WKWSCI Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow Dr Wang Yan Awarded NCCU's Highest Dissertation Writing Honor
The Wee Kim Wee School of Communication and Information (WKWSCI), Nanyang Technological University (NTU), proudly congratulates Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow Dr Wang Yan on receiving the Doctoral and Master's Dissertation Award from National Chengchi University (NCCU), Taiwan. This is the highest recognition for dissertation writing at one of Taiwan’s most prestigious social science institutions.
Dr Wang, an Associate Professor at Zhejiang University of Technology, is currently conducting postdoctoral research at WKWSCI funded by the China Scholarship Council (CSC). Her dissertation, titled “Traveling ‘Media Framing Theory’ at the Chinese Communication Academy: Past, Present, Future,” was one of only six doctoral dissertations selected this year, with an award rate of approximately 1.5 percent.
Her award-winning work explores the transmission, localisation, and evolution of media framing theory in the Chinese-speaking world. Tracing over 30 years of scholarly development across mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, and the United States, her research reconstructs the intellectual history of framing theory through a qualitative narrative approach. In 2023, she expanded this research into a 460,000-word monograph, Media Framing Research in China: Localisation, Diffusion, and Reflection, published by Zhejiang University Press.
WKWSCI has played a meaningful role in Dr Wang’s academic journey. She first joined the School in 2017 as an exchange PhD student from NCCU and returned in 2024 as a Visiting Postdoctoral Fellow, where she submitted, won, and received this prestigious award. Currently, she is collaborating with her local mentor, Professor Ang Peng Hwa, on framing theory application in the context of political communication and emerging technologies. Her postdoctoral seminar, “Traveling ‘Media Framing Theory’ from West to East,” further extended her Chinese study to an international audience.
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Dr Wang Yan attended the NCCU Dissertation Award ceremony virtually.
Although Dr Wang could not attend the NCCU award ceremony in Taipei in person, she joined the event virtually from her office at WKWSCI. She also donated two copies of her monograph, one to WKWSCI and another to the NTU Library, as a gesture of gratitude to the Singapore institutions that supported her work.
Reflecting on the award, Dr Wang shared, “This isn’t just a personal milestone. It is the fruit of a long academic journey shaped by the guidance of mentors, committees, the encouragement of peers, and the support of institutions like WKWSCI. I’m grateful to be part of this scholarly circle.”
During her oral defense, committee members praised her dissertation as “a truly unique and beautifully written thesis.” Its fusion of scholarly lineage, method, and narrative marks it as a rare academic encounter — unprecedented in communication and nearly unmatched across the social sciences.
WKWSCI is proud to support Dr Wang’s continued contributions to the field of communication. Her achievement is a testament to academic excellence and highlights the value of cross-border scholarship and intellectual exchange, principles that are central to WKWSCI’s mission.
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Group photo from Dr Wang Yan’s 2024 postdoctoral talk, “Travelling 'Media Framing Theory' from West to East,” at NTU Singapore
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