The best and brightest get an inside track

Fudan University Topnotch Talent student Li Zongyuan, photographed with his prestigious Qiu Chentong math award, has secured a PhD scholarship from Oxford University. (Photo: Shanghai Daily/Ti Gong)

Ding Qiliang is a university student keen on probing the use of bioinformatics in human evolution studies.

That somewhat esoteric field of study is at the cutting edge of biological science. Ding is a perfect example of the kind of talent China wants to identify and nurture in its quest for a new generation of innovators.

Ding is one of 5,500 participants in the nation's Topnotch Talent pilot program. In 2009, the Ministry of Education implemented the program in 19 of China's most prestigious universities, including Tsinghua University, Peking University, Fudan University and Jiao Tong University.

In part, the project was designed to answer the famous question posed by the eminent late scientist Qian Xuesen: Why do our universities fail to cultivate innovative talent?

The program allocates 100,000 yuan (US$16,000) in funding for each student accepted for enrollment and gives them access to advanced research facilities and top professors from at home and abroad.

Enrollment is drawn from undergraduate students wanting to do research in mathematics, physics, biology, chemistry and computer sciences.

Ding entered Fudan University's Life Sciences School in 2009.

"Biology is rather experiment oriented," he said. "We all wanted to dive into lab work as early as possible."

Pipe dream

That's pretty much a pipe dream for most undergraduates, who have limited access to laboratories for independent research — a realm mostly reserved for postgraduate students in China.

Undergraduates have to find their own professors if they want access, and even then, they are often relegated to lab assistant work for postgraduates.

Fudan officially launched its Topnotch Talent pilot program in 2010. All students are free to apply, providing they can persuade the assessment panel of senior professors to accept them.

Ding succeeded in securing a place when he was a sophomore. There are another 17 biology students in the program that year.

"We greeted each other by asking, 'What experiment are you working on?'" said Ding, with a shy smile.

The program not only provides these budding researchers with a platform to work but also the opportunity to expand their minds.

"The 18 of us in Topnotch Talent at the Life Sciences School were given some 20 advisors, which means that students have more opportunities to explore their research interests by interacting with various scholars," Ding said.

The time spent in laboratory research paid off. Ding published a scientific article on human evolutionary genetics as first author and another as the second author when he was still an undergraduate.

He was sent to the Baylor College of Medicine in Texas on an exchange program in the summer of 2012, where he further developed his understanding on the use of bioinformatics in human evolution studies.

That became the focus of his later research. Ding will be pursuing his doctorate at Washington University later this year.