Building a World-Class Research Ecosystem: Lessons from Beijing Institute of Technology

By Prof. Agus Muhamad Hatta, S.T., M.Si, Ph.D
Vice Rector IV of ITS

Our recent visit to Beijing Institute of Technology (BIT) provided valuable insights into how a world-class educational and research ecosystem is built and sustained.

Based on the QS World University Rankings (QS WUR), BIT is ranked 302nd globally, while ITS is at 585, ITB at 256, and UI at 206. However, one key metric highlights a significant and fundamental gap: citations per faculty.

BIT records an outstanding score of 82, compared to ITS (1.6), ITB (2.6), and UI (2.1). This number is not just a statistic — it reflects the strength of a research ecosystem where publications are not only produced but also serve as global references.

🔹 What’s the Secret?

There are several fundamental elements visibly contributing to how BIT builds its ecosystem:

1. Strong Focus on Postgraduate Education
   At BIT, postgraduate students account for 53%, surpassing undergraduate students at 47%. This demonstrates BIT’s role as a nurturing ground for researchers and innovators.

2. Clear and High Performance Standards
   A full professor at BIT is expected to be the corresponding author of at least 8 Q1 journal articles every three years. This not only drives productivity but also fosters a competitive, high-impact research culture.

🔹 Big Vision, Rapid Execution: The NEL-EV Case Study

We visited the National Engineering Laboratory for Electric Vehicles (NEL-EV) — the national big data center for all electric vehicles in China.

Every electric vehicle in China — numbering in the hundreds of millions — is equipped with IoT devices that send real-time data such as location, speed, and battery status to this center. This enables nationwide monitoring, accident analysis, and rapid policy adjustments.

Amazingly, this massive data center was built in just six months, reflecting China’s remarkable ability in planning, cross-sector coordination, and swift execution, fully backed by government mandates.

🔹 Agile Research Adaptation: The School of Automation Example

At BIT’s School of Automation, we witnessed a groundbreaking project on data-driven control in robotics. A robotic arm was capable of learning complex tasks, like cooking, simply by watching YouTube videos, without manual programming or complex mathematical models.

This technology has been developed in just three years, sparked by reading a research paper from Google. The team quickly seized the opportunity, executed rapidly, and has now become one of China’s leading research groups in this field, even forming strategic collaborations with Huawei.

🔷 Three Key Takeaways for Us

From this visit, there are three key lessons that we can reflect on to develop our own research ecosystem:

1. Build a Strong Research Ecosystem
   Commitment to postgraduate education, high research performance standards, and a collaborative culture are essential foundations.

2. Speed and Coordination in Execution
   The ability to translate big visions into rapid, structured, and nationally integrated execution is critical.

3. Focus and Foresight in Research Topics
   Courage to select research topics that are highly relevant to the future, coupled with the commitment to mobilize resources to lead in those areas.\

🔷 Our Reflection

This visit is a strong reminder that research excellence is not solely determined by funding or facilities. Instead, it depends on how we build a healthy ecosystem, set high standards, and move quickly to adapt to changes.

The question is no longer whether we can — but when we will start with the same level of seriousness and commitment.

To sprint forward, we need a clear vision, a strong research culture, and the courage to execute.

✨ Towards World-Class Research, It Starts Here.