Applications for certain professional degree graduate students will no longer be “thesis only”. The Office of the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council recently issued the "Opinions on How to Apply for Degrees by Professional Degree Graduates Using Their Practical Achievements". Based on the earlier application of engineering master's and doctoral degrees by using their practical results, it will promote pilot projects in five professional degree categories: translation, agriculture, clinical medicine, accounting, and art.
Applying for a degree based on practical results is an urgent need for the current reform and development of postgraduate education. During this year’s graduation season, many colleges and universities have expanded the pilot program for applying for professional degrees based on practical results. Some master’s and doctoral students do not need to write traditional dissertations, but can successfully obtain degrees based on practical results. How will the orientation of talent training change if we break the "paper-only" criterion? How will the reform be implemented?
In April 2024, the "Degree Law of the People's Republic of China" was promulgated, which clarified from a legal perspective for the first time that graduate students can "apply for a degree through a thesis defense or a prescribed defense of practical results", which put forward new requirements for reforming the degree awarding mechanism and evaluation standards. The "Opinions" were released and piloted in five professional degree categories: translation, agriculture, clinical medicine, accounting, and art.
Li Liguo, a professor at the School of Education at Tsinghua University, said that the classification development of academic degrees and professional degrees in my country has entered a critical period, and it is necessary to promote the high-quality development of professional degree graduate education.
Li Liguo: The scale of professional degree postgraduate education in our country continues to expand. At the master's level, the proportion of professional degrees has exceeded 60%, so the classification development of academic degrees and professional degrees has entered a critical period. It is necessary to get rid of the past dominant form of thesis, and to reflect professionalism, practice, and innovation. Therefore, both from the legal and practical levels, there is an urgent need to achieve a breakthrough in professional degree applications for master's degrees.
Prior to the issuance of this "Opinion", in September 2024, the "Basic Requirements for Engineering Ph.D. Professional Degree Postgraduate Dissertations and Practical Results for Degree Applications (Trial)" was first released. Currently, more than 140 engineering master's and doctoral special pilot students have applied for degrees based on practical results. In October 2025, Nie Hailiang, a 2019 engineering doctoral student at Tsinghua University, became the first engineering doctoral candidate to apply for a degree based on practical results. Wu Huaqiang, Vice President of Tsinghua University, introduced:
Wu Huaqiang: The school actively promotes the implementation of the requirements for classified training and classified evaluation, including the establishment of engineering master's and doctoral thesis and practical achievement evaluation standards oriented by practical innovation ability, guiding students to carry out real research and solve real problems facing the urgent needs of national strategies and key industry pain points. His practical projects fully combined basic research, technology development and engineering applications, overcame the industrial problem of resource utilization of electric furnace dust removal, and provided effective solutions for the treatment of steel tailings in my country, the realization of efficient separation of heavy metals, and the resolution of potential environmental hazards.
The practical cases of the special pilot project for master's and doctoral degrees in engineering provide reform experience for pilot projects in other majors. If practical results are to replace dissertations, their innovation, practicality, and professionalism are indispensable. The "Opinions" emphasize the need to adhere to quality first and improve the standards, mechanisms and processes for applying for degrees based on practical results. Li Liguo believes that quality orientation should be integrated into all aspects and the entire process of reform.
Li Liguo: For example, for subjects such as art, imaging medicine, agriculture, and accounting, what conditions can the experimental results meet before you can apply for a degree? The Degree Steering Committee must issue a clear standard, and each school must also cooperate in issuing corresponding regulations. The second step is to improve the relevant processes, including topic selection, writing, appraisal of results, professional review, defense assessment and other aspects of the experimental results. We must insist on quality first and ensure quality control in all aspects.
In the process of the pilot reform of engineering master's and doctoral degrees, it is necessary to focus on the cultivation of engineering practical ability. There are essential differences between thesis and the traditional "document-oriented, book-oriented" thesis. The original teacher helped the students choose the topic, and the company changed the topic. In other words, the topic selection direction of the students' thesis was selected and cultivated by the company from front-line scientific research projects. Wang Mingfeng, Secretary of the Party Committee of the Graduate School of China Aviation Research Institute, introduced:
Wang Mingfeng: In the topic selection stage, accurate matching of projects, tutors and students is achieved. In the scientific research practice stage, on the one hand, enterprises must provide and guarantee resources throughout the entire process; on the other hand, corporate mentors must provide scientific research guidance throughout the process. In the stage of identification of practical results, enterprises must participate and play a core evaluation role. During the feedback stage, a continuous optimization mechanism for talent training should be established.
The reform is still in the trial and exploratory stage, and it is not appropriate to roll it out across the board in a “one size fits all” manner. The trial implementation of various professional degree categories must be promoted in batches. The "Opinions" benchmark the pilot reform of engineering master's and doctoral degrees, strengthen the in-depth participation of industry and industry, strengthen resource sharing, standard research and mechanism co-construction with industry and industry in terms of training program formulation, course teaching, practical training, degree awarding and achievement transformation, and promote the close connection between talent training, achievement output and industry demand.
Li Liguo: Practical results must be promoted and applied in practice. Therefore, tutors, schools, industries, enterprises, and relevant departments must work closely together to jointly support the innovation of this practical result, and also jointly control the quality of the practical results. I think if this aspect is done well, it will be a major innovation in graduate education.
Reporter丨Li Xin
