From October 31 to November 3, the 19th “Challenge Cup” National College Student Extracurricular Academic and Technological Works Competition concluded at Nanjing University. Nankai University won the special prize in the main competition, along with one first prize, two second prizes, and two third prizes.

The special prize-winning project, titled “Intelligent Identification and Regulatory Program Analysis of GPRC5B+ Endothelial Cells as a Novel Tumor Stemness Target to Tackle Tumor Immortality”, was supervised by Li Na from the School of Medicine. Focusing on public health, the project employed big data and artificial intelligence algorithms to identify new targets of tumor immortality. By integrating multi-omics analyses, in vivo and in vitro experiments, and preclinical models, the study elucidated the regulatory mechanisms of GPRC5B, aiming to establish prerequisites for novel drug development and to identify key targets for tumor risk assessment and drug optimization. Undergraduate students, as lead authors, produced three high-level papers that were accepted by the world’s most prestigious oncology academic conferences.

The project “Terahertz Intelligent Surface Photonic Integrated Chip”, supervised by Fan Fei, Ji Yunyun, and Chang Shengjiang from the College of Electronic Information and Optical Engineering, won the first prize. Two projects were awarded the second prize: “A Study on Cell Atlas Construction Based on Regularized Barycentric Mapping and Graph Neural Networks”, supervised by Chen Shengquan, Men Shutao, and Guo Qianghui from the School of Mathematical Sciences; and “Breaking the Employment Dilemma of Migrant Workers — A Social Survey on Employment and Livelihood from an Intergenerational Perspective”, supervised by Sun Jingyu from the School of Economics. Two other projects earned third prizes: “Personalized Image Diffusion Model Based on Adaptive Weight Selection Mechanism”, supervised by Cheng Mingming, Hou Qibin, and Tan Tongtong from the College of Computer Science; and “Blooming Beauty Industries: How China’s Characteristic Agriculture Can Be Upgraded into a Modern Industry — A Study Based on Yunnan’s Fresh-Cut Flower Sector”, supervised by Li Li, Zhu Zhixin, and Tang Lin from the School of Finance.

Beyond the main competition, the “Challenge Cup” also featured a series of special events, including the “Take-the-Challenge Competition”, the “AI+” competition, and project matchmaking sessions. In the “Take-the-Challenge Competition”, the project “Controlled Release of Chlorine Dioxide Gas in Multi-Scenario Applications for Clear Environment”, supervised by Zhu Baolin, Cai Kang, and Yan Xiaoqi from the College of Chemistry, won the second prize in the biopharmaceutical category and was invited to participate in the offline resource-matching event. The project “Intelligent Optoelectronic Detector Materials for Ultra-Weak Light Detection”, supervised by Guo Xuefeng, Jia Chuancheng, and Dong Yue from the College of Electronic Information and Optical Engineering, received the second prize in the new materials category. Meanwhile, the project “Topological Encoding and Physics-Inspired Self-Organized Quantum Spiking Neural Networks for NISQ Devices”, supervised by Zhang Sheng from the School of Mathematical Sciences, was awarded the excellence award in the next-generation information technology category. In the “AI+” competition, the project “Precision Diagnosis and Intelligent Rehabilitation Platform for Parkinson’s Disease”, supervised by Huo Weiguang from the College of Artificial Intelligence, earned the third prize.

Held biennially since its launch in 1989, the “Challenge Cup” National College Student Extracurricular Academic and Technological Works Competition is hailed as the “Olympics” of sci-tech innovation for Chinese university students. This year’s competition was jointly organized by the Central Committee of the Communist Young League, China Association for Science and Technology, Ministry of Education, Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, Chinese Academy of Engineering, All-China Students’ Federation, and Jiangsu Provincial People’s Government, and hosted by Nanjing University. With the theme “Youth Taking on Responsibility for Chinese Modernization”, the event drew over 400,000 entries and more than three million students from over 2,700 universities nationwide.

（Edited and translated by Nankai News Team.)