UIC vigorously promotes scientific research to improve education quality while encouraging students to embrace new academic aspects and enhance their research capabilities through subject research. As a result, plenty of undergraduate graduates of 2021 have published papers in international journals, academic monographs, and international conferences.
Publishing SCI paper as the first author
Zhou Yifan from the Food Science and Technology Programme has been admitted for an MSc in Food Science and Human Nutrition at the National University of Singapore.
Zhou Yifan
In 2021, Zhou Yifan published her first SCI paper, New Insights into molecular mechanisms of 'Cold or Hot' nature of Food: When East meets West online in Food Research International, an internationally renowned journal for food and engineering technology. Programme Director of Food Science and Technology Prof Bruce Baojun XU was the corresponding author of the paper.
Zhou Yifan's paper exhibited at the poster exhibition of the Division of Science and Technology
To reflect the reason for the successful publishing of the SCI paper, Zhou Yifan believes that it results from the professional courses in the programme and the practical English writing training UIC provides. In addition, she said that theoretical knowledge of food science gave her a deeper understanding of the subject. At the same time, experimental courses such as biology and chemistry also developed her practical and academic writing skills.
In the second semester of Year 4, Zhou Yifan also completed another food science-related paper, which has already been submitted to the relevant professional journals.
Improving anti-pressure ability while multi-tasking
Zhang Zhen from the Globalisation and Development Programme has been admitted for an MSc in China in Comparative Perspective at the London School of Economics and Political Science.
Zhang Zhen
In February 2021, Zhang Zhen was the third author to published a paper in the academic book Covid-19 Pandemic, Crisis Responses and the Changing World published by Springer Nature.
In his third year of college, due to his keen interest in related research and excellent academic achievements, Zhang Zhen was invited to be an assistant to the research project jointly carried out by Prof Zhao Suisheng from the Josef Korbel School of International Studies of the University of Denver, and Associate Dean (Research and Development) of the Division of Humanities and Social Sciences of UIC Prof Zhao Xiaobin.
Zhang Zhen with the Programme Director of Globalisation and Development, Dr Edoardo Monaco
This is the first time that Zhang Zhen has published a paper on a professional academic platform. He said that he had received generous help and guidance from his instructors. As a result, Zhang Zhen's academic and analytical abilities have been greatly improved through the paper writing and publication process.
Meanwhile, Zhang Zhen has developed a strong ability to resist pressure on a highly tight schedule. Zhang Zhen prepared for his Final Year Project, took part in an internship, prepared for IELTS, and prepared for his postgraduate study application all at the same time during the summer vacation of his third year at UIC. Although the tight schedule has brought tremendous pressure to him, he has made it to the end.
Enriching professional knowledge while researching
Li Xinyue and Xu Bokai from the Data Science Programme have both been admitted for an MSc in Applied Data Science at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
Li Xinyue(left) and Xu Bokai (right)
Li Xinyue and Xu Bokai, as co-authors, published a paper entitled Fish Detection Based on Grey Markov Model at the International Conference on Applied Machine Learning (ICAML) of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and also published another paper entitled Exploration of a Balanced Reference Corpus with a Wide Variety of Text Mining Tools at the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM).
Li Xinyue (second from right), Xu Bokai (middle) and another student with their teachers
It is not an easy task to finish a paper. However, Li Xinyue and Xu Bokai said that although the process was quite painful and struggling, a great sense of accomplishment rose after publication. It did enrich not only their professional knowledge but also improved their research capabilities.
As for improving academic writing, Li Xinyue believes that having unique ideas is the key to publishing one's papers. Therefore, she usually reads excellent papers extensively, trying to get inspiration from them, and then makes bold attempts and innovations.
There must be innovations in a paper
Yan Yibo from the Environmental Science Programme has been admitted to an MSc in Computing at the National University of Singapore.
Yan Yibo
Yan Yibo published two conference papers during his undergraduate programme. He wrote the paper Endocrine Disrupting Chemicals in the Pearl River: Is There A Potential Hazard to Local Human Health? as the first author. The paper was published at the 6th International Conference on Energy Materials and Environment Engineering (ICEMEE 2020).
Yan Yibo, together with peers in the same programme Liu Yipeng, He Zhonghao, Ye Jiyang, Zheng Yan, and Huang Ziqi, jointly completed the paper' Determination of median lethal concentration of two common heavy metal pollutants in rivers, potassium chromate and cadmium nitrate, to red zebrafish and their mortality causes'. The paper was published at international symposiums about green energy, the environment, and sustainable development.
Yan Yibo's paper exhibited at the poster exhibition of the Division of Science and Technology (Yan Yibo: first from right)
Yan Yibo believes that a well-published paper must contain some innovations that genuinely help develop the research in the field. In the research process, he found himself highly interested in data mining and analysis. Therefore, he decided to study computer science, hoping to use his knowledge to solve more practical problems.
From MPRO
Reporter: Xia Meng
Editors: Samuel Burgess, Deen He, Covee Wang
