Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) has always taken a holistic approach to the development of its students, under its mission of exploring innovative methods of talent pipeline progress. SUSTech has continued to find new and creative ways to educate and illuminate the SUSTech community, which has seen its students made great achievements in both academic and extracurricular pursuits.
2019 is the first year for SUSTech to independently recruit and train postgraduate students, and also the first year for international graduate students. In 2019, 1151 graduate students, including 650 masters students and 501 doctoral candidates, joined the SUSTech community.
SUSTech students have published academic papers in high-impact journals, won awards at vital scientific conferences, competed with the best in academic competitions, and returned with medals in athletic contests. The continued focus on the comprehensive cultivation of leaders for the new era will continue to evolve through 2020.
Multiple material selection and continuous improvement of student quality
In 2019, 1064 undergraduate and 1151 graduate students enrolled at SUSTech. The quality of the talent pipeline at SUSTech continued to improve, with more layers forming in the foundation of our education training systems.
The comprehensive evaluation admission model continues to evolve as part of an iterative process to form a distinctive, rigorous, scientific, efficient and standardized mechanism for evaluating student ability. This year saw the 8th time of SUSTech’s adoption of the “631” comprehensive evaluation admission model, and it is becoming more mature every year. Such an approach is being emulated by other key universities around mainland China, as an excellent way to incorporate talented future leaders into their student cohorts. As a result of the “631” comprehensive evaluation admission model, SUSTech is now the first-choice university for many top students across Guangdong Province.
Over 42,000 high school candidates in China have applied to SUSTech in 2019, which is about 30% higher than last year. The number of candidates has reached a new high, which is equivalent to competing for one placement for every 40 candidates. This ratio is expected to increase next year. Student quality continues to improve every year, with their average scores in 14 provinces entering the top 1.5%. Further to that, new students from Guangxi (top 0.94%), Guizhou (top 1.0%), Sichuan (top 1.1%), Shanxi (top 1.15%), and Anhui (top 1.18%) represented the best of the best.
2019 is the debut of independently recruited domestic and international postgraduate students on campus. Six hundred fifty masters students and over 500 doctoral candidates opted for a fresh academic outlook, coming from over 150 world-class universities, including Tsinghua University, Peking University, Chinese University of Hong Kong, Columbia University in the City of New York (Columbia University) and Imperial College of Science, Technology, and Medicine (Imperial College London). There are over six thousand students at SUSTech, with over four thousand undergraduates and more than two thousand postgraduates students.
2019 graduate data
The results of our global education vision are reflected in the directions taken by the Class of 2019. As of the end of June 2019, 733 of the 800 new graduates from SUSTech have either been accepted into postgraduate studies or taken a full-time job. Of that group, nearly 60% have opted for further studies and over 30% have taken a job. 152 of 465 graduates who have opted for further studies that are continuing in academic are heading directly into doctoral studies, with more than 100 graduates entering the top 50 universities in the world.
Nearly 50% of the graduates have taken full-time jobs, mostly in the Greater Bay Area, while three students have started their businesses. 4 in 5 graduates that have entered the workforce have remained in Shenzhen and are employed by renowned local and international enterprises in a wide range of fields, like Tencent, Huawei, Baidu, BYD and China Merchants Bank.
SUSTech students win big across the world
SUSTech students won awards in numerous competitions around the world. Undergraduate and postgraduate students brought home honors in the Chinese Mathematics Competition, the Mathematical Contest in Modeling and the Interdisciplinary Contest in Modeling (MCM/ICM Contests), the Asia Supercomputer Community Student Supercomputer Challenge (ASC19), the 2019 IEEE International Conference on Software Testing, Verification and Validation (ICST 2019), the 2019 International Symposium on Software Testing and Analysis (ISSTA 2019), the 2019 IEEE International Conference on Software Quality, Reliability, and Security (QRS 2019), the China Aeromodelling Design Challenge (CADC), the International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition (iGEM), the 44th International Collegiate Program Contests, the 7th National Metallographic Skills Competition, the National Competition on Artificial Intelligence Innovation for Universities, and the TI Cup National University Student Electronic Design Competition.
The scientific rigor of our undergraduate students was also on display, with many publishing papers in high-impact journals. The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) journal, IEEE Transactions on Communication, published the graduation project of two graduates. Class of 2018 graduates Lv Bojie and Huang Lexiang had their graduation project accepted as a paper in the journal. Class of 2020 student Hu Qikun has published 14 papers so far, with 9 of them as the first author and four have been selected as cover articles of SCI standard journals.
The American Society of Bone and Mineral Research (ASBMR) awarded two young scholars from Professor Xiao Guozhi’s research team at the Department of Biology with ASBMR young Investigator awards for their presentations. The two young scholars are Lei Yiming, a SUSTech graduate, and Wang Yishu, a doctoral student from the SUSTech-HIT joint program. Class of 2021 undergraduate student Zhang Guodong attended the 8th International Conference of the Asian Society for Precision Engineering and Nanotechnology (ASPEN2019) in Japan, where he received the Young Researcher Award, as a reflection of his research in the Department of Mechanical and Energy Engineering (MEE).
Wonderful campus cultural activities, training talents for all-round development
2019 is the University’s “cultural quality year.” SUSTech strengthened campus culture throughout the year to further stimulate the endogenous motivation for active campus culture development with innovative cultural carriers and activities.
SUSTech completed 15 cultural construction projects, including a large-scale electronic screen and an electronic bulletin board.
Highlights of the year included the annual Regional Culture Fair, the first Modern Art Festival, and the first Creative Cultural Market. Such culturally inspiring events have seen students look back at traditional culture as well as forward to what the future may look like.
On March 14, SUSTech held its publicity and cultural work conference. It was the first such conference since the establishment of SUSTech and was crucial for SUSTech to make great strides to achieve leapfrog development. The conference released a report that emphasized the importance of the next five to ten years for the rapid growth of SUSTech. The publicity and cultural work must center on the core development strategy and goals of SUSTech. A leading and prosperous university culture supports SUSTech to build a world-class research university that cultivates more leading innovative talents for the new era.
On December 19, SUSTech established the SUSTech Culture and Arts Professional Committee, which hires outstanding cultural and art experts from all walks of life to provide guidance and consultation for the high-level development of SUSTech’s culture and art. The committee is positioned as the highest consulting institution for the cultural construction of SUSTech. It gathers cultural and artistic masters in many fields such as literature, film, theater, design, fine arts, sculpture, music, dance, folk literature, and art.
SUSTech’s public service advertisement was released at Shenzhen Airport, and it sought to promote scientific and technological developments that serve the country. The advertisement covered the sight of China’s scientific and technical strength, interpretation of China’s scientific and technological advantages, and the depiction of China’s scientific and technological future.
SUSTech also launched a music video version of the “My Motherland and I,” SUSTech branding service system, the introduction of 6 People’s Daily E-reading screens. “SUSTech Lecture Series”, “Congregation Opening Video,” “I am SUSTecher,” “SUSTech Popular Science,” “Website Banner Video,” and many brands were built and further enriched the campus culture.
SUSTech continued its sporting success, winning numerous events around Guangdong Province and across the country. Of course, the annual Science and Technology Sports Festival, and the SUSTech-Green Pine Capital Run For Science Marathon have become famous across Shenzhen. The new sporting infrastructure across campus supports the physical and mental wellbeing of everyone on campus.
In 2019, new progress was made in physical education, with both teachers and students achieving excellent results in various national and provincial sports competitions. SUSTech student Chen Du won four games in a row and finished 3rd in the 58kg class of the Chinese University Taekwondo Championships in 2019. Eight members of our orientation team won 3 championships, five 2nd prizes, and four 3rd prizes in the 18th China Student Orientation Championship. The SUSTech archery team came third in the national mixed provincial qualifier. Sports center teacher Lu Yang won the “I’m the Boxer” national championship.
SUSTech’s Taekwondo team came 3rd in the 2019 Guangdong University Taekwondo Championship. Students also claimed the best technique award along with three gold, two silver, and two bronze medals. In the Guangdong Universiade, the SUSTech table tennis team claimed many medals, including the men’s doubles championship and 2nd in the teams’ championships. The Guangdong Universiade also saw SUSTech claim the martial arts trophy, while our badminton women’s singles finished third. In the Provincial Tennis Championships, our school’s representative team was third runner-up. At the University City Games, SUSTech finished first overall, claiming its fourth consecutive championship.
SUSTech’s sports venues improved continuously throughout the year, and new sports venue facilities are newly built and improved. In 2019, SUSTech built an outdoor sports park, international physical fitness center, combat hall, and military physical obstacles. Every month, 4000 people enter the fitness center for exercise, 2000 people swim in the swimming pool, and 1000 people use the fight hall and baseball field.
