The growth code of the "Yan Keats Class"

This is a roster of stars: Cao Yuan, a "graphene prodigy" who was named the top ten scientific figures in the world in 2018 by the international top academic journal Nature, Deng Yuhao, the youngest member of the R&D team of the "Nine Chapters" of the quantum computing prototype, and Ren Yafei, who published research papers in international core journals seven times...

This is an amazing report card of talent development: about 98% of undergraduate graduates continue their studies, and about 80% go to the world's top universities.

They all have a common name: "Yan Keats Class". January 23, 2021 is the 120th anniversary of Mr. Yan Keats' birth, and the "Yan Keats Class" created by the University of Science and Technology of China in 2009 is also frequently mentioned. In just ten years, there are many talents, what is its growth code?

Those who do not meet the requirements, quit!

"Why can't our schools produce outstanding talents?"

In 2009, the Ministry of Education faced the "Qian Xuesen's question" and issued the "Experimental Plan for the Training of Top-notch Students in Basic Disciplines" (referred to as the "Top-notch Program") to cultivate China's own academic masters. As one of the first universities to be selected for the program, the University of Science and Technology of China, together with the Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, founded the "Yan Keats Physics and Technology Excellence Class" named after the old president Yan Keats, which means to practice its ideal of "letting science take root in Chinese soil" and cultivate leading talents who will be active in the fields of physics and related research in the future.

In October 2010, the University of Science and Technology of China was officially approved to carry out the pilot reform of the national education system and implement the "Top-notch Plan". So, what kind of students will be selected by the Yan Keats class, which is an important foothold of the program?

"If you want to choose, choose the top student among the top." After reaching a consensus among the whole college, the first selection is made from the undergraduate students of the School of Physics and the Junior Class College who were admitted in that year, according to the results of the new student entrance examination, combined with the physics winter camp, the college entrance examination and the recommendation of the professor, the list of interview students is determined, and the joint expert group composed of the School of Physics and the Institute of Physics is formed to conduct interview selection, and about 30 people are recruited for the first time.

"Admission is not based entirely on test scores, the key is to look at his interest in physics, his understanding of physics and his future plans." Professor Zeng Changgan, the head of Yan Keats' class, said, "The same is true of the supplementary records in the future, and we welcome people who talk about physics's 'hand dancing'. ”

Passing the primary election does not mean entering the safe, and those who have the following circumstances must adjust out of the class: actively opt out according to their own situation, return to the ordinary class learners, withdraw! Those who fail the compulsory courses in the first 4 semesters, or those who have more than 2 physics courses (including 2 subjects) with a score of less than 70 points, will be withdrawn! Students whose academic performance is below the middle line of the School of Physics will be withdrawn!

Similarly, when there is a difference, students in other classes can enter the class after passing the recommendation of the professor and passing the Yan Keats class assessment.

In order to maintain the overall stability of the class, the total adjustment ratio (excluding the automatic withdrawal quota) generally does not exceed 20% of the total number of students, and at the end of the fourth semester, the list of students in the class is finalized, with about 40 students per class. Learning is like sailing against the current and retreating if you don't advance, and students who want to stay must be brave enough to swim upstream.

Personalized teaching is just not the same

Talents are in place, how to cultivate them next?

Yan Keats class abandons the same standardized way of educating people, and formulates a personalized training plan for students to "tailor-made". The curriculum system adopts the cultivation of physics categories, does not subdivide disciplines, and encourages students to explore independently and study research while emphasizing the learning of basic courses. To this end, three teaching modes have been explored: one is the large class main lecture and the small class discussion mode, that is, the Yan Keats class is held with other class students, and the class is equipped with a special teacher to be responsible for curriculum discussion and research learning. Research-based learning is particularly evident in the higher-level professional curriculum, where students are encouraged to select research topics during the learning process, including writing essays, essay competitions and research physics experiments; second, the small class dual-teacher model, that is, the Yan Keats class is held separately, with two teachers. Teachers can combine their own scientific research to teach deeper and more cutting-edge content; the third is the small class single teacher plus the main tutoring model, that is, the Yan Keats class is held separately, and the tutor is also equipped. Since 2012, the class 'Electromagnetics' course has been organized by the main teacher, Professor Ye Bangjiao, and another main tutor, using a combination of classroom teaching and seminars, requiring each student to go to the podium at least once to make a report, and the students and teachers will discuss according to the report topic. "The students in Yan Keats' class have passion, a solid foundation, and a wide range of knowledge, and everyone will get fascinated by a problem and come up with new solutions in the collision of ideas." This made Yu Jieyi, a student of yan keats class in the class of 2017, very emotional.

Each undergraduate student with a mentor is standard in the personalized training program. Here, the college selects outstanding teachers from inside and outside the college as academic tutors of Yan Keats class, and implements the model of tutor groups corresponding to student groups. Tutors give students all-round guidance in curriculum learning, scientific research, career planning, etc.

Deng Yuhao was selected to enter Yan Keats' class in his sophomore year, during which he developed a strong interest in quantum information and quantum physics, and applied to join the famous Lu Chaoyang team in his junior year, received standardized scientific research training, and led independent scientific research projects. "I am very grateful to Teacher Lu for letting go and letting himself take on important work, just like learning to swim, listening to a lot of theories is better than jumping directly into the water and fluttering."

Wang Hui, a student in the same group, believes that Teacher Lu's requirements for data acquisition and analysis, drawing papers, and writing requirements are extremely meticulous, "Where the expression is not correct, he will call me to the office, revise it word by word, and sometimes simply rewrite it all." ”

The school subsidizes each student to go abroad for exchange

"Every student has the opportunity to study at a first-class university abroad for a period of time during their time on campus, and the cost is mainly borne by the school." Zeng Changgan said. Since the phased goal of Yan Keats class is to train a group of students to enter the best basic physics research group after graduation to engage in doctoral study and research, it emphasizes students' international academic communication ability.

To this end, the class has set up an international exchange and cooperation committee, using the overseas contacts of professors on campus and the rich overseas alumni resources of the school, establishing a database of foreign experts, and establishing a fixed student exchange program with international famous universities to build a normalized student dispatch channel. At present, cooperative projects have been set up with Harvard University, Yale University and other universities, and students can go abroad to carry out summer research programs through the above projects, and the training fees are mainly funded by the school.

"Exchanges with foreign universities have been very beneficial." This is the voice of the students. Cao Yuan went to oxford university in the United Kingdom and the University of Michigan in the United States for research projects at the undergraduate level, and went to MIT for a doctoral degree after graduation, during which he published two innovative works on graphene in the same issue of Nature, and on May 6, 2020, he published two blockbuster papers back-to-back on Nature; Zhao Wenjin was sponsored by Yan Keats class to participate in summer research at Oxford University during his college years, and went to the University of Washington for further study after graduation. In 2017 and 2018, he made major breakthroughs in the study of two-dimensional metal materials, publishing three first-author papers in Nature, Science, and Natural Physics.

While actively promoting students to exchange with foreign universities, HKUST attaches great importance to attracting outstanding students from foreign first-class universities to exchange with the university. Since 2013, the International Summer Camp for Future Physicists has been held every year, inviting the best physics students from top universities such as Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology to exchange physics learning and scientific research experience with HKUST.

In ten years, one new star after another has risen from the Strict Keats class, shining in the vast and deep firmament of the physical world. In response to the call of the motherland and the cultivation of future masters, the University of Science and Technology of China has handed over a satisfactory answer to the "Top-notch Plan" and is now entering the more promising and challenging "Top-notch Plan" 2.0 era.

Author: Wang Zhipeng