At the beginning of August, Zhang Chenyang, a senior student in Tsinghua University, received a notice from the college that he would participate in the selection of the Young Students’ Basic Research Project (hereinafter referred to as the Young Students’ Project) of the Natural Science Foundation of China on August 22, and he could choose any topic as long as the basic research related to natural science was concerned, and the project cycle was one or two years.
As the most important funding channel for basic research in China, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (hereinafter referred to as NSFC) brought undergraduates into its talent funding system for the first time, which attracted attention. In late August, the National Natural Science Foundation of China held the first evaluation meeting of young students’ projects in Beijing and Hefei. As a pilot, outstanding undergraduates from eight universities including Peking University, Tsinghua University and China University of Science and Technology (hereinafter referred to as China University of Science and Technology) were recommended to participate in the interview.
China News Weekly learned that up to now, the evaluation and selection of this project has been completed, and those who pass the selection can get a research fund of 100,000 yuan. According to official website, the Intelligent Research Laboratory of the Chinese University of Science and Technology, an undergraduate student in the laboratory has received relevant funding. When the project was first announced, it once aroused doubts in the scientific community: Do undergraduates have enough ability to do scientific research?
Who can get funding?
Zhang Chenyang is an undergraduate of the first "Strong Foundation Program" in Tsinghua University, which was launched in 2020 to select students with excellent comprehensive quality or top-notch basic research. Shortly after entering school, Zhang Chenyang, with the encouragement of his tutor, tried to carry out a scientific research project in the field of ancient building restoration that he was interested in. He spent half a year researching and experimenting, and as the first author, published the research results of this project in the domestic core journal Journal of Geotechnical Engineering. This experience opened a new world for Zhang Chenyang. "This result made me very satisfied, and I began to feel that the process of doing scientific research and solving problems was very interesting, which was very different from learning in class."
During his school years, he participated in many projects to support undergraduate scientific research, such as Tsinghua University’s "Academic Research Promotion Plan for College Students" and "Spark Plan", and the national training plan for college students’ innovation and entrepreneurship. In July, 2021, after the extreme rainstorm in Zhengzhou, Zhang Chenyang decided to turn to the research on flood forecasting and early warning. This is also the theme of Zhang Chenyang’s application in this young student project.
Over the years, the Natural Science Foundation of China has built a funding chain for talent projects, including "excellent youth", "outstanding youth" and innovative research groups, but the funding targets are all scholars engaged in scientific research. Putting the talent funding port ahead is a new reform of the Natural Science Foundation of China this year.
In May this year, the NSFC had a preliminary idea. In June, Dou Xiankang, Party Secretary and Director of the NSFC, led a team to Tsinghua, Peking University and other universities for investigation. In an exclusive interview with China Newsweek at the beginning of July, Dou Xiankang mentioned that during their investigation, they noticed that there are indeed some undergraduates who have spare capacity in learning and have interest and talent in scientific research. He has also seen some students who have completed their four-year courses in just one and a half years, thus having more time to do research. Judging from the law of talent growth, early discovery and targeted training of outstanding young talents will help them stand out as soon as possible and make great progress in the future, and also provide "flowing water" for building a high-quality basic research talent team.
The speed of the project is beyond many people’s expectations. In July, the project for young students was formally established, and in August, the Natural Science Foundation of China organized a meeting review. "We completed all the evaluation work before the end of August, in order to complete the project establishment and funding in September, so that students can start the project at the beginning of the new semester and invest in the project research." Dou Xiankang said.
Dou Xiankang said that at present, the project is still in the pilot stage, and the Natural Science Foundation of China hopes that the scope will be smaller, so the model of "recommendation+evaluation" will be adopted, and all students participating in the evaluation will be selected by universities according to relevant requirements. At the same time, however, in order to provide excellent students with opportunities for training and support, there is no quota limit for judging, and applicants with excellent performance can get financial aid. On August 22nd, Zhang Chenyang went to the office building of NSFC to participate in the selection. He noticed that there were about thirty or forty students from Tsinghua and Peking University.
The selection of undergraduate programs is different from the projects of "Jieqing" and "Youqing" of the Natural Science Foundation of China. According to reports, in the evaluation of young students’ projects, students should show their projects within the specified 8 minutes and answer experts’ questions within the remaining 17 minutes. Dou Xiankang once mentioned to China Newsweek that there is no need for college students to present scientific research results like "Jie Qing", and the questions raised by some students may not be mature, but the judges can generally see whether the students have a solid scientific foundation and enthusiasm for science — — This is an essential quality for scientific research.
Pan Xin, Dean of School of Aviation Science and Engineering, Beihang University, is one of the experts in the evaluation of young students’ projects. He condensed the criteria for judging students into one: whether students have the ability to ask questions. In the question-and-answer session, he will discuss with the students why he did this topic. The question is raised by himself or his tutor. "Perhaps most students have jointly raised questions after discussion with their tutors. After all, they are still young and have to attend classes. It is not easy to do this in a short time in a brand-new field."
Pan Yi told China News Weekly that most of the students who participated in the evaluation were sophomores and juniors. He remembers that some students studied urban planning and management, used new tools to do big data analysis of regional economic heat, and evaluated regional economic vitality. "This is a social science topic, but it impressed me deeply. In the process of students’ migration from the field of partial management to the direction of mathematics and physics, new problems in cross-cutting fields were excavated." There is also a student who studies the stability of gravitational wave antenna device, hoping to solve the problems in the existing technology by designing new engineering and software.
In addition, unlike the previous project review, the Natural Science Foundation of China suggested that the judges discuss with the students by means of communication rather than defense, "to inspire and guide them as much as possible and stimulate their interest in scientific research". When Pan Yi communicates with these children, he can feel that they all have a good theoretical foundation, but they also need more and wider academic exchange opportunities.
When Zhang Chenyang applied for related scientific research projects before, he was mostly asked about the professional knowledge of the project, and the tutors in the school mostly communicated with him about the details of the plan. At the review site, seven or eight experts from the audience raised about 10 questions, including basic knowledge, research experience, scientific research plan, etc., and some teachers gave him suggestions on research ideas. "I want to study the early warning of mountain torrents in North China, and then spread the experience to the whole country. A teacher at the scene suggested that I can do experiments nationwide first, and then sum up good methods. This and my research are two kinds of ideas, which can give me some inspiration. "
In addition, we need to pay attention to how to select students who are really interested in scientific research, so that the young student project will not become the "hat" of undergraduates. According to Mu Rongping, a researcher at the Institute of Science and Technology Strategy Consulting of China Academy of Sciences, some talent funding projects have become "hats", which has nothing to do with the funding itself. The problem is that subsequent employers regard these funding as a precondition for talent admission or evaluation. Funding outstanding undergraduates to do scientific research may not be a prerequisite for sending graduate students, which may be helpful to the selection of talents for young students’ programs.
Can undergraduates do scientific research well?
In the evaluation team that Pan Yi participated in, the projects declared by 11 students were very difficult, "it is difficult to make a complete solution in a short time", but Pan Yi did not expect these students to publish several papers or patents two years later, or to push the research problems to a new height. In his view, the real value of the young student project lies in that students can receive the training of scientific research paradigm and be more firmly involved in scientific research in the future. Mu Rongping pointed out to China Newsweek that the establishment of this project by the Natural Science Foundation is also in line with the laws of scientific research. Students need to participate in basic research, attend more academic conferences, communicate with outstanding peers at close range, and improve their thinking ability in solving scientific problems.
According to reports, on August 21st, the day before the evaluation of young students’ projects, NSFC invited Pan Jianwei, an academician of China Academy of Sciences, Luo Yi, executive director of the Department of Chemistry and Physics of Chinese University of Science and Technology, and other scientists to give academic reports to the undergraduates who participated in the evaluation. Dou Xiankang said, "In the future, we will provide them with more opportunities to participate in comprehensive high-end scientists’ forums, hoping to inspire and guide them to embark on the road of scientific research by letting top scholars at home and abroad communicate face to face with outstanding undergraduates, making reports, talking about experiences and feelings."
Mu Rongping told China Newsweek that, according to the laws of scientific research, different disciplines are different, and many scientists at home and abroad have made outstanding achievements at a young age in basic theoretical disciplines such as mathematics and physics. At present, the young students’ program is still in the pilot stage, with a small number of students selected and a low amount of funding, which may not be as much as a large project of the Natural Science Foundation of China. It is a good attempt to select students who are really interested in scientific research, and the outside world can give more tolerance.
Pan Xin has more than ten years of teaching experience, and is also responsible for the teaching reform planning and scientific research development of the college. In his view, the young student program is a "flag" and signal, that is, the state attaches importance to the coordinated development of education, science and technology, and talents, which can guide more university administrators to think about talent training at the undergraduate level.
Pan Yi pointed out to China Newsweek that most of the courses at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels in domestic universities are imparting known knowledge. There are fixed class hours in one semester, and what to talk about in each class will be planned in advance, eventually teaching students a set of systematic knowledge. Only when students really enter a research topic can they begin to transition to exploring the unknown. He hopes that this process can be advanced.
As early as 2005, the famous "Qian Xuesen’s question" was put forward. Today, how to cultivate top-notch innovative talents is still a common challenge for China University. Pan Yi noticed that some undergraduates, even postgraduates, lack scientific research training, and it is difficult to write a paper that people can understand. In his view, China’s basic education, undergraduate courses and practical equipment in some universities are not bad, but in the postgraduate stage, there will be a clear gap between China and top foreign universities. In top foreign universities, most natural science courses are required to write papers or reports at the end of the class. Students need to think, investigate and explore the unknown on the basis of the classroom knowledge system, but most courses in domestic universities still test the known content.
Mu Rongping believes that what is more important behind the young students’ project is how colleges and universities can reverse the learning and thinking habits of undergraduates, and turn from memorizing answers to discovering and exploring problems. "The key to real scientific research is to see who can find the real problems".
Lu Xiaodong, a researcher at Peking University Institute of Education, has been paying attention to undergraduate research for many years. In his view, NSFC’s funding for undergraduates is not new, but there is a new funding channel. Over the past 20 years, many universities in China have been supporting undergraduates who have the ability to learn to participate in scientific research. The traditional impression that "doctor is the entry stage of scientific research" is actually a cognitive misunderstanding.
Take Peking University as an example. In 1998, Li Zhengdao set up a "political fund" to introduce the scientific research model of American research universities into China. Subsequently, Peking University established a set of management system with "research courses" as the core, and incorporated undergraduate scientific research into the regular curriculum. Relevant subsidies included "political fund", "president fund" and "Mao Yugang fund". According to the "research course" of Peking University, the applicants should be sophomores, and their GPA should rank in the top 30% of the college. At the same time, the standardized management of the course requires students to ensure that they invest enough time, and there are requirements for the mid-term and completion of the project.
Pan Wei introduced that since 2021, Beihang University has conducted pilot research classes for sophomores and juniors. Each pilot college will open a research class as an elective course, accounting for 2 credits, and requires key laboratories at or above the provincial level to invest certain experimental conditions to support students. Pan Yi mentioned that compared with the traditional classroom, the scientific research classroom is open, and students may be faced with the most cutting-edge science and technology in a certain field. They can do experiments, research or theoretical formula derivation. There is no standard answer to this process. The most important thing for students is to learn scientific research paradigm, cultivate the ability of literature research, independently design operable experiments and write experimental reports.
"We have been piloting for 3 years, and about 90% of the undergraduates of Beihang University have taken scientific research classes. I obviously feel that after the preliminary training, the level of graduation design has been significantly improved." Pan Yi told China Newsweek. Lu Xiaodong once met some undergraduates who quit halfway because of lack of interest when doing scientific research projects. There are also some students who have participated in short-term laboratory projects in different disciplines. Many teachers have found that these students are seriously involved in each project, and they gradually clarify the future research direction in the process, even if they do not produce visible research results, they are also very valuable.
Compared with China, foreign top research universities began to encourage undergraduates to do research earlier. As early as 2000, Lu Xiaodong went to the United States to inspect the management of first-class universities, focusing on undergraduate education at the University of California, Berkeley. As a research university, Berkeley attaches great importance to undergraduate scientific research, and even regards it as an important part of undergraduate education. Since the 1990s, the university has set up special funds to support undergraduates to do scientific research. In 1997, it set up an undergraduate research office to organize and serve students’ research. Besides providing some information about project application, it will also help students understand what research is, how to write project applications and draw up reports through lectures. In addition, Harvard University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, California Institute of Technology and many other American research universities have set up relevant institutions and projects to support undergraduates to do scientific research.
The undergraduate stage is a critical period for the cultivation of academic aspirations. Lu Xiaodong noticed that many alumni of Peking University who have made their mark in academia or returned to school as teachers have participated in research courses at the undergraduate level if they look at their resumes. In 2023, Zhang Cheng, a professor at Fudan University School of Management, and others published an article "The Impact of Undergraduate Research Projects on Personal Research Career Development — — In a retrospective cohort study, the research career development of undergraduate students and graduates of Fudan University from 2000 to 2017 was investigated, and the final sample included 576 data. It is found that compared with students who have not participated in scientific research projects, the probability of undergraduates who have participated in related projects graduating from doctoral programs has increased by 14.1%, and the probability of choosing scientific research positions in formal jobs has also increased by 17.2%.
The article points out that the important reason is that early scientific research training promotes students’ understanding of scientific research and cultivates students’ self-confidence in this field. Zhang Cheng and others believe that the key is not simply to let students take part in teachers’ topics or simply to pursue the publication of articles, but how teachers guide students to complete scientific research tasks, achieve goals and constantly build confidence in this process.
Relevant research points out that domestic undergraduate research projects have been carried out for many years, but the overall start is late, the coverage is narrow, the implementation effect of different universities is uneven, and relevant policies still need to be improved. Lu Xiaodong observed that in the past years, some university administrators have also visited Peking University to investigate their experience. In his view, the most important thing is that school administrators and teachers should first change the concept that gradual learning at the undergraduate level and problem-centered learning triggered by undergraduate research do not conflict, but will promote each other. To support undergraduates in scientific research, colleges and universities should first straighten out this problem. Secondly, relevant experts believe that the integration of undergraduate scientific research into the formal curriculum will help reduce the conflict between students’ participation in scientific research and course learning.
In addition, experts say that domestic universities need to invest more resources in undergraduate research. In China, except for some top universities, most of the undergraduate research work is assigned to the Academic Affairs Office. The relevant teachers lack enough energy and time to organize undergraduate research, and some teachers lack understanding of undergraduate research training, so it is difficult to undertake detailed guidance. At the University of California, Berkeley, in order to support teachers to participate in students’ scientific research, teachers will receive project assistance and a small grant of $ 300~600 to partially pay for students’ research-related expenses.
How to motivate teachers to actively participate is very important. In Lu Xiaodong’s view, taking undergraduates to do research really requires teachers to invest more energy. Some colleges and universities can give priority to selecting some willing excellent teachers. Teachers should also think clearly about the value and significance of this matter. Undergraduate scientific research courses can play a real role in the process of cultivating top-notch innovative talents, but it is not achieved overnight.
(Zhang Chenyang is a pseudonym in the text)
Published in China Newsweek magazine, No.1110, September 25th, 2023.
Magazine title: Natural Science Foundation of China subsidizes undergraduates for the first time.