In the lab of Prof. Hou Shengtao at the Biology Department, SUSTech, several sophomore students were sitting in a circle, sometimes listening attentively to the professor and sometimes discussing heatedly. After joining the extracurricular interest group named “Einstein’s Brain”, the students would soon be assigned with different tasks according to their own interests. After thinking independently as well as consulting and studying reference materials, they would gather in the lab regularly each week to exchange their ideas and research progress. This was their first exposure to scientific research and they all thought it was very interesting.
Starting from interests and growing under strict requirements
“With an interesting topic, we organize readings for students to get them to gradually drill down, enter the field of science and master the methods of scientific research step by step. We regularly check students’ work and eventually publish papers with students as main authors.” said Prof. Hou.
The scene described at the beginning was two years ago. During the two years, Chen Hao, Zhou Lin and Yang Sen persisted in researching and discussing every week. Now Chen Hao has been admitted to Washington University in St. Louis as a PhD candidate in the Neuroscience and Biomedicine with the highest full scholarship; Zhou Lin has been accepted as a PhD candidate in Neuroscience by University of Goettingen in Germany with a full scholarship; and Yang Sen also has been admitted to Indiana University with a full scholarship to pursue a doctorate in Neuroscience. These three universities are all prestigious in the world and the majors are also promising.
Thanks to the combination of residential college system and tutorial system, Prof. Hou and the students get together. Like other SUSTech professors, Prof. Hou is not only a teacher in his department, but also a life tutor in the college. He meets with the students several times a month, talking about study, life and, of course, researches. Interest groups like the “Einstein’s Brain” are also good methods to gather the teachers and students together.
Speaking of his students, Prof. Hou was very familiar with them and highly praises them. “Chen Hao is the group leader. He is strong in independent thinking and takes every effort to complete what he decides to do.” With outstanding academic achievements and strong research abilities, Chen Hao and Zhou Lin all received the research fund of provincial university student innovation program and the Climbing scientific and research program in SUSTech. The professor said that once they planned to do an experiment in which the students needed to design a “labyrinth” for the mice to observe the animals’ behavior. He recalled that the “labyrinth” designed by most domestic and international students just varied in shapes, but the “labyrinth” designed by Chen Hao, along with Luo Ziyun, his roommate from the Electronics Department, was very complex even with electronic gates. They did a remarkable job in the experiment. SUSTech arranges students of different majors to live in one dormitory, which leads to many interdisciplinary programs that often bring teachers surprises.
Patience, Patience and Patience
To cultivate freshmen or sophomores to become young researchers favored by first-class majors in first-class universities, SUSTech teachers have to pay lots of attention and make every effort. SUSTech undergraduate students often participate in overseas scientific research contests or publish papers of their own, which should be greatly ascribed to the teachers’ patient guidance. “It takes long time to guide the students to do researches and obtain the final results, which requires great patience in the process. After getting the students to be familiar with scientific researches and master basic research methods, we also need to guide them to revise their papers again and again. It takes more time than we directly revising the papers for them, but only in this way can we train the students. We must spend the time and energy. Patience, patience, patience. This is our attitude toward the students.” Prof. Hou said.
In the past two years, up to 70% of SUSTech graduates have been admitted to well-known overseas universities. SUSTech teachers contribute a lot. Teachers who returned after studying abroad in elite universities provide advice and assistance for students in the choice of majors and the application of universities. Prod. Hou said: “We write recommendation letters, contact universities and introduce professors. We treat these undergraduate students as postgraduates. We are willing to do whatever is beneficial to them. SUSTech teachers, I believe, spend the most time and patience on students.”
As an academic supervisor at the Biology Department, Prof. Hou tutors three students in their graduation designs; as a life tutor in the college, Prof. Hou is responsible for ten students. He guides them in their study and life since they enter SUSTech, even if in the end they do not choose Biology as their major. After the midterm exam in each semester, each student’s transcript will be sent to their life tutors’ mailboxes. “After receiving the transcripts, I analyze the results of everybody, write reviews and talk to each student.” Prof. Hou said. In the well-decorated activity rooms and lounges, and even beside the lake, people can always catch sight of students talking to their tutors.
Sometimes, there are students neither in Prof. Hou’s research team nor in his college coming to visit him. The students may be anxious about selecting majors or intend to drop out as they find themselves unable to adapt to the fast pace of learning in SUSTech. Prof. Hou always takes time and patience to help them. Two years ago, Deng Qin, who had just become a sophomore, was interested in both Chemistry and Biology. He followed an animal physiology course given by Prof. Hou. “Deng Qin does animal experiments with exquisite techniques as a five-star restaurant chef preparing delicate dishes. He always completes the experiments in advance and then helps other students. He considers problems in every aspect and is very suitable to study Biology.” Prof. Hou appreciated Deng Qin very much, “Although in his junior year, Deng Qin selected Chemistry as his major, it is exactly what teachers should do to help each student discover their interests and help them to develop according to their interest as well as respect their interests. I am very happy to learn that Deng Qin has recently been admitted to an American university to pursue a doctors’ degree in Chemical Biology.”
Talking about Both Research and Life
Prof. Hou noted that the brain science is the last frontier of life science research and has gradually become a hotspot area for researches at home and abroad. However, at present, China still possessed scarce talents in this respect. Therefore, during the cultivation of students, he often told the students to focus on fostering their capacities and come back to China after graduation to contribute their efforts to the brain science development of China.
Having served as a student leader in every stage of his student life, Prof. Hou boasts excellent communication and leadership skills, which affects students deeply. In SUSTech, students can talk with their tutors not only about study and researches, but also about life, career planning and ideals.
Students’ Words
Prof. Hou is very humorous and easygoing. In scientific researches, Prof. Hou treats us undergraduate students with the standards for postgraduates. Since 2014, Prof. Hou has been supporting us in our university student innovation and entrepreneurship project, From the exploration for a research problem at the beginning, to application for the fund, then to the project design and finally the experiment implementation step by step, although there were many difficulties on the way, we insisted on with the guidance of Prof. Hou. These two years are almost a condensed graduate learning process, which would benefit us a lot in our future studies.
–Chen Hao, Class of 2016
Prof. Hou is my academic supervisor and I followed his animal physiology course. With an interest in the neurobiology, I joined Prof. Hou’s research team in the sophomore year and carried out researches under his guidance with several classmates.
Prof. Hou attaches great importance to cultivate students’ learning and research capabilities. In class, we not only learn knowledge from his vivid explanations but also gain a thorough understanding through group study and report on related topics; in lab, we are given full trust. I and some other students once applied for student research projects under Prof. Hou’s encouragement. From the background study of the selected topic to the design and implementation of the experiment, Prof. Hou encouraged us to come up with our own research ideas and try out various possible ways. It was not easy for us. Whenever we were stuck, Prof. Hou always gave us advice. As for the experiments, Prof. Hou also supported us totally and let us learn to use various instruments and equipment as well as new experimental methods. All the explorations and struggles in the lab help us take the first step from taking in knowledge passively as students toward exploring the unknown world actively as researchers.
Being our academic supervisor, Prof. Hou help and guide us not only in academic studies. Though he is very busy with daily affairs, Prof. Hou always stays positive and often teaches us how to actively get along with people. For many times, when discussing the possible experimental techniques he was not familiar with, Prof. Hou would immediately pick up the phone to contact concerned professors for the specific information. He always tells us to determine our goals and needs, act actively without delay and strive to grasp the opportunities to pursue our goals.
–Zhou Lin, Class of 2016
Prof. Hou is very gentle and modest. While attending the Journal Club organized by Prof. Hou, I, Chen Hao and Chen Su ever discussed two articles. One was about whether Einstein’s brain was distinctive and the other was about the function of glial cells in the neural development and memory formation. I benefited a lot from the discussions. As he was very learned in the neurology and anatomy, Prof. Hou answered all kinds of strange questions of us.
Prof. Hou met with us every few weeks and he often asked our learning and living situations. He introduced us a lot of Canadian customs and shared with us his early scientific career experience. He even humorously chatted with us about some wine knowledge.
I feel very lucky to have met such a helpful teacher both in study and in life during my college years. Prof. Hou also wrote me a recommendation letter when I applied for school and I am very grateful for his help.
–Tao Yicong, Class of 2016
