Abstract: To address the urgent national demand for research talents, the National Natural Science Foundation of China launched a pilot program in 2023—the Young Students Basic Research Program—which, for the first time, extends research funding to undergraduate and doctoral students. This article draws on insights from a thematic forum organized by the CCF Young Computer Scientists & Engineers Forum Nanjing in 2024, examining the innovative value, potential controversies, and optimization paths of this new approach to talent development in universities, exemplified by student research grants. Despite some concerns voiced online, the program's merit-based selection mechanism has demonstrated a strong exemplary effect, with the potential to scale up through a “point-to-surface” diffusion strategy. Experts in the forum emphasized the need to establish a synergistic model driven by policy support, university reform, and industry collaboration—what they refer to as a “three-horse carriage”—to advance research talent cultivation from experimental pilot zones to fruitful outcomes. Ultimately, the goal is to organically integrate gradual and innovative pathways, enabling this new model to truly bear fruit for cultivating research talents.