XJTLU Syntegrative Education | A Progressive Learning Pathway from Industry Exploration to Authentic Industry Practice
XJTLU Academic Mentors
Dr Jianwen Zheng
Associate Professor of Strategic Management and Innovation
IBSS Director of Research Impact
Department of Strategic Management and Organisations, IBSS, XJTLU
Dr Jianwen Zheng’s research focuses on the field of strategy, including firm growth, international strategy, and sustainability strategy. His work also extends to the field of innovation, covering new product development, green innovation, innovation ecosystems, and the management of digital transformation. He has conducted in-depth research on these topics in the contexts of entrepreneurial firms, newly listed companies, mature firms, and supply chain environments.
His research has been published in several leading journals, including Regional Studies, British Journal of Management, Technovation, International Journal of Operations and Production Management, and Energy Economics.
Industry Mentors / Industry Experts
Dr Yadong Yan
Suzhou Oriza Holdings Corporation
8. Partner Enterprises and Organisations
IETE continues to collaborate with enterprises and partner organisations across different industries to support collaborative education. Through authentic problems, industry understanding and project-based learning, IETE and its partners jointly support students’ growth in real-world contexts.
IETE Industry Partners
We welcome more enterprises and organisations committed to talent development and project co-creation to join us in exploring further possibilities for university-industry collaborative education.
9. Contact Us
We welcome enquiries from students interested in IETE, and warmly invite enterprises and organisations interested in talent development and project co-creation to contact us for collaboration discussions.
For further information about programme content, participation methods or collaboration opportunities, please email: iete@xjtlu.edu.cn
XJTLU Syntegrative Education | A Progressive Learning Pathway from Industry Exploration to Authentic Industry Practice
XJTLU Syntegrative Education responds to the evolving demands for future talent in the age of the internet and artificial intelligence. Through deep integration with industry, it provides students with immersive experiential learning in authentic contexts. As one of its key practice-based initiatives, IETE supports students in moving beyond disciplinary learning to engage with industries, understand real-world challenges, and develop innovation capabilities and complex problem-solving skills under the guidance of dual mentors.
1. What Is XJTLU Syntegrative Education?
XJTLU Syntegrative Education is an educational solution explored by Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University in response to the changing talent needs of the internet and artificial intelligence era. With the rapid development of intelligent technologies, automation and AI, future society requires more than discipline-specific knowledge. It increasingly values knowledge integration, self-directed learning, interdisciplinary thinking, complex problem-solving, as well as management, innovation, entrepreneurship and intercultural leadership capabilities.
Against this background, XJTLU Syntegrative Education seeks to move beyond traditional educational systems and learning models. Through deep integration with industry, it provides students with immersive experiential learning in authentic environments, helping them better adapt to the future needs of society and industry. Its goal is to cultivate international “syntegrative” industry elites who are able to drive industrial innovation and transformation in the future.
2. What Is the Industry Exploration and Practice Programme?
As an important component of XJTLU Syntegrative Education, the Industry Exploration and Practice Programme focuses on helping students understand and connect with the world of industry beyond their disciplinary studies. The programme encourages students not only to acquire academic knowledge, but also to understand industrial logic, observe organisational operations, engage with practical challenges and gradually develop future-oriented capabilities in authentic industry contexts.
The programme places particular emphasis on students’ development in the following areas:
3. IETE: A Key Practice-Based Initiative within XJTLU Syntegrative Education
IETE, or Industry and Enterprise Tailored Education, is an innovative practice-based initiative within XJTLU Syntegrative Education. It aims to cultivate international syntegrative industry elites. Centred on research-led learning, IETE systematically develops students’ real-world innovation capabilities and complex problem-solving skills through a dual-mentor model, involving XJTLU academic staff and industry mentors, as well as progressive project-based learning.
IETE is led and managed by the Learning Institute for Future Excellence. It is mainly open to current XJTLU students and is typically delivered during winter and summer breaks. The programme focuses on expanding students’ industry knowledge and developing their entrepreneurial and management capabilities beyond disciplinary learning. It helps students deepen their understanding, broaden their perspectives and enhance their research, analytical and practical capabilities in authentic industry contexts.
4. How Does Learning Take Place in IETE?
IETE is usually organised around a specific industry theme or authentic project context. The learning process may include the following stages:
The programme values students’ active inquiry and reflection throughout the learning process. It focuses not only on final outputs, but also on how students gradually develop their understanding of the industry, the problem and possible solution pathways.
5. Why Choose IETE?
By participating in IETE, students have the opportunity to conduct research and practice in authentic industry contexts and gain a deeper and more expansive learning experience. The programme is not only concerned with knowledge acquisition, but also with students’ capability development and holistic growth through engagement with real-world challenges.
Core Learning Outcomes for Students
Upon completion of all stages, students may receive a programme diploma certificate jointly issued by Xi’an Jiaotong-Liverpool University and the University of Liverpool.
According to the XJTLU Undergraduate Work Placement Policy, completion of IETE learning is recognised as fulfilling the 90-hour work placement requirement.
6. Programme Participation
Each year, IETE opens project participation opportunities to eligible undergraduate students based on specific collaboration directions and industry themes. Students may refer to the annual programme arrangements to learn about available learning themes, participation methods and relevant requirements.
Students who wish to learn more about the current year’s programme arrangements, target participants and application methods are welcome to contact us at iete@xjtlu.edu.cn.
7. Mentor Team and Expert Resources
IETE adopts a dual-mentor model, integrating XJTLU’s academic resources with industry and enterprise expert resources to provide students with learning support that combines academic depth and industry perspectives. Under the joint guidance of XJTLU academic staff and industry mentors, students engage in interdisciplinary and practice-oriented research-led learning around authentic industry topics. At the same time, XJTLU provides academic resources and academic mentor support, while partners provide industry experts and authentic contexts, jointly forming an educational mechanism that integrates research and practice.
IETE is committed to building a support network that connects academic learning, industry practice and future development for students. Drawing on teaching and research expertise across different disciplines, as well as frontline industry experience from mentors, the programme continues to expand students’ opportunities to engage with real-world problems, understand industrial logic and develop comprehensive capabilities.
Selected Academic Mentors and Industry Expert Resources