On October 13-15, 2023, IICE Professor Sun Jin went to Xiamen to attend the 2023 Annual Academic Conference of the Professional Committee of Higher Education, China Association of Higher Education. The conference was co-sponsored by the Professional Committee of Higher Education, China Association of Higher Education, and the Research Centre for the Development of Higher Education of Xiamen University, and hosted by the Institute of Education, Xiamen University.

The theme was "Review and Prospect of 40 Years of Higher Education Discipline Construction - Commemorating the 40th Anniversary of the Establishment of Higher Education Discipline and the 30th Anniversary of the Founding of Higher Education Committee". The conference were set around seven topics, including Mr Pan Maoyuan's higher education thought, basic theory and system construction of higher education, theory and practice of teaching and learning in universities, research on the law of professional development and system construction of university teachers, growth path and development trajectory of university students, theoretical innovation and system change of the Trinity of Education, Science and Technology and Talents, and the opportunities and challenges of higher education in the era of digital and intelligence. There are 14 conference presentations, 4 sub-forums, Young Scholars Forum and 4 doctoral student forums.

IICE Professor Sun mainly participated in the sub-forum (II) and made a report entitled "Career Development Dilemma and Promotion Initiatives for Young Researchers in Germany". The report pointed out that young researchers bear the important tasks of research inheritance and academic innovation, and play an important role in the national innovation system. Similar to China, young researchers in Germany also face problems such as unstable jobs, high promotion difficulties and poor scientific independence. In order to solve these problems, Germany has introduced a series of policies and measures, which are of reference value for the reform and development of related fields in China.

Under the general framework of "Higher Education and its Quality Assurance Mechanisms", sub-forum (II) 12 experts and scholars shared their research results around the three sub-themes of University Teaching, University Students' Learning, and Teachers' Professional Development, and exchanged discussions with the participating students and faculty members.