This presentation will introduce a new model of higher education for nurturing innovative talent, developed with decades of effort, initially at Tsinghua University, of having undergraduates confront and tackle real-world problems in a prestigious engineering program, and later expanded with a new college (X-Institute) for cutting-edge research that accepts both high school and college students who, as a group of young, talented kindred spirits, gather each year to pursue a broad range of scientific projects, guided by top scientists in respective fields.

There are several properties of the program that distinguish it from other similar programs:
a) It consists of many open-ended real-world problems and challenges (from bio-medical to space exploration problems, from nano-level to ecological problems) rarely encountered in conventional undergraduate programs by students in their late teens and early twenties;
b) it carefully designs progressively deeper levels of engagement, guided by mentors every step of the way so that the goals of creative problem solving become reachable within students' zones of proximal development;
c) it crosses many boundaries imposed by age, discipline, institution, and geography, which would otherwise stand in the way of access and support; and
d) it honors self-direction and choice; instead of providing pre-arranged fixed pathways to careers, the new model gives participating students extended opportunities for further exploring their future options and directions.

Initial results of the follow-up studies on the new model are promising in terms of long-term trajectories toward an innovative career as scientists and engineers. The opportunity to tackle real world challenges at frontiers of knowledge early on, the opportunity for pursuing more advanced challenges and life ambitions for students who are highly capable but were otherwise marginalized by an education system driven by standardized testing, and the guidance and mentorship provided by the program, are some of the highlights perceived by the participants as especially beneficial. Research on the program is still ongoing, and new questions are raised about its long-term impact, the robustness of such a program in an overwhelmingly test-driven education environment, and the sustainability of the life trajectories this program has helped generate.

Keywords: Innovation education, education innovation, innovative talent.