On the afternoon of October 15, 2026, the School of Artificial Intelligence held the kickoff meeting for the 2027 National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) proposal submission in Classroom 310, Building 8. Presided over by ViceDean Zhao Tingting, the meeting was attended by all fulltime faculty members of the school. Participants comprehensively reviewed the outcomes of last year’s NSFC applications and arranged preparatory work for the new round of NSFC projects, officially launching the school’s 2027 NSFC application campaign.

At the meeting, ViceDean Zhao Tingting delivered a mobilization speech. She systematically summarized the overall performance of the school’s 2026 NSFC applications and project approvals, and made comprehensive arrangements for key tasks in 2027. She emphasized that the school should establish a threelevel working system of “SchoolTeamApplicant”, enforce responsibilities at all levels, earnestly implement the requirement of encouraging all eligible faculty to submit proposals, fully tap the application potential of young teachers and core research staff, and continuously expand the pool of project applicants. The school will coordinate highquality expert resources both on and offcampus and build a phased fullprocess mentoring mechanism. Through various forms including inteam discussions, oneonone inhouse guidance, multiple rounds of concentrated proposal polishing by internal and external experts, and peertopeer consultations by subjectmatter specialists, the school will provide allround support for faculty in writing research proposals. She encouraged all faculty to make early plans and preparations, devote themselves to polishing proposals, focus on cuttingedge scientific issues, dig deep into research innovations, improve proposal quality, and strive to achieve new dual breakthroughs in both quantity and quality of NSFC projects approved by the school.

Two recipients of the NSFC Young Scientists Fund, Dr. Wang Cong and Dr. Liao Yun, shared their successful application experiences. Drawing on her awarded project, Wang Cong elaborated on core steps such as refining scientific questions, designing research schemes and identifying innovation points. She reminded faculty to build a clear and complete logical framework for proposals and base research content on solid preliminary work to ensure wellgrounded arguments. From a practical application perspective, Liao Yun sorted out common pitfalls in proposal submission, and shared handson experience in topic selection, research scope adjustment and repeated revision of proposals, offering practical references for attending faculty members.

This kickoff meeting unified the faculty’s research mindset, clarified objectives and implementation paths for the 2027 NSFC application, and greatly boosted faculty confidence in applying for NSFC projects. Moving forward, the School of Artificial Intelligence will advance all relevant work in strict accordance with timelines, continue to deliver fullchain support including proposal tutoring, expert review and iterative revision, foster a dynamic research atmosphere, fully improve the overall quality of NSFC applications, and steadily enhance the school’s capacity for scientific and technological innovation.