In the beginning of 2016 Spring term, good news came from SUSTech. Offers for doctoral candidates from Cornell University, Chicago University, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), University of Utah, Northwest University, Purdue University, Texas A&M University, Boston College, University of Maryland, University of Pittsburgh and University of Connecticut reached SUSTech students graduating in 2016. Some of them even received more than one offer.

Since established 5 years ago, SUSTech has captured great attention from home and abroad. In particular, the education philosophy and talent training are highly recognized by the first-class universities in the world. And our graduates are favored by them. Of the dozen or even few of the international students enrolled in the department of these universities, we can often find SUSTech graduates. Some even receive the “full scholarship” (the scholarship includes tuition and allowance; to obtain the allowance, the student needs to be competent enough to work as the Assistant Researcher or Assistant Professor).

In addition to enrollment by first-class universities in the world, SUSTech graduates also continue their education in the Chinese universities, find their jobs or start their own business upon graduation. Starting with this volume, we will interview some of the excellent graduates to present the outstanding performance of SUSTech students.

On January 20, Chen Su, who was sponsored by SUSTech to study writing course in Cornell University, received the notice of interview from the Cornell University, Chemistry Department. After the simple English interview, Cornell University gave him the offer for doctoral candidate while promising the abundant scholarship. Including this offer, he has received more from University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (UIUC), Northeast University (NU), Texas A&M University, the University of Utah and the Ohio State University at Columbus, which also promised scholarship. “I choose the university according to the research orientation of professors. I have interest in the research orientation of a few professors, thus I wish to study in their universities.”

Of the universities giving offers to Chen Su, Cornell University is the sole one that required an interview. The other universities didn’t require that because of the exceptional applications submitted by Chen Su and because of the 113 TOEFL scores. Some universities, on the offer, stated clearly the exemption of the English proficiency test that has to be taken by new students.

Chen Su, who is quite low-profiled and was enrolled by SUSTech in 2012, is seen by his mother, who is a chemistry teacher in a high school, as a concentrating big boy. And his tutor believes he is a versatile excellent student with high IQ and EQ. In the eyes of his fellow students, he is a capable one in the Student Union. In the eyes of the Academy Folk Music Band, he is the proficient Erhu Player & Band Leader. Now let’s get to know this versatile big boy. 

Grow rapidly in the all-English teaching environment

Graduating from She County Middle School in Anhui Province, Chen Su was enrolled by SUSTech in 2012 with his admission exam score staying 104 points higher than the minimum required level. “SUSTech adopts the full-English teaching. In the middle school, I seldom had opportunities to practice oral English. So I was worried about my English proficiency when starting education in the university”, said Chen Su, “But my English improved quickly when I got into the all-English teaching environment in SUSTech”.

Many SUSTech students would say, “English is not learned in English classes”. As a matter of fact, courses in SUSTech are the same as in international universities with flexible textbook use. Most of the textbooks, handouts and even exam papers are in English. “In the month of studying in Cornell University, my parents were concerned that I couldn’t get used to it because most of my classmates were undergraduates from the Cornell University. But I felt good because I could communicate with teachers in class and get on well with my classmates. What I learned in SUSTech and the approach I mastered could be used in Cornell University, too. And this is mainly because of the all-English teaching in SUSTech”, said Chen Su in smile.

Chen Su said he felt quite familiar with the teaching ways. “Cornell University teachers also adopt the group discussion approach in the class. Just as in SUSTech, the teacher gave a topic and students would get into group discussions before reporting on the podium. After that, the other students and the teacher would evaluate the report”, said Chen Su, “And this approach was taken by SUSTech teachers when I first came to the University. Through this, I understand many questions have more than one answer. And I am encouraged to think and discuss, identify the cause and explain the conclusion. I love such atmosphere.”

As a matter of fact, Chen Su had wonderful academic performance in SUSTech and ranked in the leading position in his grade. However, he doesn’t think he is smart and he simply spends more time and efforts. “I would keep asking myself, have you made all efforts? Have you done the best? The students cannot decide how many scores they receive. But they know what they have learned. And I judge my performance by the efforts I have spent. Luckily, through my efforts, I can get good results. The active feedback can give me encouragement”, said Chen Su, “It is just like studying the computer programming course, which helps with my research thinking. To Lay a food foundation, we should focus on the study of science as an undergraduate, but not a specific discipline.”

From literature reading to independent completion of a research task

Like many students in SUSTech, Chen Su got into the research team of a professor when he first came to the University. In Year 1 in SUSTech, he started to read literature guided by Prof. Wang Jun in the Chemistry Department. Each week, he would attend the meeting together with post-doctoral candidates, assistant researchers and experiment staff in the research team. They would read literature and share the latest research results in the world. Prof. Wang Jun recalled SUSTech and Hong Kong Baptist University made a joint research program. She took Chen Su, who just finalized the Year 1 courses, to Hong Kong for a program meeting. With fluent English, Chen Su made a complete and professional oral report. After the meeting, some professors of Hong Kong Baptist University said, “SUSTech students are really excellent.”

In the first term in Year 2, Chen Su joined the Journal Club organized by his life tutor Prof. Hou Shengtao to read literature about brain science. And he first studied the “brain of Einstein”. He consulted the literature and explained it to the others. After that, he was guided by Prof. Hou and wrote a critical review and published it. Chen Su said, “When doing research, I deeply understand the importance of fundamental knowledge, which also promoted my study. When talking about research, many people would think about ‘innovations’. Yes, creativity is very important. But without the foundation, there would be no innovation. At the same time, self-study ability is very important.”

After he finished his Year 2 study in SUSTech, Chen Su chose chemistry as his major. He didn’t go home in that summer vocation. Instead, he went to Prof. Liu Xinyuan Laboratory in the Chemistry Department. Prof. Liu said, for students new to the research team, he would often designate an experienced post-doctoral candidate to teach some basic experiment skills. But Chen Su had some foundation when getting to the laboratory, so he gave him an independent research task. After the summer vocation was over, he finished the task. “Chen Su is a student with strong desire for knowledge. He works very hard and has ability to solve things independently. I was surprised that he completed the research on his own in the summer vocation. Even some postgraduates cannot do it”, said Prof. Liu Xinyuan, “Besides, he has very high EQ and strong ability of communication. In doing the research, he found a latest research uses a new device. He contacted the person and asked about details of that device so that we can use it.”

Chen Su in the laboratory

In the research team of Prof. Liu Xinyuan, there were two other undergraduates, Yang Ningyuan and Zhu Xiaolong, who are also very excellent. They often worked in the laboratory till 2 or 3 a.m. Now Zhu Xiaolong has received an offer from Boston College. Yang Ningyuan didn’t apply for overseas study and would continue his research in Prof. Liu Xinyuan Laboratory. Recently, he published, as the First Author, an excellent thesis in Chem. Comm., an international journal. “For an undergraduate in the Chemistry Department, such performance is really exceptional”, said Prof. Liu Xinyuan. He is very familiar with students in hiw research team. And he commented that Chen Su is “a versatile student with very high IQ and EQ”.

Till today, Chen Su has published 2 academic theses and are delivering another 2. Besides, he has a patent in collaboration with the chemical plant. For research result, Chen Su said, “The main purpose of doing researches is to learn new things, but not to apply for overseas study. Getting the offer is a natural result. The important thing is what I have learned and what ability I have had. Only by learning new things and improving the ability can we have more opportunities in the future. I met many difficulties when studying and researching in the university. For instance, I had many questions that need solving in the process of study. And my research in the laboratory had bottleneck, etc. These are opportunities for us to solve problems. It is a very important ability to clearly see the problem and find effective solutions. And I have been working hard on it.”

Chen Su in performance

Playing Erhu and organize the dancing party

As a versatile student, Chen Su also attended many extra-curriculum activities. He passed Erhu Music Proficiency Grade 10 in Year 2 of his junior high school. In Year 2 in SUSTech, Chen Su joined the folk music band in the academy and was elected as the band head by the guiding teacher and band members. Now, the band has become one of the most representative student clubs in SUSTech. Invited to perform in many activities on the campus, the band receives great praise from both faculty and students. When studying in SUSTech, Chen Su never missed even one performance of the band. He helped the teacher to organize all the weekly rehearsals . When working as the band head, the band won the first prize in the 4th College Students Performance in Guangdong Province.

Photo of folk music band

In Year 2, Chen Su, who was the head of Activities Department in the Student Union of SUSTech for 2 years, proposed organizing dancing party for Christmas on the campus. It was the first time for such an activity on SUSTech campus. His proposal was welcomed and accepted by all SUSTech Student Union members. He was actively involved in making the plan and booking the venue. Even more, he took members in the Activities Department to learn how to dance at 9 p.m. when the class was over. “Many students didn’t dance. So as hosts, we had to learn dance before teaching other students.”, recalled Chen Su, “At that time, I had very busy schedule and learning to dance was really a tough job. But we taught many students to dance. Everyone was happy at the dancing party. I felt very pleased”. Today, the Christmas dancing party has become a traditional activity for SUSTech Student Union.

Future and ambitions

Talking about application for the university in US, Chen Su said, “When having problems in the process of application, we would ask senior students, who were very pleased to help us and offered many useful suggestions. For instance, they told us how to select university and tutor, and how to prepare applications. We are really happy to have such good fellow students.”

Talking about the future and ambitions, Chen Su said frankly that he hopes his research results can be used extensively in the future so that the results have values of application. After he finishes the overseas study, Chen Su hopes to go back to China. He said, “I love Shenzhen as a city that is full of energy and dynamics, opportunities and challenges. The city is developing fast and functioning as a showcase of China. I hope to, after I learn something useful and become competent, can have my opportunity in a city like Shenzhen so that I can help with social development and realize my own value. Hope to improve human beings’ living environment by using chemistry.”

Words for SUSTech

I wish to thank SUSTech for the help given to me by the teachers and students. I wish to thank all people who have contributed to SUSTech, including those on both the original campus and new campus, from the former President Zhu Qingshi to the new President Chen Shiyi, and from its early-stage development to the current robust development. We believe “power is most important” and we only care what we have learned. I have been encouraged by teachers and students. Hope younger students can be fueled by pursuit of knowledge and show respect for knowledge and innovation so that the wonderful learning atmosphere in SUSTech can become a tradition.