Source: Office of Development Planning and Discipline Construction
Written by: Office of Development Planning and Discipline Construction
Translated by: Tan Shan
Edited by: Wang Dongmei

According to the latest statistics of the Essential Science Indicators (ESI) database, from January 2003 to February 2013, the total number of citations of papers in 15 disciplines of Sun Yat-sen University entered global top 1%. Following Peking University, Sun Yat-sen University ranked 2nd in universities in China, tied with Fudan University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Zhejiang University. The 15 disciplines include Chemistry, Clinical Medicine, Physics, Biology and Biochemistry, Materials Science, Molecular Biology & Genetics, Engineering, Plant and Animal Science, Environment/Ecology, Pharmacology & Toxicology, Neuroscience & Behavior, Mathematics, Microbiology, Agricultural Sciences, and Social Sciences, General. At present, Sun Yat-sen University has 15 disciplines ranked top 1% around the globe, covering over two thirds of the total 22 subject areas in the ESI database.

In recent years, the University has maintained a constant growth of total high-level papers and striven to improve the quality of papers. The publication of top notch papers in research fronts and highly cited papers reflects the original innovation ability and core competitiveness of disciplines, and enhances the international influence of the University. This statistic analysis shows that the coverage of preponderant disciplines of the University broadens, the quality of papers maintains a momentum of steady improvement and the international academic influence of preponderant disciplines keeps rising. According to statistics, the per-article citations of SYSU papers are 8.29, an increase of 7.8% over the same period of 2012, ranking 5th among domestic universities.

The ESI database is a basic analytical tool developed by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) in 2001 to measure science performance and follow science trends. It has become one of the important indicators in today’s world to evaluate the international academic level and influence of universities, academic institutions, countries and regions. Chinese education circles are paying greater attention to the statistic results of the ESI database. In 2010, the then Deputy Minister of Education Chen Xi pointed out at the "985 Project” Phase II national inspection and acceptance meeting that ESI was a significant index to evaluate discipline construction. In 2012, the Implementation Scheme of Higher Education Innovation Ability Promotion Plan (“2011 Plan”) issued by the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Finance explicitly required that for the leading universities and major participating universities, the main disciplines on which the collaborative innovation center geared toward the frontiers of science relies, should in principle enter the ESI top 1%. It can be said that the country has defined the disciplines in the ESI top 1% as the ones with advantages and characteristics internationally.

Currently, SYSU is forging ahead to build a world-class university. Measured by this goal, entering the ESI global top 1% is merely a new starting point in the construction and development of predominant disciplines. On this basis, the University will continue to encourage high-level research in international research fronts and the publication of top notch papers in international prestigious journals, strive for the goal of becoming world-class, improve the quality of predominant disciplines, promote further development of the disciplines which have entered the global top 1%, enhance the original innovation ability and international influence of the University, and achieve the overall improvement in education quality.