Abstract: The school of life sciences at Shandong University has implemented effective practices for cultivating top talents in life sciences, drawing on the characteristics of biological experimental disciplines and fifteen years of experience in student development. The main focus was on establishing a life innovation training base aligning with the comprehensive literacy requirements of biologists, utilizing national and provincial research platforms and coordinating teacher resources to provide project-based scientific research training tailored to students’ interests and needs. This approach also involved guiding top students in applying for science and technology projects, as well as participating in biology competitions. Through fostering core competencies such as scientific thinking process generation, experimental design, experimentation, results analysis, achievement summary, and presentation during scientific inquiry, overall literacy among top students was enhanced while instilling a spirit characteristic of scientists. This framework offered new perspectives for nurturing exceptional students into first-class scientists of life science.

Key words: the national basic disciplines elite talent development program, biological sciences, project-based research, innovation project, scientist spirit