On December 2nd, ISA Wuhan held the International Summit for Cultivating Innovators & ISAIEG Centre for Cultivating Innovators (Wuhan) Opening Ceremony on campus. The summit gathered senior academicians, scholars, university professors, and frontline education experts from across the world to discuss the cultivation methods and paths of top innovative talents, to establish a system of cultivation of top innovative talents suitable for China's national conditions, and open a scientific forum that enlightens the mind.

During the Opening Ceremony, Mr. Zude Zhou, Fellow of the Russian Academy of Engineering and Former President of Wuhan University of Technology, was appointed as the chief expert of the ISAIEG Centre for Cultivating Innovators (Wuhan). Mr. Jiangtao Gao, Member of National Training Program Expert Database of Ministry of Education and Former Vice President of Renmin University High School, has been appointed as the chief tutor of ISAIEG Centre for Cultivating Innovators (Wuhan)

During the International Summit for Cultivating Innovators, Mr. Mark Girolami, Professor at the University of Cambridge; Research Chair of the Royal Academy of Engineering; Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, Mr. Jiangtao Gao, Famous expert in early cultivation of top innovative talents in China, former Vice-President of NPC Affiliated Middle School, delivered keynote speeches and shared their insights on the cultivation of top-notch innovative talents. 

Mr. Mark Girolami said that the world is currently facing many global challenges, including climate change, big health and how to make artificial intelligence benefit all human beings, etc., which require schools to train more innovative people who are willing to take on challenges and find solutions to problems.

Mr. Jiangtao Gao gave a speech on "How to Identify and Develop Initial Innovative Talent", sharing the difficulties and insights he encountered during his more than 40 years of teaching, especially during the last 10 years, when he devoted himself to discovering and cultivating top-notch innovative talents, and summarised six suggestions: emancipate the mind and build a platform; plan scientifically and use it for innovation; unify the mind and be pragmatic; treat it seriously and push it forward in a solid way; don't be arrogant or impatient, and dare to stick to it; and summarise it in time to enhance confidence.

In the subsequent roundtable discussion, David Mansfield, ISAIEG Chief Academic Advisor to Board, Strategic Advisor to Board, posed two questions to the Chinese and foreign experts: How can schools encourage innovation in curriculum and pedagogy? How to make good use of international resources to cultivate China's top innovative talents?

According to Mr. Tianshan Zhai, Hubei Provincial Committee Member of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and President of the Provincial CPPCC Theoretical Research Society said that innovative talents only account for 10-15 per cent of the total, so there is a need for a portion of the schools like ISA and Renmin University High School, which have good resources and innovative systems, to be dedicated to exploring the issue.

Mr. Mark Girolami, Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, thought that outstanding innovators need to have a breadth of knowledge, and professionals in science and technology need to dabble in humanities and social sciences to help them understand the world, and at the same time be able to consider different perspectives in order to have a truly international outlook.

Mr. Zude Zhou, Fellow of the Russian Academy of Engineering and Former President of Wuhan University of Technology, believes that the establishment of an innovative environment is crucial to building a platform for students to innovate and to effectively promote multidisciplinary integration.

Mr. John Barker, Senior Associate Dean and Professor of the College of Arts, Sciences & Engineering; University of Rochester, said that ISA Wuhan has already made useful explorations in terms of curriculum and teaching, and the next step is to persist in its commitment to cultivating students' ability to identify and solve problems, and to truly develop their potential.

Mr. Jiangtao Gao, a Member of the National Training Program Expert Database of the Ministry of Education and Former Vice President of Renmin University High School, said that the establishment of an evaluation mechanism is very important in creating an environment that encourages innovation, with another assessment system other than examinations, so that students who dare to innovate can have a sense of achievement.

Mr. Youqing Chen, Professor and Director of Institute of Curriculum and Teaching in School of Education at Central China Normal University said that, the first step is to construct a cultural environment conducive to the growth of top-notch innovative talents, and the construction of the curriculum should be oriented towards the cultivation of students' expression of inquiry, innovation and individuality.

Mr. Mahesh Selvaraj, Deputy Director of School Development and Curriculum of ISA International Education Group, the Head of ISA Wuhan International School and Co-head of ISA Wenhua Wuhan School, said that, "The integration of universities and schools is very important to cultivate innovative talents, and ISA needs to develop extensive and in-depth co-operation with renowned universities, so as to truly understand the assessment system of universities and know what kind of talents they need, which will help ISA to better set up the curriculum system."

"ISA Wuhan is a multicultural, high-tech holistic school with the mission of the early training of top innovative talents. We have established the ISAIEG Centre for Cultivating Innovators (Wuhan), which aims to build a good talent reserve at the basic education stage, planning the education and development of over-achieving students, teaching them according to their abilities and meeting their differentiated psychological development needs." said by Dr. Juliana Jia, the Head of ISA Wuhan School.

“武汉爱莎是一所高科技的、多元文化融合的全人教育学校，肩负拔尖创新人才早期培养的使命。我们建立了爱莎拔尖创新人才培养中心，就是要在于在基础教育阶段做好人才储备，规划超常学生的教育和发展，对他们因材施教，满足其差异化的心理发展需求。”武汉爱莎学校园区总校长贾茜博士说。

The school will identify students with outstanding potential in one or more aspects at an early stage through the process evaluation method, break through the barriers between school segments and disciplines, and focus on cultivating students' independent learning ability, competitiveness, scientific research, and practical ability, and innovative spirit.

学校将通过过程性评价方法在早期发现在某一方面或某几方面有突出潜能的学生，打通学段与学科壁垒，着力培养学生的自主学习能力、竞争能力、科研实践能力和创新精神。

Currently, ISAIEG Centre for Cultivating Innovators (Wuhan) is open to secondary school students nationwide and implements a dynamic elimination mechanism. The Centre will provide each selected student with an independent workspace, create an independent, quiet and comfortable study and research space for the students, customize a personalized training plan for them, and jointly construct the curriculum and knowledge structure by a team of internal and external tutors, including academicians, professors, experts from scientific research institutions, coaches of discipline competitions and PhDs. The ISAIEG Centre for Cultivating Innovators (Wuhan) will soon open admissions for national enrolment, please look forward to it.