ZJU Attracts Galaxy of ‘Winged Steeds’

According to the 12th 1000 Talent Plan, Zhejiang University recruits 34 outstanding overseas young scientists, thus ranking 1st among all the institutions of higher learning and research institutes in China. In fact, the recruitment of young talents has been exceptionally successful at ZJU in the past several years.

“Outstanding faculty members are at the core of building a world-class university with top-notch disciplines. ZJU adheres to a consistent principle that equal emphasis should be placed on recruiting and nurturing talents. The competition for talents adds up to the competition in the establishment of an optimal working environment and a superlative talent cultivation platform,” said Jin Deshui, Party Chief of Zhejiang University.

What kind of environment has ZJU created and what kind of platform has it built so as to attract high-level overseas talents?

Kong Xueqian, a special researcher of the Department of Chemistry, was recruited into ZJU through the 11th 1000 Talent Plan. As an outstanding young expert in solid-state nuclear magnetic resonance (SSNMR), he has immense promise to be a leading figure in this field.

“State-of-the-art instruments are one of the prerequisites for research into SSNMR. Before I came to ZJU, the Department of Chemistry had applied to the Faculty of Sciences to buy two SSNMR spectrometers,” said Kong Xueqian, “The cutting-edge research platform has great appeal for me.”

Song Yonghua, Executive Vice President of Zhejiang University, said that “One of the key measures in talent recruitment at ZJU is to bring into full play the initiative of various schools and departments and endow academic leaders and deans with more autonomous rights and discourse power.”

To ensure that young talents work and live in comfort, ZJU also invests tremendously in salaries, research funds and special perks, particularly housing.

“The key to talent recruitment is to ‘win the hearts of talents’,” said Song Yonghua. While channeling massive resources into building research platforms, ZJU also makes every endeavor to create a congenial atmosphere for talents.

 “Talents are the kernel of a world-class university with world-class disciplines. Every ZJUer is contributing all he can to achieve this goal,” said Song Yonghua. At ZJU, every faculty member can be a “Bole” and is ardently discovering ‘gems’. To reward their efforts, ZJU set up a special award – the Bole Award in 2014.

Dong Shurong, a professor of the College of Information Science & Electronic Engineering and a winner of the Bole Award, said that he made the most of his academic circle, including those in charge of such distinguished research institutes as the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) and the Department of Engineering at the University of Cambridge, and asked them to recommend talents to ZJU. “We placed advertisements in the Journal of IEEE and introduced ZJU to every participant at various international conferences,” said Dong Shurong. Dong has successfully assisted the College of Information Science & Electronic Engineering in introducing 4 professors and 2 young scientists in the 1000 Talent Plan.

  Every newly-recruited high-caliber talent at ZJU will attend a simple but special ceremony—ZJU Welcomes You. Their family and friends will be invited to witness this eventful moment.

The 1000 Talent Plan acts as a magnet for a veritable reservoir of talents in China. They will play a crucial role in building a batch of world-class universities around 2020 and high-ranking universities in the world around 2030. Therefore, “bringing in young talents” is the first step for Chinese universities. However, they need to answer a more important question as to whether or not these talents can make achievements in their future work.

“ZJU has many celebrated scientists and is superbly strong in many disciplines. On one hand, the growth of young talents needs to depend on ZJU. On the other hand, their development should not be hindered by the mature shade of this big tree. From the perspective of the defining features of science, ZJU not only provides team support for young talents but also offers them an independent environment for development.

Prof. Wang Yong of the School of Material Sciences & Engineering was recruited into ZJU through the 7th 1000 Talent Plan and is currently a member of the research team led by Zhang Ze, a world-renowned expert in crystal structure. “The sophisticated research platform enables me to carry out cutting-edge research into electron microscopy,” said Wang Yong. The research team led by Zhang Ze is teeming with freedom and every young scientist can work independently. In the past 4 years, Wang Yong has set up his own laboratory, explored a new research field, obtained roughly 10 million yuan worth of research funds and published several papers in top journals.

“One of the fundamental requirements for rising stars is to make achievements, which cannot be equated with publishing papers. We lay more emphasis on their understanding of the future development of a particular discipline as well as their potential contributions. A groundbreaking paper in a new domain or a ‘terminator’ paper in a certain field far outshines many mediocre papers,” said Zhang Ze. In order to give adequate time for original, basic and pioneering research work, ZJU evaluates young scientists in the 1000 Talent Plan every three years.

“ZJU clings to the tenet that equal emphasis should be placed on recruiting and nurturing talents, implements the High-level Talent Cultivation Program, and treats every talent who makes significant contributions equally, be he an overseas expert or an ‘aboriginal’ scholar. These will be highly instrumental in enabling overseas talents to be better assimilated into ZJU, thus carrying out better cooperation with local researchers,” said Song Yonghua.