The “Annual Theme” interdisciplinary research project was established in 2013, following the common practice of research under an annual theme by other university-based IASs around the world. The Annual Theme projects focus on cutting-edge and fundamental questions in the social sciences. Each year, our research team — consisting of research fellows, “researchers in-residence”, and visiting scholars — conducts research projects and publishes scholarly works in two main fields: “Chinese Politics, Law and Social Development” and “Global Governance and The Transformation of World Order”. To better promote the development of the Annual Theme interdisciplinary research project, the IAS has established two regular programs: the “Value Construction Program” and the “Institution Building Program”, which aim at drawing our team’s attention to conducting in-depth study of these questions from the perspectives of “value” and “institution”. Annual Theme seminars are held regularly to facilitate intellectual exchanges among team members. In addition, we have established a book series called “China in Transition” to serve as a publication outlet for scholarly products.

From 2014 through 2018, the IAS Annual Themes have been: “China’s Justice in Transition”, “China’s Rule of Law in Transition”, “China’s Governance in Transition”, “China’s State-Society Relationship in Transition”, and “Theory, Paradigm and Methodology in Social Sciences”.