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Stanford PhD physicist gets his dream job as a rural clerk in central China

  • Accomplished candidate may want to use his talents to build up hometown, says academic who adds rural Chinese post may be chance to shine

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Physicist Su Zhen has been selected to work in the civil service in rural China after receiving a doctorate at Stanford University, according to information about new employees. Photo: Weibo/谦卑侯爷

A Stanford physics PhD graduate has been selected to work as a grass-roots civil servant in rural China, an unusual career step that has attracted widespread attention.

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On Sunday evening, the civil servant bureau of Suzhou, a city in the southwestern province of Anhui, published its second intake of recruits for the year.

Among the 330 new employees who will join the city’s public service workforce is Su Zhen, the only new hire with a doctorate.

While other candidates attended little-known colleges and vocational schools in China, Su graduated from a leading American institution ranked third in the Best Global Universities list.

Of the six candidates competing with him for the same position, Su came first in the written test, interview and final score, according to Suzhou authorities.

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He will not be working in a city, but instead will be in a rural town. The list shows he applied for the post of township basic affairs management in Lingbi, a county of nearly 1 million people in northern Anhui province that comes under the jurisdiction of Suzhou.

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