Significant achievements have been made in commercializing scientific and technological (S&T) achievements in Chinese universities. However, on the incentive mechanism, it needs to be seriously summarized in the experience and practices of reform and innovation, so as to further improve relevant policies, and accelerate the reform of three systems, such as individual column management of the transformation of service S&T advances, the evaluation of technology transfer talents and professional titles, and the investment of residual funds from horizontal scientific research projects for the transformation of S&T advances. The incentive mechanism reform of S&T advances transformation should be further people-oriented, such as asset management should pay more attention to the special characteristics of intangible assets by S&T advances, evaluation reform should further strengthen categorized assessment, horizontal research funding reform should further expand the autonomy of S&T personnel, and comprehensive reform of universities should further unclog blockages of incentive mechanism, so as to effectively solve the problems of some universities and their accomplisher of S&T advances being afraid to transfer, unwilling to transfer, and lacking funds to transfer.

By analyzing relevant documents from 36 initial pilot universities, this paper summarizes the current state of transition operations from two perspectives: “how to transit” and “where to transit”. The findings indicate that pilot universities have developed unique transition methods that align with policy requirements and their own contexts. However, there is a need to guard against oversimplifying the transition. Although diverse transition pathways are offered within policy constraints, there is still a need to enhance the guidance of students’ development choices. While the importance of effective linkage between academic stages is recognized, a complete plan for subsequent training is yet to be established. Universities should integrate selection and cultivation in the transition process, deepen the exploration of multi-path, highly adaptive transition practices based on disciplinary characteristics and talent cultivation principles, strengthen coordination among relevant entities, ensuring good quality in every step.

High school academic Olympiads have played a significant role in selecting and cultivating top innovative talents. Based on a three-year longitudinal dataset from a university participating in China’s Pilot Reform Program of Enrollment for Fundamental Disciplines (PRPEFD), this study used a mixed-method approach combining quantitative and qualitative research to compared the college development of Olympiad-trained and non-Olympiad students across three dimensions: academic performance, research engagement, and competency development. The study reveals that: Olympiad students significantly outperformed their non-Olympiad peers in academic performance and research participation in their freshman and sophomore years, though this advantage diminished gradually. Olympiad students also rated themselves higher in learning ability, communication skills, and self - efficacy, with the gap widening as grades progressed. Among students admitted through the PRPEFD, those with and without Olympiad experience showed no significant difference in academic performance but had a notable disparity in research participation. Building on empirical support for Olympiad-based admission policies and exceptional enrollment mechanisms under the PRPEFD, this article proposes refining discipline-specific selection criteria across institutional tiers, complemented by compensatory mechanisms for students from under-resourced regions, to establish a merit-based selection ecosystem that balances scientific rigor and inclusiveness.

Promoting the deepening application of artificial intelligence in university teaching is a crucial issue facing the digital transformation of higher education in China today, and it urgently needs to be explored in depth. Based on this, the study adopts a perspective shifting from “AI exclusion” to “AI empowerment”. By clarifying the concepts of “AI exclusion” and “AI empowerment”, it reveals that “AI exclusion” specifically manifests as ideological exclusion, institutional exclusion, organizational exclusion, and knowledge exclusion. These forms of exclusion follow diverse generative logics rooted in cognitive ideologies, policy systems, organizational structures, and knowledge transmission. In response to the real dilemma of “AI exclusion”, these orientations promote paradigmatic innovation across four dimensions: ideology, institutions, organizations, and knowledge. To eliminate “exclusion” and achieve “empowerment”, this study proposes a four-in-one integrated action pathway: “innovative theory + institutional establishment + organizational regeneration + contextual transformation”, aiming to deepen the application of artificial intelligence in university.

The ongoing statistical analysis and tracking of academic hotspots in higher education research papers over the past 20 years provide crucial support and reference for accelerating the high-quality development of higher education. A study on 23 of the most influential education journals reveals an imbalance in the output of higher education research papers among different types of institutions. Public undergraduate universities dominate as the main contributors, with a significant proportion of publications coming from “Double First-Class”construction universities. High-contribution institutions account for a large share, while other types of institutions show low participation. Meanwhile, diverse institutions such as education administrative departments, educational research institutions, and overseas institutions are actively engaged in higher education research, demonstrating strong openness and integration.Based on keyword frequency analysis and expert opinions, the top ten academic hotspots in higher education research for this year have been identified. An analysis and assessment of their research progress, key viewpoints, and trends have been conducted.

In the process of transformation of China’s science and technology from “following” to “leading”, the impact of laboratory research direction on the training of doctoral students needs urgent attention. Based on the mixed case study, it is found that when the laboratories conduct pioneering research, doctoral students can develop cutting-edge-oriented creativity, but the risk of failure of pioneering research is extremely high, and once failed, doctoral students can’t be able to obtain academic performance; when the laboratories conduct exploratory research, doctoral students can also develop innovative capability, but it is difficult to ensure academic performance; when the laboratories conduct routine research, it is difficult for doctoral students to fully develop innovative capability, but they can achieve high academic performance. Under the excessive performance-oriented talent evaluation and selection system, doctoral students who don’t fully develop innovative capability are more likely to be selected. Accordingly, the excessive performance-oriented selection criteria should be eliminated, the innovative value should be taken as the basic guide in selecting and evaluating reserve talents, and the project funding should be appropriately leaned towards doctoral students engaging in pioneering and exploratory research.

The categorical development of professional master’s programs and academic master’s programs often encounters practical dilemmas, exemplifying a classic phenomenon of?academic drift. While existing explanations for academic drift—such as theories of?institutional change,?organizational resources, and?status competition—offer foundational insights, this study supplements them through analytical inference of a case study. We propose that the?border paradox—the inherent tension between academic aspiration and institutional boundaries, manifested as the interplay of “boundary-crossing” and “boundary-maintaining”—serves as an intrinsic driver of academic drift. Specifically, professional master’s programs must balance professionalism and academic research. However, the academic aspiration inherently seeks to transcend disciplinary boundaries, potentially leading to academic drift at the student level. To address this, it is imperative to distinguish the distinct academic orientations of professional and academic master’s programs, ensuring their effective categorical development. Simultaneously, moderate permeability between these boundaries should be acknowledged to foster interdisciplinary synergy.

To uncover the multifaceted reasons behind the delayed graduation of doctoral students and its complex implications, an analysis of survey data from 2024 national academic degree doctoral graduates was conducted. The findings reveal: Firstly, there are significant differences in the reasons for delayed graduation among doctoral students of different background, the rigid requirement of paper publication generally aggravates the delay risk of all kinds of doctoral students. Secondly, many of those who delay graduation for meeting the needs of supervisor’s research project are passive delays; although their research output surpasses that of on-time graduates, they show notable disadvantages in the development of academic ability and academic interests. Thirdly, those who delay graduation to pursue higher-quality research or for overseas exchange are mostly active delays, achieving quality of academic training beyond that of on-time graduates. Based on these findings, it is recommended to reduce the paper publication requirements for doctoral students and strengthen the quality assurance mechanisms for dissertation research in doctoral education, incorporate delayed graduation of doctoral student into supervisor evaluation standard properly and improve their quality of supervision, implement a flexible educational system and provide long-term research support for top-notch innovative doctoral students.

The Scholarship of Teaching and Learning (SoTL) among college instructors is vital for advancing teaching and learning reforms and enhancing the quality of talent cultivation. However, in practice, many instructors’ intentions for SoTL often fail to translate into actions, resulting in an “strong intention-weak behavior divergence”. This study, based on interviews with 21 college instructors, explores the formation, divergence, and evolution of their intentions and behaviors in SoTL. The findings indicate that instructors’ intentions for SoTL are driven by a combination of perception of SoTL, value assessment, and perceived behavioral control. However, SoTL behaviors are not solely a product of intentions, as stronger barriers than motivators, inadequate SoTL planning, and unfavorable contextual cues contribute to the intention-behavior divergence. Instructors’ intentions and behaviors in SoTL evolve dynamically in response to changes in contextual cues. Institutions can optimize contextual cues that are directive, exemplary, resource-driven, and individualized, to help instructors translate their SoTL intentions into actionable plans for meaningful engagement.

Based on a survey of university teachers from undergraduate universities across the nation, this study adopts latent profile analysis to investigate the typological characteristics, work performance, and intervention strategies related to job burnout among university teachers in China. The results reveal four latent types of job burnout: low burnout (62.1%), relatively high burnout (27.1%), low sense of achievement (5.8%), and exhaustion(5.0%). Among these, teachers with low burnout demonstrate the best work performance, followed by those with a low sense of achievement, while those categorized as exhausted and relatively high burnout exhibit poorer performance. Organizational emotional support, organizational instrumental support, research pressure, teaching pressure, and the pressure of balancing teaching and research significantly predict different types of teacher burnout. Universities should provide tailored organizational support for teachers of various burnout types, reform teacher evaluation systems to enhance the sense of achievement in teaching, and improve the classification management system to alleviate the pressure of balancing teaching and research.

Promoting the deep participation of enterprises in vocational education, especially large enterprises holding vocational education, is the key to solving the problems of industry education integration and school enterprise cooperation in vocational education in China in the new era. Holding vocational education by large enterprises is a practical need to deepen the integration of industry and education, an important link to promote the cultivation of technical and skilled talents, and an important field to enhance the practical abilities of teachers and students. At present, there are still practical problems in the vocational education held by large enterprises in China, such as unclear policy guidance, wavering school positioning, and unclear teacher roles, which affect the enthusiasm of large enterprises in China to hold vocational education. Therefore, it is necessary to break through the limitations of identity and hierarchy, and leverage the inherent advantages of enterprise education; improve cost-sharing and resource conversion mechanisms to enhance the enthusiasm of enterprises; innovate multi-party coordination and information communication mechanisms to build a good external ecosystem.

In-depth integration of industry, education, and scientific research is a subject significant to higher vocational education. The multi-cross collaboration model of college-enterprise community, with “multi-cross” and “collaboration” as its keywords and guidelines, can help propel the all-out integration and collaboration among industry, education, and scientific research for high-quality development. The generation of this model has profound historical and practical logic. The model, based on the theory of synergetics, is a complex and open system composed of multi-cross subjects as its subsystems, multi-cross platforms as its key order parameters, multi-cross collaborative mechanisms as its self-organizing principles, and multi-cross functions as its collaborative effects. There are fundamentally three pathways for model implementation. First, a collaborative governance mechanism for multi-cross subjects, like the co-governance among organizations, interests, and behaviors. Second, a collaborative governance mechanism for multi-cross platforms, such as the co-building in open, coupled and chained formats. Third, a collaborative governance mechanism for multi-cross functions, covering top-level strategy-making integration, project-driven integration, and circular interactive integration. This model provides a new possibility for in-depth integration of industry, education, and scientific research.