their initiative and creativity full play, but also enhances the spirit of teamwork and cultivates personal integrity. The past two decades has proven the success of the program. Its students have won numerous prizes in such international and national contests. 80 percent of its graduates have been enrolled in postgraduate programs at home or abroad, one third of whom have already obtained doctoral degrees. Its graduates have now spread all over the world. Among them are the 31-year-old and 34-year-old full professors at Harvard University, the 40-year-old US National Academy of Sciences member, the 31-year-old IEEE fellow and the president of Baidu, the discoverer of the smallest possible carbon nanotube, winners of the U.S. Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers, TR35 innovators selected by MIT Technology Review and so on. Special Class for the Gifted Young Established in 1978, the Special Class for the Gifted Young (SCGY) is the traditional and original program of its kind. Its establishment was based on the idea suggested by renowned scientists such as Tsung-Dao Lee, C. N. Yang, and Samuel C. C. Ting . SCGY has strict age limit; for instance, to enroll in 2016, the student must have a birth date after January 1, 2000. Prospective students must first pass the National College Entrance Examination in China, and then the final test arranged by USTC, which mainly focuses on the student's ability in mathematics and physics. Approximately 40 to 50 students are admitted to the class every year. Notable alumni Xiaowei Zhuang - Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology & Physics, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, Harvard University, member of National Academy of Sciences Zhang Yaqin () - Corporate Vice President, Chairman of Microsoft China and Microsoft Research China Microsoft Liqun Luo - Professor of Biological Sciences, Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator, Stanford University, member of National Academy of Sciences, fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science Tianxi Cai - Professor of Biostatistics, Harvard University Ju Li - Battelle Energy Alliance Professor of Nuclear Science and Engineering and Professor of Materials Science and Engineering, MIT Zhong Shao () - Professor of Computer Science, Yale University Shanhui Fan () - Professor of Electrical Engineering, Stanford University Zheng-Tian Lu () - Professor of Physics, University of Chicago Jun-Lin Guan() - Professor of Internal Medicine, Molecular Medicine & Genetics, University of Michigan, fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science Xi