What’s trending?

National science competitions for primary and secondary school students have come under intense scrutiny after it was revealed that a sixth-grader’s research project heavily involved his father. At the 34th China Adolescents Science and Technology Innovation Contest (CASTIC) in July 2019, the boy presented a complex gene study related to colorectal cancer and won third prize. Subsequent investigations have sparked a massive debate about academic dishonesty and the unfairness that is thought to plague such contests.

What’s the story?

According to the CASTIC website, the sixth-grader’s project was carried out at the Kunming Institute of Zoology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences. It went viral thanks to the stark contrast between the study’s complexity and the boy’s young age. Professionals pointed out that even PhD students would find the topic highly challenging. Meanwhile, it appeared that the boy had minimal knowledge of biochemistry. An excerpt from his research notes read, “The teachers told me about a gene called C10orf67. I went to look up the definition of ‘gene.’”

The Kunming Institute issued a statement saying that the boy is the son of a research fellow at the institute. According to china.com, in December 2019, a study that overlapped with the content of the boy’s research was published by the Kunming Institute on the National Science Review, with the student’s father as one of the corresponding authors. Meanwhile, his mother oversaw a similar project with a budget of 550,000 yuan ($78,600) from 2017 to 2020.

CASTIC has since rescinded the student’s prize and said it would continue to investigate the matter. A provincial science competition that gave the boy first prize also revoked the award. The child’s father issued a public apology, saying that “my son has mostly mastered relevant concepts and research methods… but I failed to fully understand that the competition committee requires students to write their own reports.”

The sixth-grader’s cancer research competition entry is far from an isolated example of parents using their own academic knowledge and resources to boost their kids’ resumes. Two sisters from a primary school in Wuhan used mice to study ways to fight tumors, but it was exposed that their advisor for the project worked for their father at a local research institute. Moreover, the two students were not qualified to experiment with animals in the first place.

On July 20, the Ministry of Education asked organizers of science competitions to carefully examine the authenticity and originality of prize-winners’ projects. Awards in science competitions should not be a factor in secondary school admission, the Ministry said.

What are people saying online?

The incident has triggered national outcry as social media buzzes with discussion about academic integrity. Many people argue that the professional judges must have realized that the boy was not qualified to perform the experiments on his own, raising the question of corruption on the judging panel.

People were further angered by the apology by the boy’s father, which many felt seemed “insincere” and “full of excuses.” “Don’t try to fool us,” one user wrote. “Why can your son step foot in a highly advanced lab? Why can he use the research budget that’s allocated to the college and research group? These are the questions you should answer.”

Contact editor Marcus Ryder (marcusryder@caixin.com)