As Fudan University is about to celebrate the 120th anniversary of its founding, alumni couple Li Ping, a polymers major in the class of 1985 from Fudan's Department of Materials, and Liao Mei, a history major in the Class of 1986 from Fudan’s Department of History, have made a one-time donation of 1 billion yuan to their alma mater to support the establishment of the Xuemin Institute of Advanced Studies at Fudan University.

The Xuemin Institute of Advanced Studies is designed to become a world-leading institution for high level basic and interdisciplinary research in the natural sciences. With a strong emphasis on interdisciplinary, frontier and international research, it is committed to becoming a world-leading source of scientific and technological innovation. The Institute will draw on Fudan’s strengths to support China’s pursuit of high-level self-reliance in science and technology and to build China into a world-leading power in science and technology.

The Xuemin Institute of Advanced Studies will recruit the world’s outstanding young scientists who obtained their doctorates within the past five years. It will support them in carrying out research that delivers original breakthroughs, technological revolutions and far-reaching impact, with the aim of generating results that overturn established understanding, address major challenges or create new disciplinary paradigms and in this way help drive the leapfrog development of society.

Alumni Couple Make the Donation

To Build a World-leading Research Institution from a High Starting Point

Throughout the history of modern science, many world-renowned research institutions have gathered top talent and provided them with long term and stable support, enabling major breakthroughs in basic research and advancing human scientific and technological progress. The Cavendish Laboratory in the United Kingdom (established in 1874), the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton (established in 1930) in the United States and the Institut des Hautes Études Scientifiques(Institute of Advanced Scientific Studies, established in 1958) in France are all examples of institutions that have generated brilliant scientific achievements by innovating their models of research organization.

At present, the global landscape of scientific and technological innovation is undergoing profound change: a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation is advancing rapidly, interdisciplinary integration is gaining momentum, and international competition in science and technology is becoming increasingly intense. In this context, strengthening basic research has become a strategic pivot for achieving high level self-reliance and strength in science and technology. Seizing this historic opportunity, Fudan University is taking reform of its research systems and mechanisms as a key breakthrough to nurture an ambitious blueprint for major original innovation.

In line with this vision, alumni Li Ping and Liao Mei have long been looking for an appropriate opportunity to contribute to the development of their alma mater.

“We have been hoping to support the university through a specific program. It should be a demanding one that is academically challenging, takes a long time to bear fruit and requires considerable financial input, yet can have a profound impact on society. We see this as part of our social responsibility.” This is how Liao Mei describes the kind of project they had in mind.

In November last year, Li Ping and Liao Mei returned to Fudan and for the first time heard from the university’s research leadership about the plan to establish an institute from a high starting point. After several rounds of in-depth discussion with Party Secretary Qiu Xin, President Jin Li and other leaders, the couple felt that the proposed institute aligned completely with their own ideas. They quickly reached agreement with the university. Li Ping and Liao Mei decided to donate 1 billion yuan to support the establishment of Fudan University’s Xuemin Institute of Advanced Studies and to promote its basic and interdisciplinary research.

“We feel that China has reached a stage at which it can make real contributions to humanity and to the world in the fields of natural and basic sciences.” Li Ping and Liao Mei hope that the Institute will aspire to the standards of the world’s top research institutions. By learning from advanced international experience while actively exploring new approaches, it can pioneer an innovative path for natural science with Chinese characteristics.

The name “Xuemin” carries profound cultural meaning and academic expectations. In their explanation of the name, Li Ping and Liao Mei note that “xue” refers to scholarship and the way of learning, while “min” combines diligence with sharp insight. They hope that this dual meaning will inspire Fudan scholars to maintain a rigorous, truth-seeking academic attitude, cultivate keen scholarly vision and stand at the forefront of scientific and technological development.

A Pioneering Operating Model in China

Not Confined to Any Single Discipline

The establishment of the Xuemin Institute of Advanced Studies is an important measure through which Fudan University responds actively to the national call to strengthen basic research. It also marks a key step in the university’s journey toward becoming a world-leading research intensive and innovation oriented university. It represents a significant reform experiment for scientific and technological innovation in Shanghai and across the country.

“We will remove barriers between disciplines and will not confine the institute to any single field. Interdisciplinarity is one of its most distinctive features.” According to the university’s research leadership, the Xuemin Institute of Advanced Studies aims to build a world-leading institution for high level basic and interdisciplinary research in the natural sciences. It will focus on frontier areas such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, materials science, biology, medicine, environmental science, artificial intelligence and big data. It will also explore innovative scientific theories, methods and technologies. It aims to open up new research areas and directions rather than simply following fashionable topics or chasing publication numbers.

In addition, the Xuemin Institute of Advanced Studies will adopt an innovative and flexible management structure and break free from the constraints of traditional research evaluation systems. It will encourage researchers to focus on scientific inquiry itself, and to pursue long-term projects and disruptive innovation. The Institute will also grant young scientists full autonomy in personnel management and build a system in which they take primary responsibility for their research teams. Stable funding will be provided on the basis of team research plans. To realize these goals, the Institute has formulated detailed development plans.

The Board of the Institute will serve as its decision-making body and will include representatives of both the university and the donors. At the same time, supporting offices for research, education, human resources and administration will be established to form a high-calibre operations team that provides comprehensive support for scientific work.

The Xuemin Natural Science Research Fund created through the donation will operate as an open fund. Apart from its own operating expenses, all of its resources will be used to support the Xuemin Institute of Advanced Studies in talent recruitment, research innovation and the construction and operation of the Institute.

Global Recruitment of Outstanding Young Talent

Support Period of up to 20 Years

The Xuemin Institute of Advanced Studies has already launched its recruitment program. Over the next decade, it plans to bring in nearly one hundred outstanding young scholars from around the world, particularly scientists who are about five years past their doctoral graduation. There will be no restrictions on discipline or nationality.

“We will focus on top research talent born in the 1990s and even later.” According to the person in charge, the Institute hopes to attract individuals who have a strong passion for science, outstanding innovative potential and the ability to conduct interdisciplinary research. It will encourage them to interact and collaborate across fields with the ambition of producing Nobel Prize level achievements.

For those selected, the Institute will provide a full range of resources and support tailored to their needs and offer stable, long term supprt for up to twenty years. This will enable researchers to focus on high risk, high value projects without having to worry about short term constraints.

In terms of support and funding, the Institute will implement a new special zone style management policy. 

For compensation, it will establish a highly internationally competitive salary system. With this support, young researchers can devote themselves fully to scientific work without concerns about their livelihood.

For evaluation, it will uphold objectivity and fairness and explore assessment models that follow the intrinsic logic of scientific research, thereby encouraging long term, original breakthroughs in science and technology.

In talent development, the Institute will provide a broad platform, directly recognize doctoral supervisor qualifications for its researchers, and allocate dedicated quotas for doctoral students. The Institute will also support the recruitment of postdoctoral fellows and full-time research staff. This will enable the swift formation of dedicated teams and a rapid start to research projects.

The Xuemin Institute of Advanced Studies will be built and operated within Fudan University and will adopt a governance structure in which the president of the Institute works under the leadership of the Board. A high-level Academic Committee will be established, composed of Nobel laureates and other leading international experts. The Committee will review the Institute’s research directions, goals, tasks and major academic activities, while a dedicated working group will take charge of talent recruitment, evaluation and assessment.

Michael Levitt, Nobel laureate in Chemistry and a member of the academic council, believes that the scientists recruited by the Institute will be young people who are curious, resilient and collaborative. In his view, curiosity is the lifeblood of scientific exploration, and scientific progress often comes from the courage to think differently. Resilience is another essential quality, reflected in the ability to recover from failure and to pursue goals with persistence. In today’s highly interdisciplinary scientific environment, the ability to collaborate is especially important, since working effectively with colleagues from different backgrounds, sharing ideas and learning from one another are necessary conditions for major breakthroughs.

“I hope that the Institute will blend the best of Eastern and Western academics and become a global leader in advanced studies. I also hope that scholars from different fields across the world can gather here, to carry out in-depth, long-term and forward-looking original researches.” Levitt said.