On the afternoon of March 27, the opening ceremony and first training of the Undergraduate Innovation Camp (No.2) for Top Innovative Talent Development Plan was held at the Lecture Hall 212 of the SIM.

People attended the event were as followings:

Chuanfu Chen, University Distinguished Professor in Humanities and Social Sciences at Wuhan University;

Lingling Qi, Associate Dean of the Office of Academic Affairs of Undergraduate School;

Zongbao Chi, Deputy Secretary of the Communist Youth League Committee of Wuhan University;

Jun Tao, CPC Secretary of the School;

Qian Dai, CPC Deputy Secretary of the School;

Lihong Zhou, Associate Dean of the School;

some faculty representatives, and all undergraduate camp members.

Xiaoyu Chen, Secretary of the Communist Youth League Committee of the School, introduced the launch background and training plan of the Undergraduate Innovation Camp. Focused on cultivating undergraduate students' innovative capabilities, the camp aims to enhance students' scientific spirit, innovative thinking, and practical abilities through a combination of intensive special training and participation in teachers’ research projects.

Fan Zhang, a young teacher of the Department of Information Management Science and representative of undergraduate research supervisors, shared his ten-year experience from first engaging in research as a third-year undergraduate to the present. He encouraged students to view participation in research training as a crucial platform for growth and development, urging them to embrace a "sense of national responsibility," maintain "childlike curiosity," and cultivate "craftsman-like focus." He emphasized the importance of proactive exploration, strengthened teamwork, and continuous improvement of innovative thinking and hands-on skills. He also noted that research supervisors would spare no effort to serve as "navigator", "scaffold", and "accelerant" to support students on their research.

Xinran Yang, representative of camp members and undergraduate student in the Pilot Program of 2023-grade Bachelor-Master-Doctoral Degree in Digital Culture, combined with her experience as the youngest presenter at the 2024 Digital Humanities Annual Conference to express her belief that "research is a passport for thinkers". She stated that she highly valued the opportunity to join the No. 2 of the SIM Undergraduate Innovation Camp and would approach theoretical learning with an open mind, carry out research practices with a spirit of excellence, and participate in team collaboration with a philosophy of mutual progress, striving to become a compound talent with a solid professional foundation, active innovative thinking, and outstanding research capabilities.

Lingling Qi and Zongbao Chi presented appointment letters to 7 representatives of research supervisors. Lu An, Professor at the Department of Information Management Science, and Zhijiang Li, Professor at the Department of Big Data Security and Secrecy, signed the Undergraduate Innovation Camp Research Supervisor Intent Letter and Undergraduate Innovation Camp Member Commitment Letter with Runze Ma (a 2022-grade undergraduate) and Yufei Shi (a 2023-grade undergraduate) respectively.

In his concluding speech, Jun Tao highly affirmed the significance of the Innovation Camp in cultivating top innovative talents, emphasizing that it represents the School Party Committee's action to deeply implement the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and actively respond to the country's strategies of rejuvenating the nation through science and education, strengthening the nation through talent, and driving development through innovation. He hoped that camp members would keep in mind the "grand national priorities," be steadfastly, study diligently, and actively integrate theoretical learning with practical innovation to fully exercise their hands-on abilities and innovative awareness, striving to achieve outstanding results and lay a solid foundation for their future careers and contributions to national development. He also called on all research supervisors to uphold the original aspiration of fostering virtue through education, serve as role models with a high sense of responsibility and a spirit of excellence in research, and earnestly guide students as mentors in both research and life.

Chuanfu Chen delivered the first training session for all camp members on the theme On Research Methods. He elaborated on "three concepts" and "three abilities" through systematic theories and vivid cases, focusing on aspects such as "what constitutes scientific research", "how to achieve scientific research", and "how to report research results". The "three concepts" emphasize aiming for scientific research, upholding the subjectivity of scientific research, and pursuing excellence; the "three abilities" focus on topic selection, logic, and methodology. He also introduced specific research types, research methods, and the standardized structure of research papers. Citing examples of senior scientists such as Qian Xuesen and Deng Jiaxian, he urged students to "practice the spirit of scientists", commit to conducting research for the motherland and the people, and demonstrate Chinese wisdom and style in scientific research. "Young people have unlimited potential and can achieve great things—undergraduates can also produce high-quality research results", he encouraged students to strengthen their confidence, study diligently, explore boldly, strive for progress in the Innovation Camp, continuously improve their research capabilities, and make remarkable contributions in the future.

The No.2 camp has recruited 32 research projects from 25 teachers of the School, with 85 undergraduates selected to join via screening. The School will continue to organize special trainings on topics such as the spirit of scientists, research methods, and research tools, and conduct follow-up evaluations of camp members' participation in research projects.