This award is one of the highest honors granted by the Chinese government to foreign students.

Recently, the Ministry of Education’s Department of International Cooperation and Exchanges announced the results of the Ministry of Education’s Excellent Foreign Student Scholarship. The Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology’s doctoral student MOJISOLA GRACE ASOGBON, who entered the program in 2017, was selected from more than 1600 international students at the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences to win this award.

The Ministry of Education’s Excellent Foreign Student Scholarship aims to thoroughly implement the spirit of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China and execute the requirements of the National Education Conference. It selects and encourages overseas students who know China well, have excellent conduct and have outstanding academic achievements. The award is granted once a year. The Ministry of Education organized experts to evaluate the recommended students’ academic performance, scientific research ability, their behavior in China and other holistic aspects. The application process is competitive; the selection criteria is strict; and the number of awards is limited. Thus, it is seen as one of the highest honors awarded to international students in China every year. In the year 2020, 575 overseas students from 127 schools won this award.

Professor Li Guanglin is giving guidance to Grace

Grace, under the guidance of Li Guanglin at the Institute of Advanced Integration Technology, is studying for a doctoral degree in pattern recognition and intelligent system. She has published 27 academic papers as the first author or a coauthor, including six first-author SCI papers, four first-author EI papers. She has won multiple awards, including the Best IEEE-ICCC Paper award in 2019, the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences’ Outstanding International Student Award in 2020, and the Dean’s awards in 2019 and 2020.

Grace is conducting research in the lab

Her adviser Li Guanglin introduced Grace as a hardworking student who is eager to learn. She not only has a positive impact on the work at the research center but provides much help for Chinese students’ English academic paper writing. In terms of how to train international students, Professor Li Guanglin mentioned three points. First, keep a strict criteria when students are recruited and only select students with outstanding ability and character in combination with their undergraduate and postgraduate study and research work records. Only select the best ones instead of selecting a few. Second, treat all students equally and never lower the criteria because the students are foreign students. Instead, encourage the students and let the students’ potential shine. Third, pay enough attention and give help to them in their personal lives. He keeps a very good relationship with students and serves as both a mentor and a father. He invited students to his home for important holidays. Therefore, the foreign students study harder and become more diligent in their research work.

Grace is participating in the New Year celebration events

Since 2011 when the Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology recruited international students for the first time, it has highly valued education and training work and possessed more than 200 faculty members who guide international students. It has trained 106 international students from more than 20 countries and regions. International students have collectively published more than 200 journal papers and participated in more than 100 international conference. The Shenzhen Institute of Advanced Technology will utilize this award to further improve international students’ education quality and make the award has a leading impact so that more high-level international talents who know China well and are friendly with China are trained.