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Announcement on Applications for the 2024 National Outstanding Undergraduate Summer Camp of the School of Marxism, University of Chinese Academy of Social Sciences

Notices & Announcements

The School of Marxism at the University of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (UCASS) is a National Key School of Marxism and serves as a vital center for the cultivation of talent, pedagogical research, theoretical innovation, and the inheritance and development of Marxist theory in China. The School directly inherits the traditions of the Department of Marxism-Leninism of the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS), established in 2018, and the School of Marxism of UCASS, established in 2014. In September 2019, through the deep integration of the CASS Institute of Marxism Studies [1] and the UCASS School of Marxism, a new "integrated undergraduate-master-doctoral" academy for the integration of science and education was constructed. Researcher Xin Xiangyang, Director of the CASS Institute of Marxism Studies, serves as the Dean.

The School currently employs over 150 full-time faculty members, including more than 100 doctoral supervisors and over 40 master’s supervisors. The faculty includes one member of the State Council’s Marxism Theory Discipline Review Group, seven chief experts of the Central Marxism Theoretical Research and Construction Project [2], and over 30 high-level talents from programs such as the "Ten Thousand Talents Program" and the "Four Batches" [3] talent project. Additionally, 14 members serve as editors-in-chief or deputy editors-in-chief of authoritative domestic and international journals, more than 30 serve as presidents or vice-presidents of national first-level professional academic societies, and over 10 have delivered lectures for the collective study sessions of the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee [4].

In the past five years, the School has undertaken 32 national-level major projects, including Major Projects of the National Social Science Fund, 45 national-level projects such as General Projects of the National Social Science Fund, and over 120 provincial and ministerial-level projects. Faculty members have published over 500 representative articles in top-tier, authoritative, and key journals within the discipline. They have organized and produced over 120 landmark academic monographs, such as the "Identifying Concepts of the New Era and New Thought Book Series" [5]. The "Yellow Book of World Socialism" and other series of "Blue/Yellow/White Books" [6] have exerted significant influence. The School has received over 70 important awards, such as the Excellence Award for Scientific Research in Higher Education (Humanities and Social Sciences), and more than 20 research results have received written instructions from central leadership comrades [7]. The School currently manages nine publications and websites, including Marxist Studies, oversees four national academic societies such as the Chinese Association of Historical Materialism, and hosts over 20 important innovation platforms, including the CASS Research Center for Xi Jinping Thought on Socialism with Chinese Characteristics for a New Era.

Deepening the strategy of integrating science and education, the School has formed a domestic first-class "integrated undergraduate-master-doctoral" talent cultivation system, based on undergraduates and led by graduate students. The two undergraduate majors—Ideological and Political Education and Marxist Theory—attained full coverage under the Ministry of Education’s "Double Ten Thousand Plan" [8]. The School recruits master’s and doctoral students across all six sub-disciplines under the first-level discipline of Marxist Theory [9], and also trains post-doctoral researchers. Since 2014, the School has undertaken the heavy responsibility of the "Marxist Theory Backbone Talent Program" doctoral training project of the Central Publicity Department. Currently, the School has 679 registered students, including 172 undergraduates, 86 master’s students, 56 doctoral students, and 365 doctoral students under the Central Publicity Department's "Backbone" program.

To promote exchange among outstanding university students and enhance their understanding of the School of Marxism at UCASS, as well as to select outstanding undergraduates to pursue master’s degrees in related majors at our university, the School intends to hold an Excellent University Student Summer Camp in mid-to-late August 2024. We enthusiastically welcome applications from students!

I. Activity Time and Format Activity Time: Mid-to-late August Activity Format: Conducted online (specific methods will be notified separately)

II. Application Conditions Applicants must have a strong interest in fields such as the basic principles of Marxism, the history of Marxist development, ideological and political education, and Party building, and must intend to pursue an academic master’s degree in Scientific Socialism and the International Communist Movement, Basic Principles of Marxism, History of Marxist Development, Sinicization of Marxism Research, Ideological and Political Education, Party Building, or Chinese Studies. Applicants should possess strong independent research capabilities and comprehensive analytical and problem-solving skills, and meet the following conditions:

  1. Support the leadership of the Communist Party of China, support the socialist system, and be willing to serve socialist modernization; possess good moral character, be law-abiding, and be in good health.
  2. Applicants must be full-time third-year undergraduate students (graduating in 2025), and in principle should be students in majors related to Marxist theory or ideological and political education; outstanding students from other related disciplines are also welcome to apply across majors.
  3. The applicant's average grade point ranking for the first five semesters of undergraduate study should be within the top 20% of their major, with the prospect of obtaining a recommendation-based admission (baoyan) [10] qualification. The ranking requirement may be relaxed if any of the following conditions are met: ① Having conducted specific research in an area of their undergraduate major and published high-level academic papers or books related to the applied major; ② Having participated in social practice activities and written investigation reports of significant value; ③ Having won awards in national academic activities in their professional field; ④ Having studied at a well-known overseas university for one year or more.
  4. Good English proficiency. In principle, English proficiency must meet one of the following: ① CET-4 score of 550 or above, or CET-6 score of 425 or above; ② TOEFL score of 85 or above; ③ IELTS score of 6.0 or above.
  5. Applicants for minor languages such as Japanese, Russian, German, French, or Vietnamese must provide a certificate or transcript from a national-level language examination (held by China or the respective country) with a score equivalent to the CET-6 level in English.

III. Application Materials

  1. One copy of the Summer Camp Application Form (download and complete the attachment);
  2. One copy of the applicant’s ID card and Student ID;
  3. One copy of undergraduate transcripts (stamped by the Academic Affairs Department);
  4. One copy of a personal statement and research plan;
  5. One copy of other supporting materials (such as papers, awards or qualification certificates, CET-4/6 or other English exam transcripts, etc.);
  6. One copy of the Summer Camp Registration Statistics Form (download and complete the attachment).

IV. Application Procedure Applicants should arrange the application materials in order, merge them into a single PDF document (the Registration Statistics Form does not need to be merged), and send it to mxy-ucass@cass.org.cn. File naming convention: Summer Camp Application – Applicant Name – Applicant University. The deadline for receiving application materials is July 20, 2024, at 16:00.

V. Admission Procedure This summer camp plans to recruit approximately 60 participants. The School will organize experts to conduct preliminary qualification reviews and select participants based on merit. The results of the review will be notified to selected candidates via email, phone, or SMS; those not selected will not be notified separately.

VI. Contact Information Contact Person: Teacher Ren Email: mxy-ucass@cass.org.cn Phone: 010-81360424

We sincerely welcome outstanding university students from across the country to apply for our School's summer camp!

(Please download the Summer Camp Application Form and Registration Statistics Form from the attachments) Attachment 1. Summer Camp Application Form Attachment 2. Summer Camp Registration Statistics Form