University passes stiff examination

Q+A | Zhu Qingshi

Editor's note: Zhu Qingshi is principal of the South University of Science and Technology and is also a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

What is your definition of "outstanding talent"?

People with first-class knowledge and innovative abilities, such as a good memory, imagination, attentiveness, insight and a capacity for critical thinking.

In our independent recruitment, we try to test students' ability to generate new ideas, which gaokao scores can't provide.

Memory, imagination, attentiveness and insight mainly come from talent, and are not really related to formal education, so to a certain extent, we can avoid the unfairness brought about by differences in regional development.

What do you think of the career prospects of the 45 students in the 2011 class, who may not be awarded a degree recognized by the Ministry of Education?

I don't worry about them at all. They are too outstanding to be neglected in the job market.

There seems to be a trend that China's universities are all getting bigger and bigger. You seem to have chosen the opposite path, why is that?

What we are doing here is not applicable to all universities. The teacher-student ratio is 1 to 8, while at most universities the ratio is 1 to 16, because we are running a research university, which focuses half on teaching and half on research. We need more teachers.

The point is not to make the university large and comprehensive, or small but excellent. The most serious drawback for China's universities is that they are not diverse enough, but it does not have to be like that.

What do you hope people will say when they talk about South University of Science and Technology in 50 years' time?

Hopefully, the comments will be along the lines of the micro blog comment I read after the 2011 class won the gold medal for the Asia region in the International Genetically Engineered Machine Competition this year - a top university for scientific research may emerge in Shenzhen very soon.

- Wu Wencong