China's government has recently launched new policies to strengthen its scientific institutions and encourage its young researchers to pursue their careers at home. For former ICTP post-doc Wang Wei, such initiatives mean new and exciting challenges.

Making the Grade in China

When the Chinese government speaks about providing a nurturing environment for its young scientists, physicist Wang Wei, 37, is undoubtedly the kind of person they have in mind.

Born in 1962 in Changsha, a city of some 3 million people that serves as the provincial capital of Hunan province in south China, Wang graduated from middle school in 1978, just as China's Cultural Revolution was fading into history.

"During the Cultural Revolution, local educational offices selected students for universities located in their provinces," Wang noted in a recent interview. "Moreover, at the beginning of the revolution, the national government cut the total number of university students in half."

Not surprisingly, these policies created a backlog of qualified students eager to begin their university studies. As a result, the government's nationwide competitive examinations in 1978 were taken by millions of young people--not only Wang's fellow classmates but many others who had graduated during the previous 10 years. Despite the competition, Wang did well enough on the examination to gain acceptance into Nanjing University (NU).

Since then, Wang's career as a student, professor and researcher has been characterised by a steady rise in both skill and prominence. In 1982, he received an undergraduate degree in theoretical physics, and in 1985, a master's degree. During the mid 1980s, in addition to his studies, he also taught and lectured--all at NU.

In 1987, Wang's talents were again rewarded when he was selected for a joint doctorate program in experimental physics at the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom. Upon his arrival at the university, however, the experimental equipment that was to serve as the basic tool for his experiments was not working. To fill his time, Wang again turned his attention to theoretical physics--in his own words, "picking up where I had left off in China. I was not disappointed by this turn of events because in truth I was more interested in theoretical physics than I was in experimental physics."

In 1990, Wang returned to NU to resume his teaching and research responsibilities. As an associate professor, he quickly advanced through the ranks of academia before reaching his thirtieth birthday. Then, in 1991, Wang attended ICTP's Summer Workshop on Condensed Matter Physics.

One of the organisers there was ICTP staff scientist Hilda Cerdeira, who encouraged Wang to apply for a post-doc position at the Centre, which he was awarded in 1992.

While a post-doc at ICTP, Wang also published an article on the dynamical behaviour of neurons in Physical Review E. "At the time," he says, "the article was outside my main research area, but the effort drew my attention to the field of biophysics. Little did I know then that it would lay the groundwork for a career change just a few years down the road."

Wang again returned to China in 1994, where he resumed his teaching and research responsibilities at NU. In 1995, Wang's experience at ICTP and, more specifically, the article on neurons that he had published several years before proved major factors in his appointment to lead a new university group involved in biophysics.

"The initiative," he acknowledges, "posed major risks. Not only did researchers in my group have to shift fields but we had to teach ourselves about biology while maintaining our teaching and research responsibilities. In effect, we had to learn new material and apply it simultaneously."

The group, which now consists of four full-time researchers plus eight undergraduate and 15 graduate students, has proven worthy of the challenge. "Since our inception three years ago," Wang observes, "we have graduated two classes in biophysics. Some of our students are now at New York University and the University of Kansas in the United States, earning master's and doctorate degrees."

With his new group gaining both presence and strength, and two recent grants from China's National Science Foundation worth some US$120,000 in hand, Wang notes that "the future looks good." Although conditions have improved, he quickly adds that "China's researchers still need outside help if they hope to continue to make progress."

"That's where institutions like ICTP come into play," he says. "Such institutions offer sound training and a stimulating research environment, encouraging people like me to pursue careers in science that are both personally rewarding and of long-term value to our home countries."

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