We are thrilled to announce the launch of the DKU Innovation Challenge Season 3, where we invite you to bring your creative ideas to life under the theme “Innovation with a Global Perspective”. This season is all about pushing the boundaries of innovation by adopting a global perspective to address real-world challenges and create meaningful change.
The challenge winner will get the pathway to the final pitch at the 2025 College Student Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Dachuang) Program implemented by DKU Innovation Incubator (Dii). DKU students currently enrolled who have innovative research or entrepreneurial ideas are eligible to apply for the funding up to 50,000 RMB. In addition, successful applicants will receive a customized package of resources to help develop their projects.
October 13
October 27
November 11
November 22
DKU iNNOVATION iNCUBATOR (Dii)
Dii is our flagship program. It serves as an engine for cultivating and supporting startup ideas from across the DKU campus. We aim to leverage the dynamism and enthusiasm of young change-makers striving to have a positive impact on the world with their unique ideas and innovative products and services.
About Dachuang Program
The Dachuang Program is a significant initiative in China, jointly implemented by nine key ministries and institutions, including the Ministry of Education and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Its primary goal is to foster innovation and entrepreneurship among college students.
At Duke Kunshan University (DKU), the DKU Innovation Incubator (Dii) supports student-led projects participating in the Dachuang Program. Dii provides funding for students engaged in innovative research, creative pratices and entrepreneurial activities, guided by faculty and industry experts. These projects can evolve into independent studies and signature work, contributing to students’ academic and professional development.
About DKU Innovation Challenge
The DKU Innovation Challenge offers students a unique platform to showcase their creativity and problem-solving abilities. This initiative encourages participants to address real-world issues with innovative solutions that can positively impact our community and beyond.
We are inviting students to form teams and submit their ideas for a chance to receive comprehensive support. This includes mentorship and funding to help bring their projects to life. Our goal is to foster creativity and entrepreneurship among our student body.
Importantly, the DKU Innovation Challenge serves as a key pathway for DKU students to apply for the prestigious Dachuang program, further enhancing their innovative and entrepreneurial pursuits.
The DKU Innovation Challenge Season 3 centers on the theme of “Innovation with a Global Perspective”. Global innovation extends beyond technological advancements, and encourages participants to think about how innovations can be adapted or scaled across different cultural, geographical, and disciplinary contexts. This approach also fosters inclusivity and ensures the solutions are accessible and relevant to people from diverse backgrounds. The theme also emphasizes the importance of developing solutions that can contribute to solving pressing global issues, such as like climate action, reducing inequality, and improving health outcomes, the challenge aims to inspire innovations that have a lasting positive impact.
The challenge is organized into several tracks, each offering a unique angle to tackle global challenges:
Technology Track
This track focuses on harnessing advanced technologies to tackle global issues. Participants are encouraged to develop innovative tech solutions that can be scaled and adapted to diverse environments, aiming for transformative impact on a global scale, such as AI for healthcare, and AI for environmental monitoring, digital inclusion, and smart city technologies, green tech innovations, and energy-efficient devices, big data for social good, data-driven policy-making, and etc.
Social Track
This track focuses on innovation and entrepreneurship projects aimed at creating positive societal change. Participants are encouraged to develop solutions that address major real-world issues and drive social progress, aligning with our global innovation theme, creating products, systems, programs, platforms, or services that enhance social well-being and address disparities in access to resources and opportunities.
Art and Culture Track
This track invites participants to drive innovation This track explores how art and culture can be used as mediums for innovation, fostering cross-cultural understanding, and promoting social change. Participants are encouraged to develop projects that use creative expression to address global challenges and connect people from different cultural backgrounds, includes but not limited to installations, films, exhibitions, performances, and cultural initiatives.
Open Track
This track welcomes projects from all disciplines that demonstrate academic, theoretical, or practical significance. Proposals should showcase innovative approaches or clear entrepreneurial educational outcomes, with well-defined research objectives and methodologies. We particularly encourage projects that contribute to socio-economic development, advance foundational theories and applications, or bridge multiple disciplines. Strong emphasis is placed on projects with potential for technological, commercial, or industrial applications, as well as those that push the boundaries of scientific inquiry and disruptive innovations.
Faculty-Proposed Project Track
This track features project proposed by DKU professors. Students are encouraged to proactively reach out to professors whose projects align with their interests, forming project teams under faculty guidance. This approach aims to foster student-faculty collaboration, leveraging academic expertise to develop innovative solutions that address global challenges.
Faculty-Proposed Project Overview
Select faculty-proposed projects that interest you, submit your resume and a Motivation Letter through the application link, and we’ll forward your materials to the relevant professors for consideration.
Industrial Metaverse for Sustainability
Luyao Zhang – Assistant Professor of Economics, Duke Kunshan University
luyao.zhang@dukekunshan.edu.cn
1 Year Project
Brief description of the project:
The Industrial Metaverse for Sustainability project aims to integrate metaverse technologies into Suzhou’s “1030” industrial system to enhance sustainability in key manufacturing sectors. By leveraging digital twins, AI, and AR/VR, the project will create virtual simulations of industrial processes to optimize operations, reduce waste, and improve energy efficiency. The focus will be on key sectors such as new energy, high-end equipment, biomedicine, next-generation information technology, and emerging digital industries. This project will provide students with hands-on experience in cutting-edge digital technologies while tackling real-world sustainability challenges. Through collaboration with industry experts and faculty advisors, students will design, develop, and test innovative solutions that contribute to Suzhou’s green development goals. The project is aligned with the objectives of the Dachuang Program, promoting student-led innovation and entrepreneurship in addressing sustainability issues in manufacturing. By the end of the project, students will have developed a functional industrial metaverse platform and contributed to national innovation competitions, supporting China’s broader push for sustainable industrial growth.
Expected outcomes of the project:
– Development of a prototype industrial metaverse platform that optimizes sustainability in two key manufacturing sectors.
– Publication of research papers on sustainable manufacturing and digital technologies.
– Commercialization potential for spin-off ventures focused on sustainability solutions.
– Enhanced student experience in innovation, technology, and entrepreneurship.
– Contribution to Suzhou’s green industrial development strategy.
– Participation in national innovation and entrepreneurship competitions.
Generative AI for Humanity: Advancing Equality, Intelligence, and Opportunity for All
Luyao Zhang – Assistant Professor of Economics, Duke Kunshan University
luyao.zhang@dukekunshan.edu.cn
1 Year Project
Brief description of the project:
The Generative AI for Humanity project seeks to develop interdisciplinary AI-driven solutions to combat global challenges like inequality and poverty, enhance human intelligence, and accelerate creativity and learning. By integrating AI with fields such as economics, education, cognitive science, and the arts, the project will focus on creating tools and platforms that benefit all members of society. Key focus areas include: – AI for Social Equity: Develop AI-powered personal assistants for disadvantaged groups, offering support in areas like healthcare, education, and job placement. These AI tools will be designed to bridge gaps in resources and opportunities, helping underserved populations improve their quality of life. – Superintelligence for Human Advancement: Create superintelligent AI systems that accelerate human intelligence and creativity. These systems will enhance learning in young children, fast-track scientific discoveries, and inspire new art forms. The focus will be on interdisciplinary applications, combining AI with cognitive science and the arts to drive innovation. – AI Economist for Fair Mechanism Design: Develop an “AI Economist” capable of designing economic models that promote fairness and inclusion. By integrating economic theory with AI, this system will focus on creating policies and economic mechanisms that benefit all sectors of society, ensuring more equitable resource distribution and sustainable development. Students will engage in interdisciplinary research, combining expertise in AI, economics, education, and the humanities, to develop solutions that foster social good and benefit humanity as a whole.
Expected outcomes of the project:
– Creation of interdisciplinary AI assistants tailored to disadvantaged groups, addressing healthcare, education, and economic needs.
– Development of AI systems that enhance learning and foster creativity in children and across scientific and artistic fields.
– Implementation of “AI Economist” models that design fair and inclusive economic policies, ensuring equitable opportunities for all.
– Publication of interdisciplinary research on AI-driven solutions for equality, superintelligence, and economic fairness.
– Commercialization of AI solutions aimed at reducing inequality and fostering inclusive growth.
– Participation in national and international AI and interdisciplinary innovation competitions focused on AI for social good.
Using bacteria to “brighten” up the human dark proteome
Ferdinand Kappes – Associate Professor of Biology, Duke Kunshan University
ferdinand.kappes@dukekunshan.edu.cn
2 Year Project
Brief description of the project:
Proteins are the essential workhorses in living organisms and fulfill a breathtaking number of complex molecular functions that allow for life as we know it to exist. However, only roughly 10 % of human proteins are well-studied and a large portion of the human proteome (the sum of all proteins in a given human cell) remains either un-characterized, un-assigned, under-investigated or not researched at all, together constituting the so called “dark matter” or “unknome” of the human proteome. Despite tremendous progress on many levels, still today, 75% of protein research exclusively and intensively focuses on only 2000 proteins that were already known before the human genome was mapped, whereas ~ 5000 proteins remain fully un-characterized aka “deep dark” proteins. This represents a grave and persistent issue, as it hinders the life sciences to understand biological systems fully and deeply, including missing out on discoveries of yet unrecognized essential genes that may provide novel avenues for treatment of diseases. Even though AI-driven methods, like Alpha Fold (https://alphafold.ebi.ac.uk/), and protein-centered international consortia are continuously shedding more light on the dark proteome, the rate of new wet-lab research into unknown proteins remains frighteningly low. Thus, low-risk, simple and straightforward wet-lab techniques are urgently needed to rapidly assign potential and testable molecular functions including responsible domains to “dark proteins”, ideally in conjunction with the creation of useful molecular tools in order to lower the risk of investigation into dark proteins. We have recently developed an elegant, yet simple and economical screening technique – termed Bacterial Growth inhibition Screen (BGIS). This assay is based on the negative growth response of bacteria (a phenomenon called recombinant protein toxicity) when faced with a given human protein as monitored by standard plating assays. This allowed us to rapidly identify functional domains in a protein, and in combination with standard error-prone polymerase chain reactions (PCR), BGIS allowed us to rapidly screen for loss-of-function mutations in the relevant protein domain, thus quickly producing valuable tools for subsequent cell-based research. Given that BGIS was able to identify a wide range of functional activities in proteins in a fully unbiased manner, we postulate that this simple assay can be employed to rapidly screen large numbers of dark proteins for their potential functions. Therefore, we propose a proof-of-concept study to test whether BGIS will be applicable for rapidly “brightening” up the dark human proteome.
Expected outcomes of the project:
This project has the potential to assign functions to yet unknown proteins and, most importantly, can produce molecular tools for researchers not available to date.
Efficient scheduling and planning for all!
Paul Weng – Associate Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Duke Kunshan University
paul.weng@dukekunshan.edu.cn
1 Year Project
Brief description of the project:
Scheduling and planning problems are ubiquitous problems encountered in every day life (e.g., timetabling, job scheduling, or route planning). Research in operations research and AI has produced various solvers for such problems, but using them require technical expertise, which prevents many end-users to exploit these solvers. This project’s goal is to show that large language models (e.g., ChatGPT) can be used to provide a natural interface between end-users and these solvers, allowing users to describe their problems in natural language and then to refine their descriptions, by for instance, adding new constraints to guide the solver to an adequate solutions. Such a tool would democratize the access and usage of these complex but powerful solvers, leading to a potential future commercialization of this technology.
Expected outcomes of the project:
Prototype of a software that integrates a large language model and a scheduling and planning solver.
Novel Neural Operations in Geometric Deep Learning
Dongmian Zou – Assistant Professor of Data Science, Duke Kunshan University
dongmian.zou@dukekunshan.edu.cn
1 Year Project
Brief description of the project:
Geometric deep learning (GDL) aims to extend traditional neural network architectures to non-Euclidean domains such as graphs and manifolds (e.g., spheres and hyperboloids). As real-world data is often structured in complex geometric forms, novel neural operations in GDL are essential to capture these intrinsic structures and relationships effectively. This research focuses on developing innovative neural operations that can generalize well across different geometric spaces. Key advancements include new convolution and attention mechanisms for graphs and manifolds, with special focus on constraints like symmetry, rotation, or scale invariance. These operations enable more powerful and flexible models for tasks such as molecular property prediction and social network analysis.
Expected outcomes of the project:
Research papers, open-source software, posters or oral presentations.
Trustworthy Anomaly Detection Methods
Dongmian Zou – Assistant Professor of Data Science, Duke Kunshan University
dongmian.zou@dukekunshan.edu.cn
1 Year Project
Brief description of the project:
Anomaly detection is critical in identifying unusual patterns or outliers in data that could signify faults, fraud, or other unexpected behavior. However, the increasing complexity and sensitivity of modern systems demand anomaly detection methods that are not only accurate but also trustworthy. Trustworthy anomaly detection methods focus on improving transparency, robustness, fairness and interpretability. These methods ensure that the detection process can be relied upon under adversarial conditions, noisy environments, or uncertain inputs; and are fair to minority groups. Key techniques include robust machine learning algorithms that provide clear justifications for detected anomalies, and approaches that maintain performance even when data is incomplete or corrupted. Applications include cybersecurity, finance, healthcare.
Expected outcomes of the project:
Research papers, open-source software, posters or oral presentations.
To be eligible for consideration in the Dachuang program, applicants must meet the following criteria:
- Team Composition: A project team of no more than five members, of which the Entrepreneurship Training/ Practice Project team must comprise at least two members, with complementary skills and expertise.
- Project Leader: The project leader(s) should be a student currently enrolled at DKU, with more than one year to graduate. They are the representative of the team and are responsible for managing the project and coordinating all the activities with the team. For Innovation Training Projects, the project leader will play the role of student PI.
- Unique Leadership: An individual can only serve as the leader of one team but is allowed to be a member of multiple teams.
- Previous Participation: Members who have previously participated in Dii projects are still eligible to join the DKU Innovation Challenge, encouraging continuous engagement and development of innovative ideas.
- Supervisor: A faculty member, subject matter expert, or industry advisor.
- Innovative Concept: A well-defined and innovative research/art/business idea or concept with the potential for impact and growth.
- Commitment: Willingness to dedicate time and effort to the incubation process and the development of the project.
- Alignment with DKU Values: Alignment with DKU’s values and commitment to ethical and responsible business practices.
The Dachuang program is managed by a project system, which is divided into three types: Innovation Training Projects, Entrepreneurship Training Projects, and Entrepreneurship Practice Projects.
Note: The track you choose will not limit the type of project. When selecting a track, you should also specify the type of project you are applying for.
Innovation Training Project (ITP):
- ITP requires undergraduate students to undertake independent research with the guidance of a professional advisor.
- The core of ITP lies in innovation, where students are expected to explore an innovative solution to research question or technical challenge, conducting systematic literature reviews, research design, data collection and analysis as well as interpretation of results.
- Students are required to learn how to write standardized research reports and promote their findings through academic conferences, journal publications, and other means.
- ITP emphasizes the combination of theory and practice, allowing students to enhance their research capabilities while also developing project management and teamwork skills.
Entrepreneurship Training Project (ETP):
- ETP emphasizes a comprehensive understanding of the entrepreneurial process and develop their ability to solve real-world problems through innovative and sustainable products and services.
- The goal of ETP is to expose students to various aspects of the entrepreneurial process, including market research, business model design, financial planning, and team building, through simulated business operations.
- Under the guidance of an advisor, students must complete a comprehensive business plan for completion.
- ETP requires a combination of theory and practice, allowing students to enhance their business plan while also developing project management and teamwork skills.
Entrepreneurial Practice Project (EPP):
- EPP is designed for student teams that have already achieved certain innovative results and are committed to transforming them into actual products and services.
- Under the joint guidance of academic advisor and industry professionals, student teams will develop market-oriented innovative products or services.
- Students are expected to learn how to apply theoretical knowledge to practice, engage in market validation, product iteration, and business model innovation as part of their entrepreneurial practice activities.
- EPP emphasizes the combination of innovation and entrepreneurship, aiming to cultivate students’ market insight, risk assessment capabilities, and practical operation skills, laying a solid foundation for their future entrepreneurial endeavors.
The project system is also divided into three levels: Institutional-level Project, Provincial-level Project, and National-level Project. National-level Projects are recommended to the Ministry of Education by the Jiangsu Education Department (JED), and National-level Projects not approved by the Ministry of Education are implemented with reference to Provincial-level Projects. National programs provide key areas of support. Specific application requirements and key areas are based on the program guidelines issued by the Ministry of Education every year.
DKU is committed to providing an inclusive environment for all participants. If you require any accommodations or have specific accessibility needs to participate in the application process or the challenge itself, please inform us in advance.
For any questions, concerns about accessibility, or technical issues during the application process, please contact: innovation-incubator@dukekunshan.edu.cn
Step 1: Registration
- Project Registration: If you have an established project abstract, the project leader should submit your team member information and project-related details.
- Individual Registration: If you are an individual applicant without a current project abstract, please submit your personal information and share your areas of interest. We will assist you in matching with suitable projects.
- Faculty-Proposed Project Registration: If you are interested in applying for a project proposed by DKU faculty, please submit your registration through the designated section. Be sure to include your personal information, your resume, and a Motivation Letter expressing your interest. We will ensure all submitted materials are forwarded to the relevant professors for their review.
- Registration Deadline: All registrations must be completed by 11:59 PM, October 13, 2024 (Beijing Time). Late registrations will not be accepted.
Step 2: Resource Package Acquisition
After completing the registration, you will receive a resource package that includes a project proposal template, a format introduction guide, and other relevant materials to help you prepare your application.
- Project proposal template
- Format introduction guide
- Other relevant materials to help you prepare your application
Step 3: Proposal Preparation
Use the provided resources to develop your comprehensive project proposal. Ensure that your proposal adheres to the guidelines and addresses all required components.
Step 4: Proposal Submission
Submit your completed proposal and all required documents through the official application platform by the project leader.
- All materials must be submitted by 11:59 PM, October 27, 2024 (Beijing Time).
- Late or incomplete applications will not be considered.
The evaluation process is guided by a set of well-defined selection criteria, ensuring a fair and objective assessment of each project idea and team. While the specific weighting and emphasis may vary depending on the nature of the project, the considered criteria are as follows:
Innovation Project (Research) Evaluation Criteria
Innovation Project (Research) Proposal Evaluation Criteria
| Criteria | Max Score | Notes |
| Scientific/Technical Merit | 25 | ·Novelty of the research idea/approach
·Potential for significant advancement ·Soundness of proposed methodology |
| Potential Impact | 20 | ·Relevance to real-world challenges
·Applicability and scalability ·Alignment with sustainability goals |
| Feasibility | 15 | ·Capability of the team to execute
·Access to required resources ·Risk identification and mitigation |
| Project Planning | 15 | ·Clarity and organization of the plan
·Realistic timelines and milestones ·Effective task delegation |
| Interdisciplinary Collaboration | 10 | ·Integration of diverse expertise
·Evidence of synergistic teamwork ·Knowledge sharing across disciplines |
| Ethical Considerations | 10 | ·Adherence to ethical guidelines
·Comprehensive risk assessment ·Responsible innovation strategies |
| Outreach and Knowledge Transfer | 5 | ·Plan for disseminating outcomes
·Educational/public engagement |
| Total | 100 |
Innovation Project (Research) Final Pitch Scoring Criteria
| Criteria | Max Score | Notes |
| Problem Statement & Significance | 15 | ·Clear articulation of research problem/question
·Importance and relevance of the problem |
| Innovation & Scientific Merit | 20 | ·Novelty and creativity of the proposed approach
·Potential for significant scientific advancement |
| Methodology | 15 | ·Soundness and feasibility of methods
·Capability to execute the planned work |
| Impact Potential | 10 | ·Prospects for real-world applications
·Alignment with sustainability goals |
| Presentation Delivery | 20 | ·Logical flow and organization of content
·Effective use of visual aids |
| Q&A Handling | 20 | ·Ability to address questions and concerns
·Depth of understanding demonstrated |
| Total | 100 |
Innovation Project (Art and Creation) Evaluation Criteria
Innovation Project (Art and Creation) Proposal Evaluation Criteria
| Criteria | Max Score | Notes |
| Artistic/Creative Vision & Originality | 25 | ·Creativity and innovation of concept/themes
·Coherence of artistic/creative approach ·Potential for artistic/creative excellence |
| Cultural Relevance & Impact | 20 | ·Significance to cultural/social discourse
·Expansion of perspectives and dialogue ·Representation of diverse voices |
| Production Planning | 15 | ·Feasibility of project implementation
·Realistic timeline and resource allocation ·Venue/space/media considerations |
| Artistic Team Qualifications | 15 | ·Demonstrated skills and talent
·Relevant training, education, experience ·Track record of creative accomplishments |
| Community Engagement | 10 | ·Opportunities for public interaction
·Educational/outreach initiatives ·Accessibility considerations |
| Marketing & Dissemination | 10 | ·Strategies for promotion and visibility
·Distribution and exhibition planning ·Revenue generation/social impact potential |
| Interdisciplinary Connections | 5 | ·Integration of diverse art forms
·Fostering cross-disciplinary collaboration |
| Total | 100 |
Innovation Project (Art and Creation) Final Pitch Scoring Criteria
| Criteria | Max Score | Notes |
| Artistic Vision & Concept | 15 | ·Clarity and coherence of creative vision
·Originality and innovation of artistic concept |
| Production Design | 15 | ·Quality of artistic renderings/samples/prototypes
·Viability of production plans and logistics |
| Audience Experience | 10 | ·Ability to engage and captivate the audience
·Interactivity and participation opportunities |
| Cultural Relevance & Impact | 10 | ·Significance to cultural discourse
·Representation of diverse perspectives |
| Marketability & Sustainability | 5 | ·Strategies for promotion and distribution
·Revenue generation and funding plans |
| Presentation Delivery | 25 | ·Clarity and organization of the pitch
·Enthusiasm and confidence of presenters |
| Q&A Handling | 20 | ·Ability to address questions and concerns
·Depth of artistic and technical knowledge |
| Total | 100 |
Entrepreneurship Project Evaluation Criteria
Entrepreneurship Project Proposal Evaluation Criteria
| Criteria | Max Score | Notes |
| Innovation & Market Potential | 20 | ·Uniqueness of product/service
·Unmet market need/opportunity ·Competitive advantage |
| Business Model & Strategy | 20 | ·Viability and scalability
·Revenue generation potential ·Marketing and growth strategies |
| Technical/Operational Feasibility | 15 | ·Product development capabilities
·Resource access and supply chain ·Operational efficiency |
| Financial Planning | 15 | ·Financial projections and assumptions
·Cost management ·Funding requirements |
| Team | 10 | ·Relevant expertise of team
·Effective delegation and division of labor |
| Social/Environmental Impact | 10 | ·Sustainability alignment
·Societal/community benefits ·Ethical business practices |
| Risk Analysis | 10 | ·Risk identification
·Risk mitigation strategies ·Adaptability of business model |
| Total | 100 |
Entrepreneurship Project Final Pitch Scoring Criteria
| Criteria | Max Score | Notes |
| Product/Service Pitch | 25 | ·Convincing value proposition
·Clear articulation of customer pain points |
| Market Opportunity | 10 | ·Robust market analysis
·Competitive landscape understanding |
| Business Model | 10 | ·Revenue generation strategy
·Operational and scalability planning |
| Financial Projections | 5 | ·Realistic financial assumptions
·Funding utilization plan |
| Presentation Delivery | 25 | ·Clarity and organization
·Enthusiasm and persuasiveness |
| Q&A Handling | 25 | ·Ability to address concerns
·Evidence of deep market/product knowledge |
| Total | 100 |
Dii collects and organizes all submitted applications. All applications are reviewed by Dii to ensure completeness and adherence to the eligibility criteria. Incomplete or ineligible applications are promptly eliminated from the process.
Dii will then prepare application packages for the review committee based on the projects’ fields.The committee includes a panel of experts, comprising faculty members, industry professionals, successful entrepreneurs, and Dii associates. Each application is independently scored based on a set the predefined criteria.
The selection of the Institutional-level projects will be all based on the proposal. And the selection of the Provincial and National-level projects will be based on 70% of the proposal and 30% of the pitch.
After the comprehensive evaluation process, Dii team eventually selects the top-ranked projects based on the scores of the proposals and presentations to be admitted as provincial and national (recommended) projects into the incubation program. The number of provincial and national (recommended) projects selected may vary depending on the available resources and the quality of applications received.