Wenzhou Medical University has continued its academic excellence with two disciplines, Microbiology and Agricultural Sciences, newly ranking within the top 1% of the Essential Science Indicators (ESI) according to the latest rankings released by Clarivate Analytics for May.

Basic Medical Sciences is one of the main supporting disciplines of Microbiology. Relying on the Zhejiang Provincial International Science and Technology Cooperation Base for Research on Tumor-related Pathogens and Host Interactions, the Provincial Key Laboratory of Smart + Tumor Biomarker Research and Transformation, and the Wenzhou Key Laboratory of Tumor-related Pathogens and Immunity, the discipline mainly focuses on pathogen-host interactions, tumor-related viral pathogenesis and novel prevention technologies, research and development of anti-infective drugs and vaccines for acute and chronic infectious diseases, and diagnosis and epidemiology of emerging and sudden infectious diseases.

Traditional Chinese Pharmacy is a main supporting discipline of Agricultural Sciences. With key disciplines and research platforms such as the Provincial Key Laboratory of Southern Zhejiang Characteristic Traditional Chinese Medicine, the Key Discipline of "Clinical Traditional Chinese Pharmacy" recognized by the State Administration of Traditional Chinese Medicine, and the municipal key discipline, the discipline focuses on standardized Chinese medicinal herb planting and TCM product development, TCM chemistry and active substance basis, TCM pharmacological efficacy and new drug development, chemical biology research of TCM active ingredients, TCM analysis and omics research, and has formed 4 directions including traditional Chinese pharmacy resources, natural pharmaceutical chemistry, pharmacology of traditional Chinese pharmacy, and molecular pharmacognosy.

Up to now, 12 disciplines of our university have entered the top 1% of ESI global rankings. Notably, Clinical Medicine and Pharmacology & Toxicology have entered the top 1‰ of the rankings, with Clinical Medicine ranking among the top 0.799‰ and Pharmacology & Toxicology standing at the top 0.744‰. Rankings of the other disciplines have also improved significantly. Overall, WMU ranks the 674th position out of 9,493 listed institutions globally, securing a place among the world’s top 7.1%. It ranks 71st in China, making it the second-best provincial university and the fourth among independent medical universities.

In recent years, focusing on the strategic goal of building a "double first-class" university, WMU has systematically promoted the construction of a high-level university and peak disciplines. Adhering to the principle of supporting the outstanding disciplines, the characteristic disciplines, and the disciplines in need, WMU has effectively optimized the allocation of resources. Guided by the strategic needs of the country, it has defined the development priorities of disciplines, with the Pharmaceutical Sciences discipline led by the academicians and the Optometry & Ophthalmology discipline as the key areas, driving the coordinated development of a number of first-level disciplines such as Medical Technology, Biomedical Engineering, Basic Medicine, Public Health & Preventive Medicine, and Nursing. It has fostered interdisciplinary integration, set up interdisciplinary research teams around advantageous disciplines, and established five major discipline groups to enhance the establishment of peak and outstanding disciplines. These efforts have resulted in emerging characteristics and advantages of the disciplines and overall strength improvement of the university.

The Essential Science Indicators (ESI) is a basic analysis and evaluation tool for measuring scientific research performance and tracking scientific development trends. It is a quantitative analysis database based on more than 10 million literature records from more than 12,000 academic journals worldwide collected by Clarivate (formerly Thomson Reuters) Web of Science (SCIE/SSCI). ESI has become one of the important evaluation index tools widely used in the world to evaluate the international academic influence of universities, academic institutions, and countries/regions. Generally, disciplines in the top 1% of ESI are regarded as international high-level disciplines, and disciplines in the top 1‰ of ESI are recognized as international leading disciplines.

Text translated by Zeng Yixin and reviewed by Sun You.