Most often, inventions and patents are not the result of a blinding flash of inspiration by a genius.

Yin Haiyou, a Peking University third-year postgraduate student in microelectronics, said about half the students in his department have applied for patents, many of which the result of research undertaken during their studies.

The master's degree candidate from the School of Electronics Engineering and Computer Science is among them - he has filed for two patents on solar battery innovations.

Patent applications vary by major, said Yan Hui, a doctoral candidate at Tsinghua University.
Not surprisingly, engineering students tend to generate more patents than basic science majors like mathematics.

Few student-developed technologies come from purely personal interest. In most cases they are a by-product of research led by a professor, Yan said.
                                                                                                      Source: China Daily