by ZHUANG Jian

Shanghai Innovation Institute, set up last year as a joint project of China's Ministry of Education and the city, is testing new ways to train AI talent.

The institute selects PhD students through boot camps run with 31 universities, drawing more than 3,300 applicants and admitting about 800 in its first year. Graduates earn degrees from their home universities plus a certificate from the institute.

The program, based in Xuhui's West Bund AI town, departs from China's traditional PhD model by allowing students to change supervisors and research topics under the guidance of more than 200 academic and industry mentors. It also offers labs, computing resources and venture capital links to turn research into companies. In its first year, it incubated 10 start-ups. A doctoral project on glasses-free 3D displays was accepted by Nature.

Officials said the program remains experimental and is still taking shape as part of Shanghai's broader effort to build an AI talent hub.