When we renamed our research group “Think Different” instead of something like “Human Resource Lab,” it was because we felt that a name that’s too clear—too much like a “category”—unconsciously limits the paths our thinking can take.
Research suggests that low-contrast categories are more likely to catalyze groundbreaking inventions. Because their boundaries are blurry, there’s more room to combine knowledge in new ways, and more freedom in how ideas are positioned.
Our renaming follows the same logic—we didn’t want to box ourselves into one field. Letting ideas flow naturally across boundaries may be where breakthroughs—and thinking different—truly begin.
Current Members
Wen Cheng (Postdoctoral Fellow)
Johannes Stark (Postdoctoral Fellow)
Yan Qiao (PhD Student)
Ao Yan (PhD Student)
Xuan Lei (Visiting PhD Student, Wuhan University)
Yuting Guo (Visiting PhD Student, Northwestern Polytechnical University)
Xiaocui Li (Research Assistant)
Linan (Sirena) Fang (Research Assistant)
Former Members
Pan Fan (Currently: Research Fellow, Harbin Institute of Technology)
Haoyu Wang (Currently: PhD Student, Shanghai Jiao Tong University)
Yuqing (Alice) Liu (Currently: PhD Student, University of Connecticut)