Five undergraduate students of the USTC School of the Gifted Young (SGY) have been selected to receive research funding from the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) in 2026. The selection process involved several rounds of rigorous reviews, including evaluations at the School, University, and NSFC levels.

Tan Haoyue, Chen Dening, Li Zhihan, Mu Ruibin, and Guo Zijian are recognized for the excellence and innovation of their proposed research projects.

Research Projects

Tan Haoyue (Computer Science) was awarded a grant for her project titled“Adaptive Context Management and Reasoning Acceleration for Agents in Dynamic Decision-Making Scenarios.” Under the supervision of Professor Li Cheng and Associate Researcher Bai Youhui of the School of Computer Science and Technology, Tan’s project investigates context-management challenges faced by AI agents in complex tasks. The research aims to develop mechanisms for dynamically maintaining critical information based on task phases and resource budgets, while leveraging cache reuse and parallel execution to reduce inference overhead.

[Photo: Tan Haoyue’s project schematic]

Chen Dening (Applied Physics) received funding for his project titled“Development of a Fiber-Interferometric Scanning Casimir Force Microscope.” Supervised by Professor Zeng Changgan of the School of Physics and Associate Researcher Zhang Hui, Chen’s project seeks to build a novel fiber-interferometric scanning Casimir force microscope. The instrument will enhance the precision of Casimir force measurements, enabling direct detection and manipulation of quantum fluctuations, and providing new approaches for studying quantum phase transitions in condensed matter physics.

[Photo: Chen Dening’s project schematic]

Li Zhihan (Applied Physics) was awarded a grant for his project titled“Investigation of Bubble Defect Formation Mechanisms During Annealing of Low-Thermal-Noise High-Reflectivity Mirrors.” Under the supervision of Professor Huo Yongheng of the School of Physics, Li’s project aims to systematically elucidate the formation mechanisms of bubble defects in dielectric high-reflectivity thin films during the annealing process. The research seeks to develop optimized annealing and coating protocols that could break through current manufacturing bottlenecks, enabling the production of mirrors with lower thermal noise — a critical advancement for precision measurement applications such as optical clocks and gravitational wave detection.

[Photo: Li Zhihan’s project schematic]

Mu Ruibin (Electronics Engineering) received funding for his project titled“High-Performance Fully Integrated Low-Dropout Linear Regulators.” Supervised by Professor Cheng Lin of the School of Integrated Circuits, Mu’s project explores design methodologies for low-dropout linear regulators with multi-feedback loops in mixed-signal applications. The research proposes a novel fully integrated architecture that achieves wide load range, high conversion efficiency, and low output ripple — key parameters for next-generation power management in integrated circuits.

[Photo: Mu Ruibin’s project schematic]

Guo Zijian (Robotics) was awarded a grant for his project titled“Reconfigurable Robots and Their Multi-Functional Design in Constrained Spaces.” Under the supervision of Professor Sun Xiaohao of the School of Engineering, Guo’s project pursues a continuous-structure discretization design that endows robots with topological reconfigurability, enabling synergistic design of structural morphing and multi-functional expression. The research aims to transcend the limitations of fixed-configuration robots, offering new design for robotic applications in complex environments such as disaster response and aerospace operations.

[Photo: Guo Zijian’s project schematic]

SGY Tradition of Student Research

Since the NSFC first piloted the Student Basic Research Project for undergraduates in 2023, SGY students have been awarded grants for four consecutive years. The School remains committed to encouraging students’ scientific curiosity and innovative spirit, and guiding them to engage with frontier research. The School helps each student identify research directions aligned with their interests and strengths, fostering well-rounded academic development.