Student Research Day | Research? Yeah We-search!

Every year in April, there is a strong academic atmosphere on the WKU campus because of Student Research Day.

A few days ago, the 3rd Student Research Day (SRD) began. Nearly 70 student groups showed their academic research results from this year to the audience by giving presentations and making posters which attracted a record number of participants.

Starting with the release of the SRD application notice last year, the students had been actively prepared for their projects by conducting their research projects under the guidance of their advisors from different majors.

This year’s research topics covered more fields. Apart from Accounting, Finance, Marketing, Economics, Computer Science, English and Psychology, the new fields of Demography, Biology and Architecture were added to the list. The students combined the theories they had learnt in class with popular topics about society’s current economic development and delved deeper into the projects that were interesting to them, and present them to the audience.

The projects in the business field included Luxury Brands in China: Analysis of Luxury Brands Performance Before and After Economic Crisis (2004-2011), The emotional effects of Taobao reviews on product sales: An exploratory analysis, Environmental Disclosures in the China Energy Industry: A Study of Selected Firms and Determinants of Bank Profitability in China. As for the humanities and social sciences category, the research projects included Speaking and Debating Strategies for Effective Communication: How to talk with anyone, anytime, anywhere, How Can Successful Blogs Be Characterized: A Multi-Discourse Analysis Using Appraisal Theories, Language creativity and playfulness: the role of English in the changing nature of Mandarin Chinese – the case of ‘New Chinglish’ and so on. Topics under biology included Study on Cosmetic Effect of Akebia Fruit Extract (Flavone and Polysaccharide), Commercialization of Wildlife Conservation and its Development in China and Research about how to extract flavone and polysaccharose from Akebia fruit. Apart from these, other research projects included Cloud Controlling Voice Recognition System Applied in “Smart Home” and Wenzhou-Kean University Assets Management System Combined with GIS Map in the computer science field as well as Sustainable development of vernacular historical districts in Wenzhou Area: The case of Bo’ Ao Village in the architecture field.

At the launch ceremony, Assistant Professor in Biology Dr. Aloysius Wong shared three tips for doing research by including his own research experience. The first one was that we should be adventurous which can lead to infinite possibilities. The second was that we should be flexible, so we can seize the opportunities. The last one was that we should combine our interest with the research, which can raise more passion.

This year brought more achievements and is considered a huge academic success. According to vice chancellor Xiaodong Zheng, teachers in WKU published 136 research paper in various international academic journals including Science Citation Index (SCI), Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI) and Arts and Humanities Citation Index (AHCI). Over 90 research projects were also conducted among which five projects involved international cooperation. One project was at the national level and four projects were at the provincial level. In addition, our university set up the Zhejiang-Kean Institute of Innovation, Creativity and Entrepreneurship, the China-US Young Maker Center, the WKU Autism Research Center, and Wenzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone (WETDZ) – WKU Strategic Cooperation Alliance. WKU also established academic and researching collaboration agreements with University of California, Davis and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University.