"I have been through the process of obtaining a Ph.D. myself and have also served as a Ph.D. supervisor for many years. I have regular interactions with Ph.D. students and have always been concerned about this group. This year at the Two Sessions, I want to speak up for the Ph.D. community."
On March 10th, Zhang Zutao, a National People's Congress delegate, member of the Revolutionary Committee of the Chinese Kuomintang, and Vice President of Chengdu University of Technology, stated in an interview with the China Science Daily that he proposes raising the scholarships for full-time academic Ph.D. students to ensure that Ph.D. students can "study and research with dignity."
This sentiment is echoed by Ding Hong, a member of the National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, who brought a proposal to optimize the graduate student enrollment mechanism and improve graduate student treatment during this year's National Two Sessions. "The disparity between academic achievement and income is disadvantageous for students' career choices," he said, suggesting a significant increase in the treatment of Ph.D. students, with amounts "calculated as a certain percentage based on the treatment of postdoctoral fellows in the same institution."
The number of awards and standards has remained unchanged for many years, with most full-time Ph.D. students earning around 3,000 CNY per month.
According to data released by the Ministry of Education on March 1st, there are currently 3.8829 million graduate students in China, including 0.6125 million doctoral students and 3.2705 million master's students.
Zhang Zutao noted that full-time academic Ph.D. students shoulder a considerable amount of basic scientific research tasks and are the backbone of the national scientific research team, with most aged between 22 and 30. However, their income is meager.
"The basic subsidy for Chinese Ph.D. students is based on the standards of 2017, with an annual subsidy of 15,000 CNY per student in central universities and no less than 13,000 CNY per student in local universities. The number of awards and standards has not been adjusted for many years." Zhang Zutao observed that some universities have gradually implemented measures to increase financial assistance to Ph.D. students. However, even so, the comprehensive monthly income of most full-time Ph.D. students in universities is around 3,000 CNY, placing them in the "low-income group" among their peers.
Ding Hong also pointed out that students who choose to pursue a Ph.D. degree are usually the cream of the crop among their peers, but currently, there is a significant gap between the treatment of Ph.D. students and the salary levels of graduates.
"For example, at C9 universities, the annual income of Ph.D. students is around 40,000 to 50,000 CNY, while the average annual salary of graduates in the 2022 cohort has exceeded 120,000 CNY (according to the '2023 National Ranking of Graduate Salaries')." Ding Hong said.
Through research, Zhang Zutao found that with the increase in the number of students, the financial support for Ph.D. students still faces challenges such as insufficient financial support, lack of flexibility in funding methods, and lack of diversity in funding channels. Specifically, government subsidies for Ph.D. students are less than 1,500 CNY per month, lower than the minimum wage standards in most provinces and cities nationwide; funding methods have not been flexible enough to adapt to different disciplines and individuals, with overlapping functions in funding projects; currently, funding for Ph.D. students mainly relies on national and school inputs, with insufficient initiative from supervisors and limited research fund projects available to Ph.D. students, and inadequate corporate participation.
The National Scholarship is the highest honor-level national scholarship that current university students can receive. However, due to the lack of adjustment in the number of awards and standards for many years, the National Scholarship is gradually losing its attractiveness.
Some suggest raising the salaries of STEM Ph.D. students to over 100,000 CNY per year.
"The disparity between academic achievement and income is disadvantageous for students' career choices." Ding Hong suggested that the treatment of graduate students, especially Ph.D. students, should be significantly increased.
Regarding specific standards, Ding Hong said that in recent years, the treatment of postdoctoral fellows in China has significantly improved, with many research institutions offering annual salaries exceeding 300,000 CNY for postdoctoral fellows. Therefore, he suggested that the treatment of Ph.D. students can be based on postdoctoral positions, with amounts calculated as a certain percentage based on the treatment of postdoctoral fellows in the same institution.
As a reference, Xu Jingkun, President of East China University of Science and Technology, proposed at the 13th Session of the Jiangxi Provincial Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference in 2023 that considering the gap between the scale, quality, and treatment of Ph.D. students in Jiangxi Province and the national average level, he suggested increasing the salary treatment of STEM Ph.D. students to over 100,000 CNY per year.
In response, the Jiangxi Provincial Department of Education stated that it could consider establishing a special fund from the "Double First-Class" initiative of high-level universities to increase the living allowance for STEM Ph.D. students on the one hand, and reward outstanding Ph.D. students based on their performance on the other.
Representatives suggest guaranteeing the basic treatment of Ph.D. students from a systemic perspective.
Zhang Zutao believes that the basic treatment of Ph.D. students should be guaranteed from a systemic perspective, while also considering a system that leans towards excellent Ph.D. students. To this end, he proposed three suggestions.
Firstly, increase the fiscal investment in Ph.D. student scholarships. He suggested raising the standards of scholarships and expanding the scope of guaranteed assistance to ensure that all eligible full-time Ph.D. students receive necessary support.
Secondly, establish a diversified scholarship mechanism for Ph.D. students. Zhang Zutao suggested that by setting up different types of scholarships, targeted support can be provided to outstanding Ph.D. students; when planning funding projects, overlap in functionality should be avoided. At the same time, attention should be paid to the needs of special hardship groups.
Furthermore, Zhang Zutao called for broadening the channels for Ph.D. student scholarship assistance and establishing a comprehensive and diversified funding system. For example, providing opportunities for Ph.D. students to participate in scientific research projects or professional practice and compensating them accordingly; also, through cooperation between the government and schools, establish mechanisms such as "teaching assistants" and "management assistants" to provide platforms for Ph.D. students to exercise while improving their income levels.
Ding Hong also gave specific suggestions from the perspective of optimizing the graduate student enrollment mechanism.
He said that currently, the allocation of graduate student enrollment quotas in Chinese universities is basically unified by the Ministry of Education, while many internationally renowned higher education institutions decide their graduate student enrollments based on the research needs of supervisors. Correspondingly, the research needs of supervisors, especially the amount of research funds and, more importantly, the disposable personnel funding, are closely related. On the one hand, research projects need the support of graduate students' research work, and on the other hand, high-quality graduate student training also requires sufficient research funds to guarantee.
Therefore, Ding Hong believes that linking the "Ding Hong mentioned that while China has the highest number of postgraduate graduates, there's still a significant gap in academic proficiency compared to leading nations. Hence, urgent and robust measures are needed to swiftly enhance the overall quality and academic standards of postgraduate students."
