Yun Ziyi and her classmate Gao Jialu are postgraduate students at Tianjin Agricultural University and members of a local technology innovation base called Small Berry.
Established in April 2024, the base is part of a “science and education integration” model that combines hands-on practice with academic research. Professor Wang Lijuan provides academic guidance, while agricultural technician Chen Xiangtao (54) mentors students in field practice. From morning to night, the students take turns visiting more than 10 greenhouses, writing detailed field notes and participating in crop management. Themodel, in which the agricultural area provides land and resources while the university contributes talent and technology, has become an important bridge connecting scientific research with real-world applications.“After graduation, I will return to Xinjiang as an agricultural technician,” said Zhang Yanpeng, a student in the program. For this group of Gen Z students, their research is not just written in the form of papers, but also taking root and growing in China’s vast agricultural land.
