology is among the newest approved research universities this year. The 75-year-old "Glass King" Cao Dewang announced a 10-billion-yuan donation to establish the institution, while 66-year-old Wang Shuguo immediately accepted the presidency after stepping down from Xi'an Jiaotong University. These septuagenarians decided to explore a new educational path different from traditional universities.
Between February and June this year, the Ministry of Education consecutively approved three new research universities: Fukuyao University of Science and Technology, Greater Bay Area University, and Ningbo University of Science and Technology. The approval documents define their unified positioning as "new research universities" with "high starting point, small and elite, research-oriented, international" characteristics, focusing on serving national strategic emerging industries and future industries.
Previously, Southern University of Science and Technology, Westlake University, and Shenzhen Institute of Technology had already embarked on this path, leading toward future knowledge systems and university-industry integration models.
**The Comparative Advantage of "Small and Elite"**
Xiao Xiong scored 628 points on the college entrance examination, sufficient for admission to Wuhan University. However, he chose Fukuyao University. His father initially opposed the decision, believing that despite backing from "celebrity president" Wang Shuguo, uncertainties remained regarding graduate school recommendations and employment prospects.
Few of Xiao Xiong's high school classmates actually chose Fukuyao University when filling out their applications, revealing the complexity of higher education reform. Reform inherently involves "crossing the river by feeling the stones," but new research university reform requires "students and universities to experiment together."
The day after the admissions briefing, Xiao Xiong's high school principal called him to the office, persuading him that Fukuyao University "is an unmissable opportunity." The principal had invited Wang Shuguo to share Fukuyao's educational philosophy, becoming convinced by this reformer's vision.
"The principal told me that in a few years, Fukuyao's admission scores will definitely be higher, and entering early offers better value," Xiao Xiong recalled.
Students and parents willing to "take a gamble" have their own calculations. Multiple interviewed students and parents identified three key attractions of new research universities: freedom to choose majors, exceptionally high faculty-to-student ratios, and abundant laboratory and research resources. These collectively point to the most important comparative advantage: per-capita resources.
"National expectations for new research universities are clear – to shoulder reform missions, targeting problems that traditional universities have struggled to solve but are crucial for national economic and social development and educational strengthening," explained an unnamed new research university administrator.
The fundamental challenge in innovative talent cultivation is the contradiction between personalized educational needs and limited resources. Since the 1999 higher education expansion, Chinese universities have grown increasingly large. The higher a school's ranking and reputation, the heavier its enrollment burden, often reaching several thousand students per cohort. Many "Double First-Class" universities have student-to-faculty ratios exceeding 20:1.
Yet each student possesses different potential and characteristics, requiring varied educational approaches. Education's role is maximizing each child's strengths. The key to innovative talent cultivation is respecting individualized growth patterns – something traditional universities understand but cannot implement due to various constraints.
**"Bottom-up" Reform**
New research universities follow two fundamental principles in designing talent cultivation: providing sufficient choice in majors, courses, mentors, and research practice; and ensuring adequate resources.
Among all choices students must make, major selection is undoubtedly most important. Westlake University allows students multiple major changes, believing that only when students find their passion can they develop long-term self-motivation – essential for true innovation.
Westlake University's first undergraduate cohort of 60 students found that approximately two-thirds knew their major preference by freshman year, while the remainder took a year and a half of "exploration" before deciding.
Most new research universities require major declaration starting sophomore year, with some advancing this to the second semester of freshman year. To ensure rational choices, these universities design various systems ensuring students gain substantive understanding of different fields.
One approach involves research practice. Shenzhen Institute of Technology uses a "4+1" model where students attend classes four days weekly and must rotate through different discipline laboratories on Fridays.
Another involves diversified general education curricula. Each college at Shenzhen Institute of Technology offers general introductory courses, with freshmen selecting three from six options.
Greater Bay Area University requires all students to take computer science introduction for a full year, developing computational thinking including logical, algorithmic, network, and systems thinking.
The mentorship system also plays crucial roles, with new research universities typically assigning multiple mentors at different undergraduate stages, including career advisors, academic mentors, and industry mentors.
**Challenges and Future Prospects**
From 2010 when Southern University of Science and Technology began planning, Chinese new research universities have entered their second decade. The first decade saw only three institutions established, while 13 months from May 2024 to June 2025 added five more.
This reflects urgent national and social needs as the country rapidly responds to new technological revolutions and higher education innovation challenges, while existing research universities struggle with flexible, rapid responses to multidimensional challenges.
However, observers note concerning trends contradicting "new" characteristics. Some new research universities are "actively integrating into existing evaluation systems" or being "passively swept along" to secure government resources.
Reform advocates express similar concerns. The core challenge facing new research universities is the contradiction between advanced reform needs and China's existing higher education system.
"The biggest challenge is at the entry point – we lack autonomous student selection authority," noted one official. Not every student suits personalized cultivation models; new research universities seek genuinely innovation-minded students, who cannot be selected solely by examination scores.
For sustainable development, both private and public new research universities must establish self-sustaining capabilities and diversified social fundraising mechanisms.
Experts suggest that future national policies should provide greater reform space for new research universities in graduate program applications, major establishment, and admissions, while using evaluation systems different from traditional universities that focus on quality over scale, emphasizing faculty-to-student ratios, disciplinary characteristics, research impact, and social market evaluation.
New research universities represent an experimental path toward educational innovation, requiring continued support and refined evaluation frameworks to realize their transformative potential in Chinese higher education.