Nankai University Moves PhD Defenses to Factory Floor in Engineering Reform

In a groundbreaking shift for Chinese higher education, Nankai University has moved doctoral thesis defenses from campus lecture halls to the factory floor — allowing engineering PhD candidates to graduate based on practical achievements rather than traditional academic dissertations. Three engineering doctoral candidates from the university’s Excellent Engineers College became the first cohort to earn their degrees this way on June 17, 2026, with two of their defenses held at a state-owned defense enterprise more than 1,500 kilometers from campus.

A Defense Like No Other

For PhD candidates Shao Song and Zhang Yong, the path to graduation looked nothing like a conventional doctoral journey. Their defense took place at Chongqing Chang’an Wangjiang Industrial Group, a major state-owned defense enterprise in southwestern China — over 1,500 kilometers from Nankai’s Tianjin campus. The session lasted more than four hours and included static displays, dynamic demonstrations, and oral presentations. Five expert panelists unanimously approved both candidates, recommending they be awarded doctoral degrees in Electronic Information.

A third candidate, Guo Xinyu, also defended using practical achievements but remained on the university campus. All three were approved by Nankai’s Degree Evaluation Committee on June 17.

From “What Did You Write?” to “What Problem Did You Solve?”

The reform represents a fundamental reorientation of doctoral evaluation. According to China Youth Daily, the defense committee shifted its focus from “what did the thesis say?” to “how well was the engineering problem solved?” Students submitted not only engineering practice reports but also functional prototype vehicles that translated their research into tangible hardware.

“Many truly valuable scientific questions come precisely from the real-world needs of the industry frontline,” said Cheng Mingming, Executive Dean of the Excellent Engineers College and campus advisor to Shao and Zhang, as reported by Xinhua News Agency. “Moving the defense site to the industry frontline essentially aims to place greater emphasis on engineering practice capability and industrial contribution.”

One anonymous defense committee member noted: “Many problems can only be discovered when you’re truly on the industry frontline, in real application scenarios. Unlike pure academic thinking, both doctoral candidates’ projects have a distinct engineering orientation.”

Real Problems, Real Solutions

The technical work behind the degrees addressed genuine defense industry challenges. Shao focused on ground unmanned vehicle field perception and decision-making, proposing a low-cost, high-stability solution for complex environments. Zhang tackled ground unmanned swarm coordination, significantly improving recognition efficiency and targeting precision. Guo designed a domestically produced unified computing architecture for unmanned vehicle platforms.

Their work is part of a broader national push. The reform is supported by the 2025 PRC Degree Law, which for the first time legally recognized practical achievements as equivalent to dissertations for degree conferral. Nankai subsequently formulated implementing regulations to operationalize the change.

Building an Ecosystem for Engineering Excellence

Nankai’s Excellent Engineers College has constructed an extensive infrastructure to support this new model. The college has established a dynamic project bank of 142 research topics across new materials, biotechnology, next-generation IT, and advanced manufacturing. It has partnered with 16 enterprises, issued over 40 technical requirements, and built a dual-mentor system with 89 university faculty and 110 industry mentors. Seven training bases have been established at partner enterprises.

“Cultivating excellent engineers ultimately aims to serve national strategic needs; the key lies in ‘real problems, real solutions,’” said He Wenxia, Party Secretary of the Excellent Engineers College, as reported by China Daily.

A National Blueprint?

This reform addresses a long-standing criticism of Chinese engineering education: that PhD graduates are strong in theory but weak in practical problem-solving. By legally enshrining practical achievements as degree-qualifying and physically relocating defenses to industry sites, Nankai has created a model that could be replicated across China’s higher education system.

Nankai Vice President Zhu Shoufei framed the ambition clearly: “We must explore a new path for cultivating excellent engineers that is rooted in Chinese soil, serves national strategic needs, and leads industrial transformation.”

What to Watch

As China pushes for technological self-reliance under its “new quality productive forces” strategy, the Nankai model raises important questions. Can this approach scale across all engineering disciplines and universities? How will quality assurance work when evaluating diverse practical achievements? And critically, do enough enterprises have the resources to host doctoral defenses?

For now, Nankai has demonstrated that the factory floor can be as valid a venue for doctoral defense as the lecture hall — and that solving real problems may be the most rigorous test of all.