Recently, the Leading Group Office of the National Education Science announced the list of approved projects for the 2025 National Education Science Planning initiative. NERCEL secured approval for three projects, comprising one National Major Project, one Special General Project, and one Doctoral Student Project.

The project “Research on the Reconstruction of Smart Education Paradigms”, applied for by Professor Sannvya Liu as the Chief Expert, has been approved as a Major Project. This marks the Center’s first Major Project in Education under the National Social Science Fund of China, which also represents another significant breakthrough in its research endeavors following the approval of a Major Program of National Natural Science Foundation of China in 2022. Addressing major national strategic needs and centered on the core theme of reconstructing smart education paradigms, this project delves into the logic and pathways of paradigm reconstruction from both macro and micro perspectives, across theoretical, methodological, and practical dimensions. The project aims to contribute to the construction of an autonomous knowledge system for smart education with Chinese characteristics and to the advancement of China as a leading educational nation. This project is a joint application by Central China Normal University (CCNU) and the China National Institute of Education Sciences (NIES), with Sub-project research tasks undertaken by Professor Jianwen Sun from NERCEL.

Another remarkable project titled “Research on Learning-Outcome-Oriented Quality Assurance and Diploma/Certificate Recognition Mechanisms in Online Education”, submitted by Teacher Jian Xu, has successfully received funding as a Special General Project.

Moreover, the Center secured one approval among the first batch of newly established Doctoral Student Projects - with only 11 approved nationwide in 2025. Specifically, the project “Construction and Application of an Adaptive Teacher Instructional Competency Development Model Driven by Multimodal Classroom Behavior Analysis”, applied for by doctoral student Yawen Shi (Supervisor: Professor Zengzhao Chen), has been successfully approved.

This concentrated success in project approvals represents a significant achievement resulting from the Center’s long-standing commitment to closely aligning with major national strategic needs. Leveraging the university’s disciplinary strengths, it strengthens organized research team development and prioritizes the cultivation of top-tier innovative talent. It also injects new momentum into the Center’s pursuit of high-level scientific innovation and high-quality talent development.

For details of the approval notice, please visit:  

https://onsgep.moe.edu.cn/post/view/1803

Reviewers: Na LI, Xiaoxiao ZHU