Joint Academic Forum for Doctoral Students Held by Tsinghua University PBC School of Finance and UIBEBS
On the afternoon of May 16, 2025, the "UIBE Excellent Series Doctoral Academic Forum" co-hosted by Tsinghua University PBC School of Finance, UIBEBS, Graduate School of UIBE, and Department of Graduate Student Affairs of the Party Committee of UIBE was successfully concluded in Conference Room 319 of Qiu Zhen Building. Focusing on academic innovation and mutual learning among doctoral students, the forum themed "Serving Needs, Improving Quality, and Pursuing Excellence" provided a platform for ideological collision and achievement exchange through paper presentations, expert comments, and experience sharing. It demonstrated the in-depth cooperation and innovative practice of the two schools in the field of doctoral education.
Opening speech: jointly building a new platform for academic exchange
The forum was chaired by Professor Zhu Jigao, Vice Dean of the UIBE Business School of UIBE. He first introduced the background and significance of the joint academic forum, pointing out that it is an innovative measure of the school to improve the quality of doctoral training. He emphasized that the exchange of achievements between doctoral students from high-level institutions will definitely broaden research horizons and enhance academic innovation.
Professor Xing Xiaoqiang, Dean of the UIBE Business School of UIBE, delivered a speech on behalf of the school. He extended a warm welcome to the participating experts and all students, noting that academic exchange is the core driving force for inspiring innovative ideas. This forum aims to promote doctoral students to make a leap from "knowledge absorption" to "knowledge creation" through "inter-university mutual learning". In the future, the school will continue to build high-level academic exchange platforms, providing students with more opportunities to communicate with outstanding students and top scholars from high-level institutions. He particularly thanked Tsinghua University PBC School of Finance for its support and looked forward to further strengthening in-depth cooperation between the two schools in talent training, academic research and other fields.
Professor Wang Zhengwei, Vice Dean of Tsinghua University PBC School of Finance, delivered a speech. He introduced the characteristic training model of the doctoral program at PBC School of Finance, emphasizing the training concept of "integrating academic research with practical needs", and encouraging doctoral students to focus on national strategic needs and conduct in-depth research in fields such as financial supervision and macroeconomics. He specifically mentioned that the joint academic forum held by the two schools can not only promote the common growth of doctoral students from both universities, but also complement and exchange academic resources. He looked forward to sustained cooperation between the two schools in joint training, academic research and other aspects in the future.
Paper presentations and expert comments: focusing on cutting-edge academic topics
A total of 3 doctoral students and 1 postdoctoral researcher from the two schools gave academic paper presentations at the joint academic forum, demonstrating solid research capabilities. Four young and middle-aged scholars commented on the papers, and both sides conducted in-depth discussions on cutting-edge academic topics in the fields of finance and accounting.
Li Siyang, a doctoral student from Tsinghua University PBC School of Finance, delivered a presentation titled State-Controlled Mutual Funds, which revealed the investment logic of state-controlled funds under the "Made in China 2025" policy and found that their short-term performance is under pressure but long-term returns rebound. During the comment session, Associate Professor Wang Dan from the UIBE Business School of listed the advantages of the paper in content and methodology, and suggested that the research should distinguish between fund company strategies and individual manager motivations, and verify the exclusion effect of index funds to improve the accuracy of conclusions.
Sun Yiyuan, a doctoral student from the UIBE Business School , shared her paper Dual-Class Share Structure, Sunset Provisions and Cash Holdings, which found the cash holding preference of companies with dual-class share structures and the strengthening effect of sunset provisions. In the comment session, Associate Professor Zhou Zhen from Tsinghua University PBC School of Finance affirmed the innovation of the paper and suggested further clarifying the impact mechanism of dual-class share structure on cash holdings, supplementing the correlation analysis between cash holdings and corporate performance, and clarifying the contribution of the research to corporate governance theory.
Cheng Junguo, a postdoctoral researcher from Tsinghua University PBC School of Finance, reported his paper Information Nudging and Financial Consumer Protection, which empirically analyzed the effect of the central bank's policy of explicitly disclosing the annualized interest rate of loans and found that it significantly reduced the loan amount and increased the repayment rate. In the comment session, Associate Professor Zhong Kai from the UIBE Business School evaluated the paper from multiple perspectives, suggesting clarifying the conceptual boundary between "information nudging" and "information induction" and strengthening the analysis of sample representativeness.
Wang Xuan, a doctoral student from the International Business School of UIBE, reported her paper Does Random Inspection of Accounting Firms by Government Accounting Supervision Have Spillover Effects? —— Evidence from Random Inspections of Accounting Information Quality by the Ministry of Finance, which found that random inspections of accounting firms by government accounting supervision can improve the accounting information quality of client enterprises. During the comment session, Associate Professor Liu Yue from Tsinghua University PBC School of Finance pointed out the publication potential of the paper, and suggested excluding interfering factors such as changes in accounting standards and establishing a random inspection prediction probability model.
In the discussion session of the joint academic forum, participating students actively interacted with the presenters, creating a lively atmosphere. They conducted in-depth discussions on key issues, research methods and conclusions in the presentations, and their insights and questions covered theoretical depth, practical application, data interpretation and other dimensions, fully demonstrating their enthusiasm and focus on academic research. The presenters also responded actively, sharing their research experience and thoughts with everyone. Through the collision of ideas, both sides broadened their horizons, deepened their understanding of cutting-edge issues in finance and accounting, and further enhanced the effectiveness and significance of academic exchanges.
Doctoral training experience sharing: supporting academic growth.
In the training experience sharing session, teachers from both schools shared insights on "improving academic capabilities" and "career development paths" for doctoral students.
Associate Professor Zhou Zhen, Academic Director of the Doctoral Program at Tsinghua University PBC School of Finance, systematically introduced the school's "practice-oriented + quality-first" training system, including curriculum design integrating macroeconomics and financial supervision, the full-process quality control mechanism of the "Thesis Quality Improvement Program", and support policies for participating in international conferences and overseas visits. He specifically mentioned that the school ensures the quality of academic output through strict external review and defense mechanisms. Thirty percent of graduates enter the academic field, while the rest work in institutions such as the central bank and international organizations, reflecting the training effect of "valuing both academic and career development".
Liu Chunrui, a young teacher representative from the International Business School of UIBE （and a 2021 doctoral graduate of Tsinghua University PBC School of Finance）, shared her academic growth experience focusing on "loneliness and concentration". She suggested that doctoral students should balance academic value and personal interests when choosing research topics, and make good use of resources from supervisors and peers. She emphasized: "Academic research is lonely, but concentration can turn confusion into direction. Learning to coexist with loneliness is the key to going further on the academic path."
Summary and outlook: promoting academic innovation and talent training
Li Yan, Vice Dean of the Graduate School of UIBE, highly praised the forum in his summary, describing it as "well-planned with a high starting point and presented with high quality". He pointed out that inter-university exchanges provide a platform for doctoral students to "recognize gaps and stimulate motivation", which has demonstration significance for improving the quality of doctoral training. He emphasized that it is necessary to further deepen inter-university cooperation in the future, building the forum into an important position for "the construction of an independent knowledge system", and encouraging students to focus on solving China's problems and produce more research results with both theoretical innovation and practical value.
This forum has built a new platform for inter-university academic exchanges among doctoral students. In the future, the "UIBE Excellent Series Doctoral Academic Forum" will continue to focus on academic frontiers, helping to cultivate high-level research talents with international vision, innovative capabilities and social responsibility.