Recently, the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council issued the Notice on the List of Degree Authorization Points to Be Revoked and Newly Established by Self-Review Degree-Granting Institutions in 2024 (Degree [2025] No.10) and the Notice on the List of Specially Arranged Degree Authorization Points for 2025 (Degree [2025] No.15). According to the notices, Tsinghua University has been approved to establish six new doctoral degree authorization points: the Doctor of Accounting professional degree, the Doctor of Design professional degree, the first-level discipline in Area Studies, the interdisciplinary program in Aerospace Power and Gas Turbine Engineering, the interdisciplinary program in Transportation and Urbanization, and the interdisciplinary program in Low-Altitude Technology and Engineering.
On October 15, the University Degree Evaluation Committee reviewed and approved the commissioning plans for the subcommittees responsible for degree evaluation of these six programs, clarifying their host departments and corresponding degree evaluation subcommittees.
The Doctor of Accounting program aims to cultivate strategic professionals with firm political commitment, strong professional competence, and a global perspective. Graduates are expected to be proficient in accounting standards, financial governance, and digital transformation, and capable of leading innovation in national fiscal and financial policies as well as contributing to the formulation of international accounting standards. Guided by national needs, industry frontiers, and academic innovation, the program seeks to build a talent cultivation hub that combines international vision with Chinese characteristics, providing strong intellectual support for the modernization of China’s financial governance system and capacity, while contributing a globally influential “China solution” to international accounting governance.
The Doctor of Design professional degree program is established in response to the growing demand for high-level design professionals in China’s stage of high-quality development. At this new historical juncture, the establishment of this program at Tsinghua University reflects both a proactive response to national and societal needs and an urgent requirement for advancing the development of the design discipline itself. Centered on cultural confidence and cultural strength, the program highlights the academic speciality of integrating art and science and aims to cultivate high-level design professionals with deep cultural grounding, international vision, and excellence in artistic and design practice.
Area Studies is an interdisciplinary field that focuses on different countries and regions while integrating knowledge from economics, law, literature, history, and other disciplines. It plays an important role in understanding global transformations, promoting cross-cultural exchange, and supporting national strategic development. In the situation that China moving closer to the global stage center and facing profound changes in the external environment, Tsinghua University’s establishment of a doctoral program in the first-level discipline of Area Studies is intended to address major strategic needs while contributing to the development of China’s system of philosophy and social sciences. It will provide theoretical support and cultivate talent for China’s participation in global governance and international cooperation.
The interdisciplinary program in Aerospace Power and Gas Turbine Engineering addresses national strategic demands related to wide-speed-range, large-airspace, and long-endurance aerospace propulsion systems, as well as hydrogen-fueled low-carbon gas turbines with ultra-high performance parameters and the digitalization and intelligentization of integrated power systems. By concentrating advantageous resources, the program focuses on key common challenges and core technologies in three areas—extreme parameters, green development, and intelligent systems. It aims to strengthen the basic research system, enhance original innovation capabilities, overcome critical “bottleneck” technologies, support the fully independent development of China’s aerospace propulsion and gas turbine industries, and establish a talent cultivation system for this field with Chinese characteristics.
The interdisciplinary program in Transportation and Urbanization is established in response to the urgent demand for high-level talent arising from China’s strategies of building a strong transportation nation and advancing new-type urbanization. The program aims to cultivate innovative, interdisciplinary professionals in the fields of transportation and urbanization, with the primary task of developing new theoretical and methodological frameworks for these areas. It seeks to train high-level, interdisciplinary talents capable of collaborative innovation and systematic solutions to complex problems. Based on faculty from the Department of Civil Engineering and the Department of Construction Management, and integrating strengths from multiple departments across the university, the program develops research directions in four areas: infrastructure, information, governance, and integration.
The interdisciplinary program in Low-Altitude Technology and Engineering is designed to address strategic demands in the emerging low-altitude economy. It aims to cultivate interdisciplinary talents in intelligent equipment manufacturing, flight support systems, and safety infrastructure, while tackling key technological and engineering challenges in low-altitude flight and transportation systems. The program supports China’s goal of becoming a leading aviation power and promotes the development of the low-altitude economy. Focusing on core industry needs, the program builds an interdisciplinary framework by integrating resources across departments and bringing together top research capabilities. It will gradually improve a talent cultivation system that integrates education with both scientific research and industry, encouraging master’s and doctoral graduates to contribute to the development of China’s low-altitude economy.
The establishment of these six new degree programs reflects Tsinghua University’s ongoing efforts to optimize its disciplinary structure and align academic development with technological progress and national strategic priorities. Since 2020, the University has prioritized the development of emerging disciplines, interdisciplinary fields, and professional degree programs. These initiatives have further strengthened the structure of graduate education system and promoted the balanced development of academic and professional degree programs.
Looking ahead, Tsinghua University will continue to optimize the layout and strengthen the development of degree programs, further refine disciplinary speciality, enhance the quality of talent cultivation, and accelerate efforts to independently nurture top innovative talents.
Source: Tsinghua News Center, October 22
