Editor’s Notes:

With the history going forward, IMU has experienced its good days in the past. In 1957, IMU was established in the northern border area of China with the country’s new development, which started the new chapter for the education of higher learning in the border area mainly inhabited by minority ethnic groups in China.

For 63 years, IMU has followed its original aspiration and mission to “cultivate talents for the CPC and the country”, taken the responsibility to “base itself in the northern border area of China and boost education and Inner Mongolia”, clung to the “Two-Task” principle proposed by Ulanhu, IMU’s first president and found out a path for the construction of a high-level university in the border area mainly inhabited by minority ethnic groups in China.

During the 13th-Five-Year-Plan period, IMU has started its construction of a “Double-First-Class” university, become the institution of higher learning jointly built by the Ministry of Education and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and had a great-leap-forward development. The university has oriented itself to first-class innovations and contributions, highlighted the characteristics of quality and put emphasis on the connotative development. Taking talent cultivation, innovative capabilities and serving and contributing to the society as the core elements in its development, IMU has adhered to driving its development by double engines of the improvement of its strength and deepening of its reform. It has also carried out “Six Strategies”, pushed forward the “Reform in Six Aspects”, solidified its existing foundation, kept ahead and tried its best to build itself into a university with prominent minority ethnic characteristics and regional characteristics.  

The year of 2020 is the last year of the 13th-Five-Year-Plan period and also the year for the strategic planning of next five years. To sum up the great achievements made by the university during the 13th-Five-Year-Plan period, look into the 14^th-Five-Year Plan and focus on planning a new future of IMU, IMU Newsnet is to give a series of reports themed “Looking Back at IMU During the 13th-Five-Year-Plan Period, We Unite Together to Strive for Our Future”.  

Aiming at the latest developments in the academic world and the key needs of China and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, IMU carries out the strategy to improve its capabilities for scientific and technological innovation, deepens the reform of its scientific research system and mechanism, integrate the resources in and out of the university and tries its best to establish a batch of platforms for scientific and technological innovation which have prominent characteristics and advantages. The university pours energy into improving its capabilities for original scientific innovation and provision of widely used technologies and strengthening the international influence of its academic achievements. IMU has greatly improved its capabilities to undertake the key scientific research projects, produce the first-class achievements and serve the high-quality social and economic development of Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

Huge improvement of the scientific research level

IMU has made the prominent achievements in the construction of the platforms for scientific research. The platforms at the national level or ministerial level, like the key state laboratories jointly built by the Ministry of Education and the autonomous region and  the key laboratory supported by the Ministry of Education, have increased from 5 during the 12^th-Five-Year-Plan period to 15 during the 13^th-Five-Year-Plan period. IMU’s capabilities to undertake the national key scientific research projects have been hugely improved. During the 13^th-Five Year-Plan period, IMU has won 11 key research projects from the National Social Science Fund of China-2.2 times those won in the 12^th-Year-Five-Plan period, and 334 projects from the National Natural Science Fund of China-1.5 times those in the 12^th-Five-Year-Plan period . In the past five years, the quality of IMU’s research achievements has been increasingly improved.

The numbers of the published high-quality academic papers and those with big impact by IMU are 1.4 and 4.9 times respectively those during the 12^th-Five-Year-Plan period. And the academic achievements it made in the 13^th-Five-Year-Plan are constantly published in such internationally prestigious journals as Chemical Reviews, Cell Research, Nucleic Acids Research, Angewandte Chemie International Edition and Advanced Energy Materials. The frequency that the university’s achievements are quoted in the 13^th-Five-Year-Plan period is 3.4 times that at the end of the 12^th-Year-Plan period. One of the university’s co-research achievements was awarded the second-class prize of the National Science and Technology Award. IMU also won two second-class prizes and one third-class prize(of humanities and social sciences) for the outstanding achievements in the scientific research of the institutions of higher learning from the Ministry of Education. In the period, 225 prizes for outstanding achievements of natural sciences and social sciences at the level of autonomous region were awarded to IMU and 22 of them are first-class awards-3.4 and 2.8 times those in the 12^th-Five-Year-Plan period.  

IMU’s new scientific research platform at the national level-Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Processing of Mongolian Information which is jointly established by the central government and autonomous region government.

A ministerial-level scientific observation station for wild life is approved to be established.

The State Key Laboratory of Reproductive Regulation & Breeding of Grassland Livestock displays its scientific achievements at the 8^th Inner Mongolia Green Products Exhibition.

Notable effects of platforms for innovation and scientific research

Centering around such strategic needs of the country and the autonomous region as the eco-animal husbandry in the grassland, utilization of grassland resources, eco-security in Northern China and intelligent processing of Mongolian information, taking into consideration the actual conditions of its advantaged disciplines and integrating the innovation resources in and outside the university, IMU has been strengthening its construction of the platforms for scientific innovation and supporting the study of strategic, overall important and prospective problems. Newly added is the Key State Laboratory of Productive Regulation $ Breeding of Grassland Livestock, which is the first state key laboratory for institutions of higher learning in Inner Mongolia. Also added are 9 scientific research platforms at national or ministerial level including Engineering Research Center for Intelligent Processing of Mongolian Information, the Coordinated Innovation Center for Eco-Security of Grassland jointly built by the Ministry of Education and the autonomous region and the Key Laboratory for Ecology and Resource Utilization in Mongolian Plateau. There has been prominent effect in the university’s construction of platforms for innovation and scientific research and its ability to innovate scientifically and serve the regional development has been improved greatly.

The Coordinated Innovation Center for Eco-Security of Grassland at the national level is approved to be established

IMU’s key special project of “Treatment of Three Lakes” is approved by the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region.

IMU successfully develops the first system for recognition and synthesis of Mongolian speech in China.

Huge improvement of the ability to undertake key scientific research projects and make first-class achievements

Aiming at the latest academic development and urgent needs of the country and the autonomous region, IMU has been strengthening its organization and planning of the key scientific research projects and tried to improve its capabilities to undertake the key projects and make the first-class achievements. In the 13^th-Five-Year-Plan period, the university has got 1633 projects of different types approved, 51 of which are key projects(including sub-projects) of China. It also won 334 projects from the National Natural Science Fund of China and 133 from National Social Science Fund of China. IMU has won the following awards: 1 second prize of National Science and Technology Awards, 2 second-class prizes and 1 third-class prize (of humanities and social sciences) for the outstanding achievements in the scientific research of the institutions of higher learning from the Ministry of Education, 6 first-class prizes of Inner Mongolia Natural Science Awards, 2 first-class prizes of Inner Mongolia Awards for Scientific and Technological Advancement and 14 prizes of Inner Mongolia Awards for Outstanding Philosophical and Social Science Achievements. In the 13^th-Five-Year-Plan period, IMU’s scientific achievements have been published in the internationally prestigious academic journals, and the quality of the achievements has been increasingly improved. According to the latest statistics of Clarivate Analytics, the frequency that IMU’s achievements are quoted in the 13^th-Five-Year-Plan period is 3.4 times that at the end of the 12^th-Five-Year period. The discipline of Chemistry is rated among the top 1% in the world. And the disciplines of engineering, environment and ecology are expected to be rated among the top 1% in this year. And the high-quality achievements made in new embryo-induced pluripotent stem cells, RNA cap epitranscripitome, polymeric nano materials,  and high-efficiency electron-catalysis nano materials are successively published in such top international journals as Cell Research、Nucleic Acids Research、Chemicmbryonical Reviews、Angewandte Catural Science Nhemie International Edition、Advanced Energy Materials. And the co-research achievements in the sustainability of land development, development and production of high-impact monoxide platinum catalysis and checking mechanism of the stoma of leaves for dehydration reaction are published in the journal of Nature and its affiliated journals. The co-research achievements of the new mechanism for virus-encoded proteins are published in Cell-a top international journal.

The meeting on pushing forward the key project from National Social Science of -the Reorganization and Study of Proverbs of Ethnic Groups of China, is held at IMU.

The Mongolian Studies Center of IMU and Ghengis Khan University of Mongolia jointly hold exhibition of the achievements made in the "the Joint Survey of Precipices of Mount Yanran and Relics Concerned by China and Mongolia".

The research team led by Professor Zhang Dejian wins the first-class prize of the Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Areas for the Harvest in Agriculture, Husbandry and Fishery.(The above picture is about the team’s study of how soil fertility improves the growth of potatoes. )

The platforms for scientific innovation are the important carrier to brew innovations and one significant part of the innovation system of the country and the region. In recent years, IMU has been strengthening the construction of the platforms, which is very effective and plays a pillar role in conducting high-level research, producing first-class achievements and serving the local development.