When Duke Kunshan University’s inaugural undergraduate class graduated this year they departed not only with bachelor’s degrees but a body of original and compelling research to their names.
The 234 Signature Work projects form part of the Class of 2022’s scholarly legacy at Duke Kunshan, investigations covering everything from ancient dental hygiene and Kunbei folk music to robot imaging and fintech advances.
Director of Signature Work Benjamin Bacon said the group’s collective output was the embodiment of the program’s vision to develop students into “creative problem solvers and critical thinkers for the world beyond graduation”.
“The breadth and depth of their research, scholarly investigation and creative works exemplifies the caliber of student that attends DKU,” said Bacon, an associate professor of media and arts.
“The Class of 2022 persevered through some of the most difficult years because of the COVID-19 pandemic and they accomplished so much with grace and integrity. I am so proud of the projects they completed and what they have overcome.”
As a core element of DKU’s innovative undergraduate curriculum, Signature Work requires students to independently investigate an original topic they are passionate about and apply solutions-focused and creative thinking to questions of real-world importance.
Through experiences in the classroom and beyond, and under the guidance of faculty, students each developed an academic product showcasing their intellectual aptitude and creative mindset. Whether based on fieldwork, archival research, laboratory experiments or creative endeavors, the projects are expected to yield publicly visible results conveyed through scholarly presentation.
Uros Osmokrovic, from Serbia, said he witnessed his classmates thrive during the process as they dived deep into their subject of choice, sourcing untapped data and overcoming problems that came their way.
“The unity the whole Class of 2022 showed during the last few weeks prior to deadline was something to remember,” said Osmokrovic, a political economy graduate who now works in consultancy.
He described completing the project as “one last push” in an undergraduate education preparing them for the world of work and postgraduate study.
Haibei Seashell Zhang, who majored in molecular bioscience, said she was grateful for the support she received through the program to “follow my interests and unlock new directions”.
Dean of Undergraduate Studies Marcia France said Duke Kunshan provides a range of funding for students to research topics they are interested in.
“Students can do anything that they can dream up,” said France, who is also associate vice chancellor for undergraduate studies and the Language and Culture Center.
“We provide crucial support to make these dreams a reality.”
With their Signature Work projects under their belt, the 234 graduates from the Class of 2022 have gone on to great things.
Of the many embarking on postgraduate study at top universities, six received prestigious fellowships such as the Rhodes Scholarship and the Schwarzman Scholars programs.
Others entered the workforce at leading firms including Tencent, Deloitte, Google, McKinsey & Company and Microsoft.
Learn more about Signature Work and how to support the program by visiting the Education Development Foundation’s Signature Fund page.
Here are just a few of the Class of 2022’s Signature Work projects:
‘Arousing a burning interest’
Cryptocurrency researcher Qitong Cao’s project sought to develop a new financial model for predicting price changes in Bitcoin, which has attracted growing public attention as the dominant digital asset for peer-to-peer financial transactions.
The paper aims to provide investors with a deeper understanding of the mechanics behind Bitcoin price fluctuations so they can make timely adjustments to investment strategies and reduce risk.
Cao, who graduated in applied mathematics and computational science and will study at Stanford University School of Engineering, said the project “aroused a burning interest” and she plans to continue her research to contribute to accelerating the global adoption of cryptocurrency.
There’s an app for that
Jiyang Tang relishes the opportunity to use his computing skills for the benefit of others.
When he was approached by the Language and Culture Center to help build an app to support international students learning Chinese he jumped at the chance. The app aims to improve the pronunciation of its users.
“It provides accurate real-time feedback on the pronunciation recorded by students down to every consonant and vowel of a Chinese syllable,” said Tang, a data science major who is continuing studying natural language processing as a graduate student at Carnegie Mellon University.
“I believe it is a very meaningful project because it directly helps the international students of DKU.”
From passion to profession
Comics fan Momoko Mandere delved into how children’s picture books are put together by creating her own story from scratch and deconstructing the creative process.
“I set out to both explore the theory of creative narrative construction and practice creating a story myself to help understand this theory better,” said the graduate in media and arts (creative practice).
A potential career in writing and illustration now beckons for Mandere, who is from Zimbabwe.
“The project helped me develop a clearer understanding of how to construct creative writing stories and made me feel more confident about potentially pursuing writing and illustrating on a more professional basis.”
Challenging health assumptions
Osmokrovic wants to challenge the perception there is little that can be done to mitigate against cardiovascular diseases (CVD), the leading cause of mortality in developed countries.
His research argues that higher investment in the health sector would reduce CVD deaths.
“I have found that health expenditure and CVD are negatively correlated and that it is possible to mitigate CVD mortality with higher attention in that field of healthcare,” said Osmokrovic, who majored in political economy.
He said the Signature Work program helped him understand his passion for healthcare and health economics, which he plans to study further.
Advancing sensor technology
Peter Ballentine’s (materials science, chemistry) project on using aerosol jet printing to manufacture graphene structures for use in sensors earned him a U.S. National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship, supporting his ongoing research in this area and beyond.
Antimicrobial resistance warning
Hong Pham (global health, public policy), who is from the U.S., examined the threat to public health of antimicrobial resistance from the overuse of medicine, specifically its transfer from livestock to humans. Her inquiries led her to recommend policies to improve awareness, monitoring and cooperation. She is now pursuing a master of science in global health at Duke University.
Kunbei folk music in modern Kunshan
Yulai Yang (media and arts, creative practice) spent a year with Kunbei folk music performers for a documentary on a disappearing part of indigenous Kunshan culture. Shot from the perspective of a young outsider learning the local dialect and culture, the film asks what the future holds for the art form and why it is worth preserving.
Improving water quality
Aya Lahlou (data science) investigated ways to address low levels of water quality and sanitation in many parts of the world by improving monitoring techniques. Lahlou, from Morocco, hopes the model developed, which used convolutional neural networks and satellite imagery data, will offer faster and cheaper quality assessments. She now is doing a Ph.D. in earth and environmental engineering at Columbia University.
Buddhist approaches to well-being
Jiayang Ling (cultures and movements, sociology) analyzed hundreds of approaches by Buddhists to meaning-making, which encompasses how humans interpret life events, and found evidence indicating its positive role in coping with stress and anxiety. She has joined UCLA’s master of social welfare program with tracks in health and mental health.
