The national championship of the 7th National Forum for Undergraduates on Innovative Research & Experimental Design in Basic Medicine co-hosted by the Basic Medicine Group, joint committee of National Demonstration Center for Experimental Education for institutions of higher learning and the Working Group on Basic Medical Innovation and Entrepreneurship and Collaborative Education for colleges and universities was held in Xi’an from Dec 3rd to 6th, 2021. Six teams selected by the College of Basic Medical Sciences, Jilin University (JLU) have delivered gratifying results in the national finals, ranking among the best in the 114 competing colleges and universities. The teams scooped 3 gold awards, 3 silver awards, and made their presence in every single category with one award for academic excellence, two for style excellence, and one for outstanding teamwork. The number of awards they won accounted for 13.3% of the total, representing a historic breakthrough and showcasing the academic strength of the college.

The National Forum for Undergraduates on Innovative Research & Experimental Design in Basic Medicine is the highest-level competition in basic medicine. For the first time, this year’s contest adopts a tiered system from campus-level to district-level and national-level contests. More than 210 schools and 10,000 students participated in the preliminary competition. The district-level competition covered 31 provinces. Among the 1,005 teams from 166 institutions, only 30% made it to the next level. The northern competition area that JLU was in attracted 188 teams from 42 colleges and universities, including the School of Medicine, Tsinghua University, Peking Union Medical College, Nankai University and Tianjin University. The 6 teams representing the JLU College of Basic Medical Sciences won 4 first prizes and 2 second prizes, all qualified for the finals. The national finals involved 114 universities with undergraduate majors in 30 provinces. Among the 265 entries, 53 were selected for the gold awards and 80 for the silver awards. For single categories, 10 entries were awarded for academic excellence, 10 for style excellence, and 10 for outstanding teamwork. Compared with previous competitions, this year’s edition adopts a new and more challenging set of rules with a lower proportion of candidates awarded. However, the representative team of our college came out on top, gained unanimous recognition by the experts, and delivered its best ever performance in the college’s history.

The forum combined online defense by students and offline evaluation by judges. For each project, students had five minutes for presentation and five minutes for defense. The teams of JLU College of Basic Medical Sciences manifested their well-learnt basic knowledge, excellent scientific literacy and nimble thinking. The excellent results of this medical competition cannot be obtained without the support and help of the faculty and the university. The college will continue to promote the integration of science and education and the cultivation of innovative talents, striving for even better achievements in the next competition.