Series report of outstanding graduates of SUSTC: Episode 4

Name: Wang Jiale

Department: Department of Physics

Orientation: Doctorate program at Department of Materials Science and Engineering, University of Oxford

The 17-year-old boy Wang Jiale is already a doctoral student of Oxford

Senior or junior? It’s hard to tell.

Everyone in SUSTC knows about Wang’s “glorious achievement”. He’s a genius. He skipped grades for several times in primary school and entered in junior high school at the age of 10. Then at 12 years old, he took the college entrance exams and got a very high score (648 points). A year later, he was admitted by SUSTC, becoming the youngest among the first undergraduate students of the university. He’s a super scholar. The first year in SUSTC, he was awarded the First Prize Scholarship by the university for his excellent scores. Since then, his name was frequently seen on the lists of scholarship winners. He also began to publish academic thesis when he was still a freshman, which has continued until now. He’s senior to other students, for he’s the first graduate in the history of SUSTC. He only spent three and a half years in completing all the undergraduate studies and researches required by the university. He graduated from SUSTC in advance in June 2014, and went to UK in pursuit of a doctoral degree in the University of Oxford. However, he’s junior at the same time. When he graduated, he was younger than everyone else in SUSTC at the age of 17, the same age as most students at the eleventh or twelfth grade. It is heard that the University of Oxford especially chose a custodian family for him to welcome his arrival, for it’s forbidden by British laws that a minor lives alone without custody.

Nonetheless, things may lack authenticity under spotlights. So what is Wang Jiale really like? How does he think about his experiences?

A slow genius: good habits are more important than natural gift

Wang Jiale is a local Shenzhen boy. He was born in a happy family of four, and has been receiving a good home education since young. “My parents have great influence on me, of which the most important one is that they not only teach me through their words but also through their actions. They tell me that success is not the most crucial thing, but whether I have contributed efforts to pursue what I want is what matters most.” Even before he was enrolled in SUSTC in 2011, Wang was already a well-known genius kid in Shenzhen. He took the college entrance examination in 2010 as the youngest examinee in the city, and exceeded the score line for key universities by 21 points.

Those who have met Wang in person are surprised that Wang is modest and mature which are not quite typical for his age. He is kind, friendly, confident and decent. He’s 1.8 meters tall but has a baby face with bright smile all the time. Tian Xiao, his former class teacher at Shenzhen Yaohua Experimental School, his high school, said, “He has both a high IQ and EQ. He’s very polite and keeps a good relationship with his classmates and teachers. We like and trust him, and always put him in charge of some tasks.”

He has developed good studying habits since very young, and, step by step, he discovered the most suitable study methods for himself. He likes thinking about his weakness and talks them with teachers, which explain the reason why he can always get the best scores among all the students. However, Wang doesn’t consider himself as a genius. On the contrary, he believes he’s a little bit slow in study. “For example when I just skipped grades at high school, my score ranking in the whole grade declined for a period of time. But I caught up soon. This is because I’m convinced that my way of learning is effective and that I can succeed if I persist in doing it.”

A school legend that dares to question the authority: SUSTC makes me more confident

Although being regarded as a genius, Wang still found himself faced with new challenges when he entered into SUSTC. “At the beginning of my freshman year, I could not get accustomed to the university’s heuristic and interactive method of teaching. On one occasion where my teacher asked me to deliver a report at the platform, I became so nervous that I found my legs trembling and I couldn’t speak fluently. I didn’t even dare to ask questions in class.” But soon, he found out that the teaching method greatly stimulated his interest and passion towards study and research. Once in the chemistry class, he had doubt about a formula presented by the teacher. He struggled for a while, and eventually decided to stand up and expressed his doubt and opinions. The teacher praised him immediately for his bold spirit of questioning. After giving a brief explanation in class, the teacher, after the class, even invited him and other professors to have a discussion about the question until they finally got a satisfying answer. The experience fascinated Wang, so gradually he became much more active in discussions in and after classes. “Later, even when I’m standing in front of leading experts or professors, I have the courage to express myself clearly and question their ideas”, said Wang smilingly, “SUSTC has made me become more confident.”

Wang is one of the first students who do researches under the guidance of their tutors. “My first project was very simple. It’s about calculating the electric field of a finite cylinder. The idea originated from a topic that the teacher mentioned in class. A thought came up in my mind, so I talked about it with my teacher after class. Recognizing my idea was great, the teacher encouraged me to have a try. I spent a month writing codes and debugging programs before sending the results to him. After several revision of the thesis, it was accepted by an international conference”, he recalled, “It was my first time to experience the whole process of doing researches.” In the following years, Wang never stopped participating in researches. “I’ve learnt a lot of skills about how to do researches, and most importantly I’ve trained myself to think critically and independently.”

After three and a half years’ study in SUSTC, the deepest impression left by Wang to his teachers is that he always insists on getting to the essence of the matter. “Sometimes I would have discussions with teachers after class, at about 12 o’clock. It usually lasted for one hour before it suddenly occurred to me that the canteen was about to close. So we usually walked to the canteen and had lunch together during which we continued our discussion until 2 o’clock in the afternoon when the classes began. One time, the professor who taught us Python programming language even gave up noon break to discuss with me until three or four o’clock in the afternoon and almost missed his plane. But he still told me excitedly that he appreciated serious students like me”, Wang said with a little bit shyness.

Go through difficulties with the help of teachers and classmates: SUSTC has taught me to cherish and appreciate

Wang said, “Ever since I stepped into the campus of SUSTC, I’ve realized how lucky I am. I enjoy the resources that many college students are longing for. Our teachers’ passion towards researches and teaching has also encouraged me to keep striving and exploring.”

For Wang, the most fortunate experience is to work with his academic tutors, Assistant Professor Junfeng Liu and his life coach Professor Jiaqing He.

Although students will not have their academic tutors until junior year after they choose their major, Junfeng Liu began to tutor Wang since sophomore as his teacher of Theoretical Mechanics. When Wang missed several classes for some reasons, Liu used his evening time to help him catch up with the others. “Though there were only about 40 students in the university at that time, the teachers all worked very hard to prepare for the classes and always worked late at night. Many of them, like Professor Liu, would sacrifice their spare time just to make up missed classes for us. They are very responsible indeed”, said Wang.

When it was time to do the graduation project, Wang’s mother became seriously ill. Wang had to travel between Shenzhen and Guangzhou frequently to deal with the graduation project and apply for universities on one hand, and take care of his mother on the other hand. After hearing the situation, Professor Liu changed his timetable to fit in with Wang’s and instructed him late at night in the graduation project. “Professor Liu gave up his rest time to have discussions with me until 11 or 12 o’clock at night”, Wang told us.

Wang’s life coach is Professor Jiaqing He from the Department of Physics. He insisted on meeting with Wang face to face at least once every month to learn about his life and his progress in study. Wang indicated, “Every time we met, Professor He would chat with me patiently. He not only helped me with the problems that I encountered in study and life, but also told me what it was like in European and American universities, which has broadened my horizon.”

Wang also thanks for the selfless help from his classmates. When he was busy preparing materials to apply for foreign universities in 2013, his mother was seriously ill and had to stay in hospital for treatment. He recalled, “I was about to participate in an English debate contest when I received the call from home. It totally freaked me out. But I managed to calm down very soon and went to the contest, because I knew that no matter how worried I was, I could not have the treatment for my mom. The only thing I could do was growing up fast so that my parents wouldn’t need to worry about me.” Since then, Wang had to travel between Shenzhen and Guangzhou every week to take care of his mother and get the graduation project going at the same time. When his classmates knew about the situation, they all sent messages to encourage him and took notes on the classes for him to help him make up the missed classes. “Since I had to look after my mom and didn’t want to miss the classes of the next day, I had to take trains at 1 or 2 o’clock in the early morning to go back to school. My roommates didn’t complain at all and even left a light on for me.”

“After meeting so many people and experiencing so many things in my three-year college life, I have formed a new understanding of many things and have set a better goal for myself. However, the most important treasure for me is that I’ve learned how to appreciate and cherish. I appreciate all the encouragement and help I’ve received and I cherish all my family and friends”, said Wang emotionally.

Impressed Oxford professors in the interview: I will carry my SUSTC glory on in Oxford!

In March, 2014, Wang received the admission letter from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering of the University of Oxford. Recalling the day of interview, Wang can still feel “fears” in his heart. “There were 2 rounds of interview. The professors asked many professional and quite specific questions, and from one of those, they even developed 10 small and more detailed ones. I thought that I was about to fail for several times, but fortunately I made it at last.” He also commented that a solid foundation of academic knowledge and the ability to express ideas clearly with confidence are the key factors that helped him get the offer from Oxford. He added, “One of the professors asked me a very professional question. When I answered it, I quoted from some thesis, of which the professor happened to be the author.” Then Wang analyzed briefly the value of the thesis and talked about what methods he thought could be done to further improve the research. To his surprise, his ideas coincided with what the professor was going to do. So the professor gave him a very high comment, “You are incredible to think independently and reasonably”.

Some reporters from China once wrote to the Graduate Schools of the University of Oxford and asked them why they would enroll Wang Jiale, a 17-year-old boy. Their spokesman replied that the doctorate programs of Oxford welcomed applicants with outstanding academic potentials, and that as long as the applicant was able to demonstrate himself with related quality through any ways, whether they had academic achievement, had published thesis, had elaborated a research plan or their thesis had been quoted, the university would consider his admission. He also said, “For anyone who is eventually enrolled in those fiercely competitive programs, they deserve congratulations.”

Wang has already been studying in Oxford for a half year now. He got accustomed to the pace of studying and living there very soon, and he feels just like a duck to water in the over 800-year-old top university. He not only focuses on learning and doing researches as he always does, but also participates in the election of doctoral student representatives, organizes social events for students and proposes suggestions about curriculum design to the University of Oxford. Wang said, “Studying and living in Oxford for me is an extension of the life in SUSTC. With the basis laid in SUSTC, I will strive hard to continue its glory in Oxford.”

(Reporter: Hai Lan, Cuiqiong Pang)

Brief introduction to University of Oxford

Oxford, short for the University of Oxford, is a world top public university situated in the British city with the same name. Founded in 1167, it’s the oldest university in English-speaking countries and the second oldest higher educational institution that still existed in the world. It’s generally recognized as one of the best higher educational institutions around the globe. It is a well-known university that enjoys great reputation and enormous influence in the world.

Oxford ranked 2nd in the 2013-2014 World University Rankings published by TIMES. It also owns a world-class faculty, with 83 Fellows of the Royal Society and 125 Fellows of the British Academy. The university is in world-leading position in mathematics, computer science, physics, biology and medical science. In recent years, Oxford has obtained remarkable achievements in all fields including liberal art, basic science and applied science.

By now, Oxford has educated 11 Kings from at least 7 countries, 6 kings from UK, and 47 Nobel Laureates, as well as 53 Presidents and Prime Ministers from 19 countries, with 25 of them from UK.