On September 24, the National Office for Philosophy and Social Sciences announced the annual, youth and western projects of the National Social Science Fund (NSSF) in 2021. Our university garnered 57 NSSF general projects, ranking joint second among colleges and universities in China. Of the approved projects, there were 7 NSSF key projects.

SCU has got approved for a total of 271 NSSF projects since the advent of the “double first-class” status development (2017 – 2021), ranking first among colleges and universities in China. During the first round of "double first-class" status development, SCU ranked first in the number of approved NSSF projects for three consecutive years from 2017 to 2019. The university leaders have always given a high priority to the development of liberal arts. In recent years, the university has issued policies such as “Several Opinions on the Prosperity and Development of Philosophy and Social Sciences of Sichuan University and “Reward Measures for Philosophy and Social Sciences Research of Sichuan University”, and so forth. In terms of the development of teacher’s group, the university has adopted the "Chair Professor" system and implemented the "double hundred talent" plan to introduce and train high-end liberal arts personnel. In terms of project development, the university has issued national project research policies. Even if teachers fail to get approved by the National Social Science Fund for the project, the university will still support the research of the project.

The following is a rundown of SCU’s approved NSSF projects in 2021: seven key projects, 27 general projects, 14 youth projects and 9 western projects. In terms of the discipline classification, 22 disciplines are represented. Among them, Archaeology accounts for seven projects, and Religious Studies accounts for six projects, ranking first in China. Chinese History, Ethnology, Theoretical Economics and Law have four projects respectively. In terms of colleges and departments, 15 work units have got projects. Among them, the School of History and Cultures (Tourism School, College of Archaeology, Culture and Museology) ranks first with 12 projects; followed by the College of Literature and Journalism with 8 projects. The School of Public Administration and the School of Economics ties for third place with 6 projects respectively.