From December 5 to 6, 2015, over 180 domestic and foreign scholars came to our university to attend “2015 Inorganic Nano Energy Materials Seminar” hosted by the Department of Materials Science & Engineering. Vice President Tang Tao met and had an informal discussion with representatives attending the seminar in the Administrative Building on the morning of December 6. The distinguished guests participating in the discussion included Professor Xie Yi of the University of Science and Technology of China, who is also academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and professor, Professor Sun Shigang, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, former vice president of Xiamen University and member of the State Key Laboratory of Physical Chemistry of Solid Surfaces, Professor Qiu Shilun, former vice president of Jilin University, Professor Li Dan, vice president of Shantou University, Professor Wang Xun, director of the Department of Chemistry of Tsinghua University, Professor Chen Jiesheng, dean of the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Shanghai Jiaotong University, Professor Yu Shuhong, vice dean of the School of Chemistry and Materials Science of the University of Science and Technology of China, Professor Su Chengyong, vice dean of the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Sun Yat-Sen University, Professor Bu Xianhe, director of the College Chemistry of Nankai University, Professor Sun Xiaoming, executive vice dean of the College of Energy of Beijing University of Chemical Technology, Professor Zhao Huijun, director of Griffith University’s Centre for Clean Environment and Energy, etc.

Vice President Tang gave a brief introduction to SUSTC and expressed his thanks to the leadership and guests attending the seminar. Vice President Tang said that because SUSTC started late, the problem that needs to be solved urgently was recruitment of full-time teachers and enrollment of graduates. Meanwhile, he expressed hope that the experts and professors could give suggestions and help develop SUSTC.

In the discussion, Professor Wang Xun of Tsinghua University believed SUSTC has a promising future and held high hopes on SUSTC. He hoped that SUSTC would explore an innovation path for universities and colleges nationwide. With respect to the domestic graduate enrollment system, the professors at the symposium thought that SUSTC should focus on post-doctoral training. Professor Qiu Shilun, former vice president and dean of Graduate School of Jilin University, suggested SUSTC to strengthen cooperation with domestic and foreign universities after introducing the graduate enrollment and training experiences of Jilin University. Professor Zhao Huijun of Griffith University briefly talked about some differences between Australian and Chinese graduate schools and said that both have merits and demerits. Meanwhile, Professor Zhao praised the spiritual outlook of SUSTC after arriving at SUSTC and thought SUSTC undergraduate students are excellent and he suggested compressing undergraduate courses to three years. On that issue, Vice President Tang explained that SUSTC’s short semester has compressed the courses to 16 weeks to encourage students to take internship in overseas schools or companies during summer vacation and SUSTC encourages students to go abroad and start their own businesses. Vice President Li Dan of Shantou University gave a brief analysis of geographical factors and said SUSTC’s scientific research atmosphere is good for students. He also praised SUSTC’s faculty quality and undergraduate teaching conditions, applauded SUSTC’s practice of encouraging undergraduate students to join professor research groups early as way of tempering and expressed hope that SUSTC and Shantou University would strengthen cooperation as the two universities have very similar ideas on undergraduate training. Professor Su Chengyong of the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Sun Yat-Sen University said that Sun Yat-Sen University was currently expanding its new campus in Shenzhen and would also be faced with the enrollment problem and that Sun Yat-Sen University and SUSTC would see more cooperation in future. Professor Chen Jiesheng of Shanghai Jiaotong University introduced the development history and future planning of the disciplines relating to chemical engineering and materials of Shanghai Jiaotong University and said that would be taken as the bridge to strengthen the cooperation between Shanghai Jiaotong University and SUSTC. Professor Sun Xiaoming introduced the basic information of the College of Energy of Beijing University of Chemical Technology that was recently established, which is also faced with the similar graduate enrollment problem as SUSTC. He said that they had cooperated with the schools and disciplines with existing doctoral stations in the university to solve the problem. Professor Xie Yi believed that SUSTC should stick to characteristic enrollment and training methods. Professor Sun Shigang encouraged SUSTC to strengthen cooperation with Xiamen University in faculty training and research. The professors all believed that Shenzhen still attaches great importance to education even though the existing system has caused certain obstacles for SUSTC in graduate enrollment. They believed that with the efforts of SUSTC and all their help, these problems could be definitely solved. They also expressed good wishes for the future development of SUSTC and the education undertaking of China.

Professor Cheng Xin, director of the Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Professor Tian Yanqing, deputy director of the Department of Materials Science & Engineering, Associate Professor Lu Guangzhou, Associate Professor Lu Wei of the Department of Chemistry, Professor Quan Zewei, Associate Professor Xu Zongxiang, Associate Professor Zhang Yuanzhu, etc. also attended the meeting and symposium.