From April 12 to 13, School of Government at Sun Yat-sen University hosted the 1st “Zhi Dao Cup” National Academic Annual Conference for Undergraduates. As the first national conference specifically targeted on undergraduate students from areas of public administration and politics, it requires the participant to be the first author of the paper he/she submitted. More than 300 papers from universities across the country have been received since the calling for papers in the end of 2018. After the first round of review, 30 papers were selected into the Conference, including those from Renmin University of China, Fudan University, Beijing Normal University, Nankai University, Xiamen University, Sichuan University, Shandong University, Lanzhou University, Central South University, Sun Yat-sen University, and so on. 

The panel of on-site judges were composed of Prof. Qin Bo from Renmin University of China, Associate Prof. Gao Xiang from Zhejiang University, and Prof. Zhu Yapeng, Prof. Chen Nabo, Prof. Liang Pinghan, Assocaite Prof. Zhu Jiafeng from Sun Yat-sen University, and other experts. All candidates attending the conference, divided into 2 groups, have presented their papers in 2 sessions, with each candidate presenting for 15 minutes, followed by 10 minutes of comments and questions from judges. After fierce competition, 6 papers among the 30 ones have been graded as the best papers, including the paper written by Shi Xiaojiao, our student from Management Elite Class of 2016, under the guidance of Associate Prof. Lang Mei, with the title of “From Innovation Sustainability to Deepening Innovation: the Key Elements for Building Local Government’s Governance Innovation Capability”. Shi Xiaojiao was awarded CNY 1000 and her paper will be recommended into the reviewing list of Journal of Public Administration and Chinese Public Policy Review.

Ms. Shi Xiaojiao is now a junior student of Management Elite Class of 2016 (majored in Public Administration, with the orientation of government performance). When she was a sophomore, she has started the research on “The Overlapping Effect of the Influence Factors of the Local Government’s Continuous Innovation in Northwest China — An Empirical Study Based on QCA ”funded by school (Success Plan)and the university. Then she engaged in the research area and carried out the research on “Structural Measurement and Scale Development of Local Officials’ Innovation Willingness — On the Basis of the National Survey Data on Innovation Followed-up Projects”, which has been funded by the National Undergraduate Innovation and Entrepreneurship Project.