From October 31 to November 3, the finals of the 19th "Challenge Cup" National College Students' Extracurricular Academic Science and Technology Works Competition and the award ceremony were held at Nanjing University. A Dong, First Secretary of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China, attended and delivered a speech. Wang Yi, Secretary of the Secretariat of the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League, presented the flag to the host university of the 20th "Challenge Cup" Competition. Liu Jianyang, Member of the Standing Committee of the Jiangsu Provincial Party Committee and Head of the Provincial Party Committee Organization Department, and Tan Tieniu, Chair of NJU CPC Council and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), attended the event.
In his speech, A Dong stated that our young people should deeply study, carefully comprehend, and earnestly practice President Xi Jinping's important thoughts on youth work and important expositions on scientific and technological innovation, thoroughly study and implement the spirit of the fourth plenary session of the 20th CPC Central Committee, firmly establish ideals and beliefs, promote the spirit of scientists, and maintain the direction of innovation and entrepreneurship; develop excellent skills, dedicate themselves to science and innovation for the country, and inject youthful energy into the development of new quality productive forces; inherit the tenacious spirit, courageously tackle difficulties, and strive to be technological pioneers on the path to achieving high-level scientific and technological self-reliance and self-strengthening. The Communist Youth League should strengthen cooperation with relevant departments and all sectors of society to jointly optimize the "Challenge Cup" platform, empower youth innovation and entrepreneurship, and serve the construction of a strong nation in science and technology.
Tan Tieniu delivered a speech on behalf of the host institution, stating that NJU will strengthen the construction of "comprehensive ideological and political courses," improve the science and innovation work mechanism, and focus on the two main missions of "cultivating virtue and nurturing people" and "serving the country." He hoped that young students would courageously shoulder the responsibility of scientific innovation, closely link their personal aspiration with the future and destiny of the country, and bloom brilliant youthful radiance on the broad stage of advancing Chinese modernization.
Yuan Yaxiang, Academician of the CAS and Chairman of the National Review Committee of the Competition, delivered a eport on the review work. Academicians and experts from multiple fields, research teams, and young entrepreneurs shared stories of scientific innovation for the country, and conducted sharing and exchanges around the construction of a strong nation in science and technology and the patriotic heart, strong nation aspirations, and youth dreams.
This competition was jointly hosted by the Central Committee of the Communist Youth 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 Government, with the theme "Youth Taking on Responsibilities for Chinese Modernization." More than 2,700 universities nationwide and over 400,000 works from more than 3 million students participated in the competition. After fierce competition, Tsinghua University won the "Challenge Cup," and 56 universities won the "Victory Cup"; the main competition produced 96 special prizes, 187 first prizes, 369 second prizes, 993 third prizes, and 982 award-winning works in the "AI+" special competition.
The competition highlights promoting learning through competition, promoting research through competition, and promoting innovation through competition, focusing on serving national strategies and high-quality development. For the first time, it selected 8 cities as the "Challenge-Based Competition" arena, helping to solve scientific and technological problems in the field of economic and social development. It focused on serving students' employment by organizing special job fairs and other channels, providing more than 50,000 employment and internship positions. It focused on promoting the transformation of competition results, established special awards for scientific and technological innovation achievement transformation, and deepened cooperation with 6 scientific and technological innovation achievement incubation and transformation bases including Zhongguancun Science and Technology Park and Shanghai Zhangjiang Group.
