Some years later, a companion program in biology, CUSBEA, was also added.

CUSPEA was organized by U.S. universities and supported by the Chinese government, which issued passports and travel fare for the students. The first year it was established, 500 students applied and 100 were accepted to the program. Dongming Chen was one of those accepted.

As a member of the first wave of graduate students in the Deng era, Dongming Chen says that even then it was acknowledged in China that the U.S. was the best place to go study science.

"At that time [when he first arrived in the U.S. in 1981], we were just coming to the U.S. to study," he says. "But even back then, even with relatively little exchange, people knew that the U.S. was at the forefront of technology and research. We knew that because each year U.S. scientists won all the top prizes in science."

CUSPEA and CUSBEA lasted for several years until the TOEFL exam was gradually introduced. Students then began to apply to American universities and colleges on their own, and in disciplines aside from physics and biology.

But even now, most Chines grad students who come to the U.S. to study concentrate in the sciences.

Chen says, however, that great changes have occurred over the years in terms of the mentality of Chinese graduate students studying science. Chen says that most of this is a result of the rapid pace of China's economic development recently.

"The younger generation--a lot enter into science, and then switch to MBA programs. We call them 'strays,'" he says. "That never happened to us. When they come to the U.S., they reevaluate their goals."

Chen says that this situation is different from the time when he was a student in America.

"[In the early '80s] we just expected to get a doctorate degree, back then China didn't even have the doctorate degree," he says.

Chen acknowledges, however, that much of the current trend toward business and applied sciences has to do with the contrast between opportunities in science and opportunities in business in China.

"Returning [to China] is a very complicated matter. Once you get to a place like Harvard or Brookhaven [Laboratory], you're exposed to the best of the best," he says. "It's very unlikely that you would be able to have the same amount of equipment and financial support in China."

Another problem that Dongming Chen notes was that after a while, the expatriate scientist would marry and start a family.

"Suddenly, it's not just about yourself, but also about your entire family," he says.

At the same time, Chen says the work of the scientific researcher ultimately transcends nationality, and the majority of Chinese scientists that he knows have not returned to China.