Extended Research Functions For The University Of The Third Industrial Revolution

University and college functions are concentrative reflection of social relationship in a certain period, and are the main logo of the differences between universities and other social institutions. University functions are increasingly expanding and innovating with the development of the society. Social progress prompted a shift in university functions, which also promoted the social progress at the same time. The rise of the Third Industrial Revolution provided a good opportunity of the research on the expansion about university functions and made an urgent need. This article is exploring the development and changes in the functions of the University under the background of the Third Industrial Revolution, in order to provide some inspiration and reference in choosing the development direction of the future university.This article uses a variety of research methods such as literature research, comparative method, system analysis, etc. and carries out a detailed analysis on the relationship between the evolution of the university functions and social development, to research the inner law; Secondly, the article analyzed the basic characteristics and development directions of the Third Industrial Revolution. The article proposed "the Fourth Function" of the university, which is to lead social development, and made a further explanation of its connotation. All the conclusion is drawn on the basis of the development trend of the Third Industrial Revolution, combining many actual cases.The article is divided into five parts. The first part includes the background, significance and overview of the research, which discusses the importance of the university functions, mainly from the relationship between the university functions and social development. The first part also analyzes the development of the third industrial revolution briefly, as well as the present situation of university functions, in order to clear the objectives and the significance of the research. The second part is about the basic characteristic analysis of the third industrial revolution and the inquiry on the relationship between university functions and social development, and concludes the development characteristics and trends of the current third industrial revolution. This part also summarizes the historical evolution of the three university functions and the characteristics of social development in the corresponding stages, finds out the basic laws between them, and proposes the direction of future university functions, with the combination of the development characteristics and trends of the third industrial revolution. The third part is mainly about the case analysis of university functions-to lead the social development. By analyzing and comparing the function expansion modes of MIT and Yancheng Teachers College, this part expounds the realistic possibility of the fourth function--leading social development. The fourth part deals with the cause and the path of leading social development and makes further elaboration of the future social development trends, which aims to clarity the cause of university’s leading social development, followed by the analysis of its ways and methods. Some thoughts on the function expanding of the university are included in the fifth part.