To steadily advance the application process for the 2026 National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) programs and further improve the quality and success rate of project proposals, the College held the NSFC Application Mobilization and Expert Guidance Meeting on the afternoon of December 18 in Room A203 of the Engineering Building. Renowned experts from both inside and outside the University were invited to share their experience and key considerations in NSFC proposal preparation, and to provide one-on-one targeted guidance. Faculty members planning to apply for NSFC programs, including the Young Scientists Fund and General Program, attended the meeting, which was chaired by Prof. Cheng Daojian, Dean of the College of Chemical Engineering.

    At the opening of the meeting, Dean Cheng Daojian introduced the invited experts—Prof. Wang Haihui from Tsinghua University and Prof. Lan Xingying from China University of Petroleum (Beijing)—and expressed sincere gratitude for their visit and guidance despite their busy schedules. He emphasized that the NSFC is a cornerstone of the College’s research development and encouraged participating faculty to make full use of this valuable opportunity for face-to-face交流, learn from the experts’ experience, and further enhance the quality of their proposals.

    Prof. Lan Xingying, Executive Dean of the College of Carbon Neutral Future Technologies at China University of Petroleum (Beijing), delivered a comprehensive presentation on the overall logical framework and writing strategies of NSFC proposals. She highlighted that a strong proposal should clearly address four core questions—whether the research can be done, how it will be done, what will be done, and why it should be done—and emphasized the importance of “telling a compelling scientific story” to enhance the overall persuasiveness of the application. She also provided an in-depth explanation of the significance and writing techniques of the abstract, noting that it is the key section through which reviewers quickly assess the value of a project and therefore requires concise and accurate expression within limited space. In addition, she offered detailed guidance on the formulation of the project rationale, organization of research content, structure of the proposal text, common pitfalls to avoid, and basic norms for scientific and technical writing.

    Prof. Wang Haihui, Deputy Chair of the Department of Chemical Engineering at Tsinghua University, gave a systematic lecture on topic selection and innovation in NSFC project applications. He pointed out that research topics should be closely aligned with disciplinary frontiers and national strategic needs, while fully leveraging applicants’ existing research foundations and academic strengths to ensure clear scientific value and originality. He elaborated on how to identify and articulate innovation points in proposals, and explained the overall structure and logical flow of application writing, including the organization of research tasks, clarification of scientific questions, and definition of key technical approaches, so as to enhance readability and persuasiveness.

    During the meeting, participating faculty engaged in active discussions on practical issues encountered in proposal preparation, such as topic selection, identification of scientific questions, choice of research methods, and difficulties in proposal writing. The two experts provided detailed responses to these questions, drawing on their own application experience and academic practice to guide faculty in refining innovative topics from disciplinary frontiers and personal research foundations, clarifying scientific problems, and presenting research content and technical routes in a clear and logical manner. The lively interaction proved highly beneficial to participants and provided strong support for the subsequent high-quality completion of NSFC proposals. In addition, Prof. Liu Zhenyu and Prof. Qiu Jieshan from the College, together with the two invited experts, conducted one-on-one guidance sessions for faculty members who had already completed draft proposals.

    This mobilization and expert guidance meeting further unified the College’s understanding of the 2026 NSFC application work, stimulated faculty enthusiasm for proposal submission, and played an important guiding role in improving application quality, increasing funding success rates, and promoting the output of high-level research.