The China Association for Science and Technology (CAST) recently announced the list of selected participants for the eighth round of the “Young Elites Scientists Sponsorship Program”. A total of 729 young talents from universities across the country were selected (excluding those in special scientific fields). Two CUMTB young faculty members from School of Energy and Mining Engineering, Zhang Cun and Wei Weijie were among the awardees.

The “Young Elites Scientists Sponsorship Program” is a youth talent cultivation initiative launched by the CAST in 2015. The program aims to explore and innovate the selection mechanism, training model, and evaluation criteria for young scientific talents. It strives to cultivate a large number of outstanding young talents in science and technology, build a reserve force of high-level talents for national scientific and technological innovation, and contribute to the realization of the Chinese Dream by ensuring a robust pool of human resources. The Program selects a group of young scientists around the age of 32 through its affiliated societies each year, providing stable support for three consecutive years.

At present, 15 teachers from our university have received sponsorship under the “Young Elites Scientists Sponsorship Program”.