Tsinghua University offers ‘disruptive tech’ programme to undergraduates with up to 200,000 yuan in funding

Tsinghua University has launched a new programme to cultivate disruptive tech talent, as the country continues to push innovation and self-reliance amid an intensifying tech war with the United States.

The talent development programme calls for all current Tsinghua University undergraduates to launch their own innovative projects from the spring term of the current academic year, according to sources who have seen the internal introduction to the programme.

The programme will have a relatively low entrance threshold and is not strictly success-oriented as it will support students to have “valuable failures”, according to the sources, who declined to be identified.

All participants can apply for up to 200,000 yuan (US$30,000) in funding for their projects and can form virtual “disruptive classes” across faculties and departments, allowing them to be guided by leading interdisciplinary scientists.

The programme has been named “Dian class” – shorthand for “disruptive innovation talent development class”– and is pronounced in the same way as “top class” or “crazy class”.

The development has attracted the attention of Chinese netizens, with the “Tsinghua dian class” hashtag gaining 21.8 million discussions on Weibo as of Tuesday.