SJTU and the Language and Text Information Management Department of the Ministry of Education Jointly establish the National Language and Health Research Center

May 6,2024

On April 27, the meeting of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and the Language and Text Information Management Department of the Ministry of Education jointly establishing the National Language and Health Research Center was held in Wenbo Building on the Minhang campus. 

Liu Peijun, Director of the Language and Text Information Management Department of the Ministry of Education, Tang Jinsong, Deputy Secretary of Minhang District Party Committee, Yang Xin, Deputy Governor of Minhang District, Yang Zhenbin, Party Secretary of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Jiang Fan, Deputy Party Secretary of Shanghai Jiao Tong University and Party Secretary of the School of Medicine, Zhang Ansheng, Vice President of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, as well as heads of relevant parties, experts and scholars from both sides attended the meeting.

Yang Zhenbin extended a warm welcome to all the guests attending the event and briefly introduced the university. He pointed out that language and health research not only embodied the attempt to serve the healthy China strategy by linguistics, medicine, psychology, artificial intelligence and other disciplines, but also help promote the well-being of people's livelihood in China. Yang Zhenbin said that SJTU will actively implement the requirements of the State Language Commission's research base construction, be guided by the national strategic needs, take forward-looking basic research as the fundamental, and condense scientific problems from the actual problems faced by social development and people's livelihood, so as to blaze a new trail in key core technology research breakthrough, and to provide better service for the construction of a healthy China and an education superpower.
Liu Peijun said that language health was people's basic health and an important indicator to measure people's physical and mental health. Promoting language and health research and improving people's physical and mental health through language health was an important task and common mission of language, education, health and related parties serving "Healthy China" strategy. It was expected that the Research Center will focus on serving the strategic needs of "Healthy China", build an authoritative national language and health scientific research institution, and serve the goal of healthy China and the health of all the people. 

The center was expected to formulate a high starting-point plan, to focus on the center and serve the overall situation, and support the strategy, to produce high-quality results based on China's reality, to respond to regional needs, and build language and health research results with Chinese characteristics. The center should build a high-level team, give full play to the advantages of discipline integration, and actively integrate academic resources inside and outside the school, form a high standard of support, establish a sound multi-dimensional and sustainable guarantee mechanism, and promote the high-quality development of the center.
The representatives from the Language and Text Information Management Department of the Ministry of Education and Shanghai Jiao Tong University signed the co-construction agreement on the National Language and Health Research Center. 

The National Language and Health Research Center, which was approved for estabishment in November of 2023, was a research base of the State Language Commission. It was jointly constructed and managed by the the Language and Text Information Management Department of the Ministry of Education and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. The two sides will carry out strategic cooperation on language and health science research, joint talent training, social responsibility fulfillment and service to people's livelihood.

In order to promote academic research development and form research synergy, the Center has set up an academic committee, with Professor Yuan Boping from the School of Foreign Languages of Shanghai Jiao Tong University as the director, and Professor Yang Yiming, a professor from Jiangsu Normal University and 13 other experts as members. Jiang Fan, Tang Jinsong, Yang Xin and Zhang Ansheng jointly presented the appointment certificates to the members of the Academic Committee of the Center.

Chang Hui, Executive director of the Research Center and dean of the School of Foreign Languages of Shanghai Jiao Tong University, introduced the center's work plan in the next five years and the near future from the aspects of target orientation, construction content, and expected results.

At the second Seminar on Language and Health, Yang Yiming, Jiang Fan, Xie Yuxiao and Jiang Shan, Professors of China-Japan Friendship Hospital in Beijing, Li Weidong, Professor of Research Institute of Psychology and Behavioral Sciences, Shanghai Jiao Tong University, Xi Yanlin, Professor of Guangming Hospital of Traditional Chinese Medicine, Pudong New Area, Wang Gang, Professor of Ruijin Hospital affiliated to Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine, Professor Yang Xiaohu, from the School of Foreign Languages, Tongji University, Professor Yang Yonglin from Shandong Rizhao People's Hospital, Enivar, from Xinjiang Karamay Dushanzi People's Hospital, Qian Qian, from Shanghai Sunshine Rehabilitation Center, Li Qun, expert from Sichuan University West China Hospital and other experts and scholars made keynote presentations.

Shanghai Jiao Tong University Liberal Arts Construction Department, Planning and Development Department, School of Foreign Languages, relevant affiliated hospitals and other relevant units, experts, scholars, teachers and students representatives attended the seminar.