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Among the 2022 cohort of Finance undergraduates, 63 students participated in a thesis writing course taught by ProfessorJianing Zhang. Of these, 20 undergraduates successfully published their undergraduate theses as first authors in international journals, including SSCI journals. For many undergraduates, writing a research paper is no easy task, and publishing an undergraduate thesis in mainstream international academic journals is even “harder than climbing to the sky.” A publication rate of one-third for the class is a nearly unrepeatable achievement, highlighting WKU’s exceptional performance in cultivating undergraduate research.The Story Behind the Breakthrough AchievementThe high publication rate of WKU undergraduates in international journals is a result of the university's unique teaching model and strong resource support. First, WKU employs a process-oriented, project-based teaching approach, breaking the thesis writing process into several phased tasks, from topic selection, literature review, data collection and analysis, to final writing and revisions, guiding students step by step. This systematic teaching approach significantly enhances students' research skills and the quality of their papers. Secondly, the university provides students with ample research resources, such as Bloomberg terminals and the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton Research Database Services, enabling them to access high-quality data and literature. WKU also emphasizes cultivating students' self-learning and independent thinking abilities, for example, using tools like STATA for data analysis and leveraging AI tools such as ChatGPT for programming assistance. The solid foundation in English that WKU students possess allows them to smoothly read and write academic papers in English, providing a crucial advantage in publishing in international journals.Student StoriesShuyi Yaoconducted research on whether the top ten holdings of Chinese equity funds could predict future stock performance, and her paper was eventually published in the SSCI journal “International Journal of Emerging Markets”. During the writing process, she faced skepticism from reviewers about the impact mechanisms and continuously refined the theoretical framework, proposing new hypotheses such as price pressure. This ultimately made the paper more convincing. Shuyi Yao stated that this research experience not only taught her rigorous research methods but also helped her develop perseverance and problem-solving skills when facing challenges.Jiongye Jin’s thesis explored the impact of green bond issuance on corporate stock returns during the pandemic. After completing the paper, she submitted it to the 3rd SEBI Research Conference in India and won a prize of 10,000 Indian Rupees. During the conference, the organizers recommended that she submit the paper to the ABS-2 journal “Asia-Pacific Financial Markets”. After submission, she received 41 revision comments from reviewers. Following multiple rounds of revisions, the paper was successfully published. She remarked that the interactions at the international conference greatly boosted his research confidence.Kangyi Wang’s thesis focused on the impact of the board female fraction in Japan on corporate performance. Throughout the publication process, she, along with Professors Jianing Zhang, Chunxiao Xue, and Jing Ma, underwent numerous revisions. In response to 30 revision comments from reviewers, their team worked together during the holidays, expanding the sample and increasing the paper from 7,000 to 13,000 words. The reviewers highly praised their revisions, and the paper was eventually published in the ABDC-B journal “Journal of Risk and Financial Management.”Qiongqiong Zhang’s thesis on carbon pricing and the stock performance of China’s carbon emissions trading pilot regions was eventually published in the ABDC-B journal “Review of Pacific Basin Financial Markets and Policies”. From submission in May 2022 to final publication in October 2023, the process took 17 months of revisions. She expanded the scope of the research, manually collected information from over 3,000 companies, and used Python for data processing, ultimately achieving success.Question: What advice and tips do you have for Finance undergraduates publishing papers in journals?Prof. Zhang: Undergraduates face some significant challenges when publishing journal articles. The first is topic selection. Many students tend to choose topics based on intuition, but this can lead to a situation where they have no solid data to support their research. I recommend starting with data and identifying potential research ideas through data analysis, which makes it easier to discover new research directions. The second challenge is data organization. Merging data from different databases is a technical task that requires learning database programming tools like SAS and SQL to efficiently handle and manage data. Third, statistical analysis is a key step. Mastering classical econometrics software like STATA can help students use statistical regression and other methods to generate high-quality analytical tables. Fourth, in terms of literature review, students need quick reading skills and the ability to build an overall framework. Making full use of existing literature reviews to trace relevant literature can yield twice the result with half the effort. In summary, undergraduate research requires not only diligence, patience, and attention to detail but also the development of complementary skills such as proficiency in English, computing, and mathematics.WKU’s Research Support and Future ProspectsWenzhou-Kean University provides abundant research resources and support to help undergraduates succeed in their academic journeys. The Office of Research and Sponsered Programs offers annual conference grants ranging from 2,000 to 3,000 RMB to each undergraduate, and promotes faculty-student collaboration through initiatives such as the “Student Pairing with Faculty (SpF) Research Program," fostering students’ innovation and academic skills. Since 2015, more than 500 students and 130 faculty members have participated in this program, with nearly 7 million RMB in funding awarded. Additionally, the university hosts an annual Student Research Day (SRD), showcasing the collaborative research achievements between faculty and students, greatly enhancing students' research capabilities and academic exchange skills.

Recently, Stanford University has recently released the list of the World’s Top 2% Scientists 2023. Six professors from Wenzhou-Kean University were named on the list. They are Prof. Andrea Gatto and Prof. Imran Yousaf from the College of Business and Public Management (CBPM), Prof. Ali Bahadur, Prof. Puneet Rana, Prof. Sin-Yeang (Ronald) Teow and Prof. Emanuel Guariglia from the College of Science, Mathematics and Technology.The list, compiled by the team of Professor John P.A. Ioannidis of Stanford University, using citations from Scopus, an international scientific database, is based on standardized information of citations, h-index, co-authorship-adjusted hm-index, citations to papers in different authorship positions, and a composite indicator, covering more than 7 million scientists and scholars considered to be active worldwide, respectively from 22 scientific fields and 174 subfields.According to statistics, the number of research papers published by WKU’s faculty, staff and students has been increasing annually, with a growth rate of 79.2% in 2020, 80% in 2021, and 25.1% in 2022. Their papers’ increasing acceptance and citation rates also demonstrate the continuous enhancement of WKU’s research strength.Wenzhou-Kean University blends educational models and teaching methods of both China and the United States to constantly boost teaching with research. The university now has over 200 full-time faculty members recruited from 40 countries and regions worldwide. Most of them have international education backgrounds and doctoral degrees, indicating an increasing level of competence in conducting research. Worth mentioning, many of them graduated from the world’s top universities such as Columbia University, the University of Cambridge, and the University of Chicago.Writer: Wenwei XIANG

On August 23rd, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) announced the result of 2024 NSFC approved projects. 2 projects from Wenzhou-Kean University have been awarded the Research Fund for International Young Scientists. The projects are from the College of Science, Mathematics and Technology - "A Study on Semi-Batch Reverse Osmosis Scaling Mechanisms Using a Machine Learning-Based Scaling Index" led by Dr. Jungbin Kim and "Assessing and Leveraging Microbiome Dynamics in Hyperaccumulator Plant Systems" led by Dr. Muhammad Khalid.According to statistics, the approval rate for the Research Fund for International Scientists in 2024 is 10.87%, which is only higher than that of the Excellent Young Scientists Fund and Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars. Additionally, the project "A Dynamic Game Process between Applicants and Recruiters in AI Interviews" where Dr. Alexander English from the College of Liberal Arts contributes as the major team member, has been successfully listed under the International (Regional) Cooperation and Exchange Programs.Since its establishment, Wenzhou-Kean University has placed great emphasis on the construction of research and has been accelerating its pace of innovation. Through implementing a series of reform measures and plans, the university hascontinuously strengthened the recruitment and cultivation of high-level and high-quality talents, promoted the development of high-level research teams, built high-level platforms for science and technology innovation, and improved the research capabilities and skills of its faculty and staff members.Dr. Muhammad KhalidProject Name：Assessing and Leveraging Microbiome Dynamics in Hyperaccumulator Plant SystemDr. Jungbin KimProject Name：A study on semi-batch reverse osmosis scaling mechanisms using a machine learning-based scaling index