Overseas Case: University of Science and Technology of China (China)

How do you envision researcher development? What sort of activities or projects have you undertaken at USTC with this aim?

I am a part of a project here at USTC called the Future Scientist Exchange Program, or FuSEP. FuSEP actually has a very tight connection with JST every year, so thanks to JST for offering this program support.

The FuSEP is a pack of incoming programs initiated at USTC, where we aim to bring in the most excellent young researchers from all over the world. We invite these researchers to come to USTC and to exchange ideas and do very tight brainstorming, and we try to search for solutions to global challenges through science and technology. Of course, because of the pandemic, everything was virtual. I took charge of the program three years ago and we have really expanded its scope and pushed it a lot since then.

There is also another program that I postulated called the Vision, Internationalization, Study, Think, Aspiration (VISTA) program. Here in China, we have a program called the School of Gifted Young, and I, myself, was a part of that program. It started in 1978, and China was far from developing at that time and we needed a lot of researchers and talents. Thus, our government started this program at USTC, where select young researchers are enrolled into the university and they are given solid academic foundations in the fundamental subjects and then eventually allowed to branch out into more specialized and interdisciplinary fields.

The VISTA program is aimed at domestic young researchers like those from the School of Gifted Young and it provides these young researchers with a very internationalized interdisciplinary environment with plentiful international internships etc. We have a collaboration with the JST too, called the Sakura Science Program. Young researchers are invited to join this program so that they can gain international experience by travelling to Japan and experiencing some top universities like the University of Tokyo, Kyoto University, and so on.

What was the motivation that kickstarted these programs?

The FuSEP comes from a desire to support the internationalization of USTC. Most current problems like the pandemic or global warming are not limited by borders or countries. To tackle such problems, we need not just the best and brightest minds, but also different perspectives and viewpoints. That is something that can only be obtained through internationalization. With the VISTA program as well, just 50 years ago, the USTC had no international reputation and now it is among the top 100 universities in the world. One single person, one single country can do nothing. If we want to make achievements in science and technology, we need the world to pitch in.

What was the budget for these programs?

The amount fluctuates. The very first year of the program—that was before my time—we enrolled only about 10 young researchers. Fast forward to this year, despite the pandemic, we had about 100 young researchers participating in the summer camp online. Therefore, the budget is going up every year. In 2021, we organized two summer camps, one aiming at physics and the other at biology, medicine, and artificial intelligence. It was an online event and the total budget worked out to about half a million RMB.

What support did you receive from USTC for these programs?

The university supports my activities a lot. The money comes from the USTC fellowship. It covers a lot of things, such as support for international visiting professors, international visiting young researchers (like those who come for FuSEP), and for international young researchers studying at USTC. This fellowship also helps domestic young researchers go abroad and experience international education.

How have these programs influenced the research ecosystem of the COSPA Group and of USTC as a whole? How has the programs influenced the careers of researchers?

Part of the reason I pushed on these programs is that we get a lot of benefits from them. My group had a young researcher from the School of Gifted Young who got the chance to go abroad because of these programs. The experience helped him open up to what professional research is abroad, and when he came back, he did several projects with me in the COSPA Group, and I did not really have to supervise him because he was self-motivated to do scientific research. Now, he is doing his postgraduate studies in Princeton with a reputed scientist.

Another one of my students is doing a postdoctoral tenure at Cambridge. One is in Italy at the prestigious National Institute of Nuclear Physics. Another one has moved on to the University of Tokyo, where he is a very crucial member of the team. Three of my international young researchers are from Pakistan, and the three are all women, who now have the opportunity to do scientific research at USTC and develop their talents.

In the future, some of the domestic young researchers who went abroad will come back like I did, or the international young researchers I am teaching will go back to their home countries, and like this we will help develop science and technology all over the world. Even if only a few young researchers go back to their home countries, that is enough to transform the landscape of research and development there. After all, that is what happened in China. Even if they do not, we cannot say we are losing these talented minds because countries have borders, but science never has a border. In this way, the work we do is improving the lives of people all around the globe.