At present, the pilot universities of the "Strong Foundation Plan" mainly recruit students in basic disciplines such as mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, mechanics, history, philosophy, paleography, and basic medicine, as well as related majors in major national strategic fields, through adjustments in professional settings and enrollment assessment methods. The number of universities enrolled in this year's "Strong Foundation Plan" has not changed, and basic disciplines in science and engineering are still the main enrollment disciplines. The overall professional layout has been optimized and upgraded, with a greater focus on cutting-edge fields. Some universities have made adjustments in their disciplinary settings, adding many cutting-edge and interdisciplinary majors. Some universities also fully leverage their disciplinary advantages and continuously consolidate and enhance their distinctive professional strengths. For example, Beijing Institute of Technology has added majors such as Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, Polymer Materials and Engineering, with a focus on "Artificial Intelligence+Robotics" to cultivate talents in the field of intelligent technology; Nanjing University has added two new training directions: Intelligent Science and Electronic Science. Compared with previous years, the enrollment assessment method of the "Strong Foundation Plan" has also been adjusted. Some universities have downplayed the requirement for competition results in this year's enrollment brochure, canceling the second category registration requirement of "winning the second prize or above in the national finals of any subject Olympic competition in mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, or informatics in high school", and using college entrance examination scores as an important reference standard. The policy of using individual subject scores to qualify outside of the box still exists, but some schools have further refined the rules for qualifying outside of the box. Huazhong University of Science and Technology has added a policy for single subject "small exceptions" to be shortlisted. For the first category of candidates who have not been shortlisted, if they meet the condition that their college entrance examination scores are not lower than 80% of the full score of the college entrance examination in their province, and their single subject scores in the college entrance examination meet the conditions and requirements for being shortlisted for the major they applied for, they can be shortlisted. In terms of assessment methods, some universities have adjusted and optimized the settings of written exams and interviews. South China University of Technology has adjusted the school assessment from a "double random" drawing method for experts and candidates to a "three random" drawing method for candidates, examination rooms, and judges. Compared with the initial implementation of the plan, universities have provided more detailed and specific introductions to the characteristics, training models, and development prospects of their majors. They have introduced a series of training measures that are in line with national needs and more targeted, reflecting the deepening exploration of universities in cultivating top-notch innovative talents. ”Li Muzhou, Deputy Director of the Examination Studies and Research Center at Zhejiang University, stated that the "Strong Foundation Plan" gives universities greater autonomy and explores diversified selection models for top-notch innovative talents, while ensuring fairness based on the main reference of college entrance examination scores. Most of the students in the first two classes successfully transitioned to another stage, but the exit mechanism still needs to be improved. How does the immune system recognize and respond to foreign DNA? ”When teaching a strong foundation class in biological science, Professor Yang Guanghui from the School of Biology at China Agricultural University raised this question. According to common sense, content related to "DNA immune recognition" will not appear in sophomore classes. In order to inspire the scientific thinking of students in the "Strong Foundation Plan" and "open their minds", Yang Guanghui requires students to first try to come up with feasible research plans on their own without relying on the internet or searching for information. The students discussed each other word by word, and the answers they gave were imaginative. Yang Guanghui candidly stated, "Most of the answers have the wrong direction, but this kind of discussion is very necessary." According to the training program, in their sophomore and junior years, students must enter two or more laboratories with completely different research directions for "rotation training", so that they have a cross disciplinary perspective. Yang Guanghui introduced, "This is a way to guide one's interests and inspire academic thinking." Based on observations over the past few years, Yang Guanghui has found that good candidates can indeed be found in the Strong Foundation Class. Lu Shan, a student from the Strong Foundation Class, is one of them. He is currently in his sophomore year and is training basic modern biological experimental skills in the Plant Stress Resistant Protein Structure and Function Laboratory, learning to use AI to simulate protein interactions. Early exposure to cutting-edge technology, early entry into laboratories, and early entry into research teams are new trends in the "Strong Foundation Plan". Some universities create conditions for "Strong Foundation Plan" students to enter innovative teams such as academicians and national high-level talents, and open up various national level research and innovation platforms for them. In Lushan's plan, the research direction after the transition can only be determined after experiencing another laboratory during the junior year. Data from the Ministry of Education shows that the first two batches of admitted strong foundation students have successfully completed the transition from undergraduate to graduate studies, and most students continue their further studies at the graduate level. Among them, more than half of the students directly enter the doctoral stage for training. Smooth transition is common in most cases, but there are exceptions as well. Anran (pseudonym), a 2020 student from a certain university, decided to study abroad in the second semester of his sophomore year and withdrew from the Chinese Language and Literature (Classical Chinese Character Studies) Strong Foundation Class. Although communication with the teacher was relatively smooth, after returning to the major of Chinese Language and Literature, she found that she still had to spend a lot of extra time catching up on courses and completing credit requirements. I have taken the same courses in the strong foundation class, but I am not recognized in my new major and must retake them. ”Anran said, "The initial strong foundation training program did not develop contingency plans for these situations." The major has had students withdraw from the following two classes, and they are facing the same problem. Li Muzhou stated that due to the clear talent cultivation positioning of the "Strong Foundation Plan", there are indeed some restrictions on transferring majors. Especially when faced with the long duration of undergraduate, master's, and doctoral programs, some students may experience negative learning and changes in their plans. We should fully consider the wishes of students, optimize the system of transferring from strong foundation to higher education or major, strengthen phased learning evaluation, establish a scientific and multi-stage dynamic entry and exit mechanism, conduct comprehensive examination and scientific diversion for students entering the "Strong Foundation Plan", and reduce students' worries. Strong foundation "is not a" springboard ", and the choice should be based on personal interests. Because of his interest in biology since childhood, Hunan candidate Chen An (pseudonym) has decided to apply for the" Strong Foundation Plan "in biological science. Due to the teacher's suggestion, about ten students in the class have applied for the Strong Foundation exam, "he said. Why apply for the 'Strong Foundation Plan'? The answers received are diverse: the admission scores for the "Strong Foundation Plan" are generally lower than the admission scores for the same school and major in the national college entrance examination, and "choosing the 'Strong Foundation Plan' means choosing the degree of discount"; From the perspective of time cost, adopting a comprehensive training model for undergraduate, master's, and doctoral programs can theoretically shorten the academic process and avoid competition in entrance exams; Applying for the "Strong Foundation Plan" is equivalent to having one more opportunity to choose. "You can apply first, there won't be any loss anyway"... "Using the" Strong Foundation Plan "as a" springboard "is a misconception. ”Li Muzhou gave an example, based on recent data, the gap between the admission line of some universities' "Strong Foundation Plan" and the unified admission is getting smaller and smaller, and the admission scores of some popular majors even exceed the unified admission scores. Several university recruitment directors also mentioned this phenomenon to reporters. Xing Chaoxia, director of the admissions office of Harbin Institute of Technology, said, "The 'Strong Foundation Plan' clearly requires students to have 'aspirations, interests, and talents' in the field of their majors. In the selection process, universities will also focus on examining the aspirations and interests of candidates. Before applying for the' Strong Foundation Plan ', students' professional strengths and research interests, as well as their psychological expectations for the 8-10 year long training cycle, should be given special consideration. ”Li Muzhou reminds. In the opinion of Liu Rui, the director of the admissions office of Beihang University, "Choosing a strong foundation should be based on interests. If students do not like it or apply for enrollment out of utilitarian motives, it is a waste of their personal time and overall educational resources." How to minimize the gap in expectations and clarify their interests earlier? In recent years, participating universities in the "Strong Foundation Plan" have successively carried out the preparatory work of "connecting large and medium-sized". Liu Rui introduced that last year, Beihang University held more than 180 activities to enter high schools, strengthening the connection between higher education and high school education through general lectures, technology activities, and co construction of laboratories, so that students can have a certain understanding of university disciplines and majors as much as possible in high school, so as to clarify their interests and directions earlier, and consider more fully and have more precise goals when choosing strong foundation majors. (New Society)