Recently, Professor Li Erping, Dean of ZJUI, was awarded the “Outstanding Contribution Award for Introducing and Cultivating Faculty of Zhejiang University.” The core attribute for winning domestic and international academic influence is faculty research excellence, while the key for cultivating high-quality students is a first-class faculty team. Since joining Zhejiang University in 2009, Professor Li Erping has devoted his efforts to building an international first-class faculty team and training top scholars. “Innovation must be the priority for development, and talents must be the most important resource to support development.” These are the most frequently quoted words in his daily work. Guided by such beliefs, all ZJUI faculty and staff have acted energetically to attract world-class scholars and experts.
ZJUI actively seeks exceptional candidates at home and abroad. A group of high-level international scholars has been introduced through various channels, including networks of cooperative schools, international academic conferences, international journals, professional magazines, and direct visits to institutions. At present, the Institute has 25 full-time faculty members, more than half of whom hold non-Chinese passports. They include one academician and 22 faculty members who have graduated from top-tier universities, such as the University of Cambridge, Stanford University, Carnegie-Mellon University, and the University of Illinois.
ZJUI has formulated a promotion and tenure system that follows the highest international practices. Faculty recruitment, selection, management, and evaluation match procedures employed at world-class universities. Recruiting standards of both UIUC and Zhejiang University have applied to faculty searches since the establishment of the Institute. Since the opening of the Institute in 2016, ZJUI has established a high-quality, innovative faculty team on the international campus.
To promote cross-disciplinary integration, ZJUI faculty serve as faculty members in the relevant departments on the main ZJU campuses. Most ZUI faculty also hold adjunct appointments at UIUC. The Institute supports overseas training at UIUC for faculty members who are at an early point in their career. All faculty are supported to conduct in-person international collaboration.
The Story of Professor Li Erping’s Search for Excellent Faculty
After more than 20 years of overseas scientific research, Professor Li Erping, an industry expert and a leader in his areas of expertise, became a professor at Zhejiang University in 2009. He served as a member of the National Information Talent Evaluation Committee, and played an important role in introduction of talented scholars and in candidate selection at Zhejiang University.
He established the Research Center of Radio Frequency and Nanoelectronics at Zhejiang University with a mission to build an international first-class team and cultivating world-class expertise. In 2016, he became Dean of ZJUI and continues to cultivate outstanding international engineering scholars. He has attracted international electromagnetics experts as Chair professors and short-term professors. For many years, he has provided guidance to young candidates from overseas on project applications, and cultivated several “Top Young Talents”, “National Outstanding Youths”, and the recipients of the “National Outstanding Youth Science Fund”. The cultivation of young researchers and the building of academic teams are very important to him. Professor Li Erping’s research team has recruited many high-level scholars at home and abroad, including “Qiushi” distinguished professors and “Innovative Talents in the New Century of National Ministry of Education”.
