In 2017, a blockbuster piece of news blew the Internet.
Confirmed by the relevant person in charge of Tsinghua University, Yan Ning, a 37-year-old doctoral supervisor, decided to leave Tsinghua University and go to teach in the Department of Molecular Biology of Princeton University in the United States.
Yan Ning
Yan Ning was the youngest doctoral supervisor in the history of Tsinghua University, leading a team with an average age of less than 30 years, and it took only half a year to overcome the world problem that has been solved for 50 years in the field of membrane proteins.
In the eyes of the people, she is the best representative of young talents, and those who have made such achievements are not exaggerated even if they are given the title of "academician".
Looking back at the list of academicians some time ago, Yan Ning's name was impressively listed.
But disappointingly, she was defeated for various reasons.
Shortly after losing the election, Yan Ning resigned to go to the United States as a lecturer at Princeton University, and even two years later, he was honored as a foreign member of the American Academy of Sciences.
The contrast between the two is extremely ironic.
There is a kind of meaning that if people don't send it to others at home, people will go abroad to get it.
As soon as this matter came out, there were exclamations and insults on the Internet.
Many people believe that Yan Ning left in anger because of the academician's failure.
Some people also say that she had premeditated, but in fact, she had no intention of contributing to the motherland.
However, no matter what the outside world evaluates, Yan Ning always stays calm and concentrates on experimental work.
So, what kind of person is Yan Ning? Is she really an ungrateful person, as everyone suspects? Or is there something else hidden?
A talented girl, self-reliant
Yan Ning was born in 1977 in Zhangqiu, Shandong Province, she has been a naughty child since she was a child, she does not like to jump leather bands and dolls, and climbs the mountain trees with boys every day and touches the fish in the river.
After growing up a little, Yan Ning's playful heart did not put away, she borrowed a lot of martial arts novels, and liked to read when she was fine.
The martial arts in the book fascinated her, and she hoped that one day, she would be able to support justice after learning to be a successful husband.
In addition to playing, Yan Ning has shown extraordinary learning ability since childhood.
Whether it's memorizing ancient poems or doing math problems, she's always the first to complete the task.
In the knowledge contest held in the class, she also spoke well and was praised by the teacher.
After going to middle school, parents saw that the children around them had signed up for the tutoring class, so they wanted to report one to Yan Ning.
Yan Ning directly refused: "I can learn well without tutoring classes, and I still want to relax and relax in my spare time!" ”
The parents couldn't make up their minds when they saw the situation, so they went to ask Yan Ning's teacher.
The teacher said: "This little girl's learning ability is very strong, a lot of knowledge I have not yet talked about, people understand thoroughly, let's not interfere, just follow her rhythm." ”
The parents had to acquiesce to their daughter's request and let her "develop freely."
Needless to say, although Yan Ning did not register for class, her efforts were even greater than those of the students who applied for classes.
She was particularly attentive when she taught herself, and was more efficient than the children who were being watched.
In the same period of time, others can only do a few problems, but she can not only write half a set of volumes, but also review all the knowledge points by the way.
In the 1996 college entrance examination, she won the position of Zhangqiu City in one fell swoop, and her score was more than enough for Tsinghua University.
When reporting professionally, Yan Ning made a mistake.
The choice of major is related to the future life, but for so many years, she has only buried her head in study and never thought about the way out in the future.
Her mother thought that doctors were stable and had a relatively high social status, so she suggested that Yan Ning study medicine.
Yan Ning didn't want to study medicine, but she didn't want to make her mother sad, so she couldn't make up her mind.
Father also said: "Life sciences are quite famous now, or you go to student biology." ”
Yan Ning was very happy to hear that biology seemed to be related to medicine, so wouldn't this not only make her mother happy, but also meet her father's expectations?
As a result, Yan Ning jumped into the Department of Biology of Tsinghua University.
When he first entered Tsinghua, Yan Ning's psychological pressure was very large.
This is the best university in China, bringing together the country's top young talents.
Therefore, Yan Ning was worried that he would be inferior to others.
Throughout the semester, her spirit was highly strained.
Every day, I get up at five o'clock to study, busy and busy, until I learn to eleven or twelve o'clock in the evening.
Especially in the more than a month before the final exam, Yan Ning would even have nightmares when she slept.
Dreaming that he only scored 59 points in the final exam, and finally was dissuaded because he failed,
After more than a month of trembling, the exam finally arrived.
In the high-number examination room, Yan Ning's palms were sweating, his brain was blank, obviously many of them were usually done questions, but they couldn't do one.
After handing in the test papers, Yan Ning's legs were soft, and he chanted vigorously, "It's over, it's over." ”
Unexpectedly, after the results came down, there were actually 67 points, which completely exceeded her expectations.
"Even if I play so badly, I can still pass, which shows that I am still very capable."
Yan Ning built up self-confidence through this incident, knowing that no matter what difficulties, as long as you work hard, you can overcome them.
In his junior year, Yan Ning became acquainted with biologist Rao Zihe and entered his laboratory to visit.
There is a quiet environment and a strong scientific atmosphere, and she experienced for the first time the happiness of immersion in the ocean of science in the company of test tubes and microscopes.
"If one day, I can have my own laboratory, how nice it would be!"
This opportunity came soon, and in the fourth year, many students began to look for jobs, and Yan Ning was the same.
Novo Nordisk Pharmaceuticals threw an olive branch to her, not only issued a huge scholarship, but also invited Yan Ning to enter the company experience.
Yan Ning gladly went there and traveled in the laboratory over there.
Just when everyone thought that Yan Ning would work for this company, she refused the entry notice.
The reason is: "I like the feeling of focusing on experimentation, but I certainly can't stand the nine-to-five life, and a free life is my goal." ”
In 2000, Yan Ning was only a few months away from graduation, and she decided to continue her studies and study for a doctorate.
When Shi Yigong, who was an assistant professor at Princeton University, came to Tsinghua to give a report, Yan Ning was very interested and went to the scene to audition.
"The atmosphere is relaxed, allowing aspirants to concentrate on the field of research..." Shi Yigong detailed the academic atmosphere in Princeton.
After listening, Yan Ning was very interested in the foreign scientific research environment and had the idea of studying abroad.
However, studying abroad is a very troublesome thing, not only to contact the school, but also to deal with all kinds of troublesome documents.
Yan Ning introduced himself to Shi Yigong and wrote a letter with some "publicity" wording.
"I'm brilliant in every way, but I hate trouble, I don't want to waste my time on formalities, and if Princeton wants me, I don't think about other schools."
Shi Yigong
After Shi Yigong saw this letter, he was surprised by Yan Ning's courage: How strong is such a confident girl?
So the two had a telephone interview.
Yan Ning showed a very high degree of determination and level in the conversation, and Shi Yigong admired it very much, and soon after he sent out an invitation letter.
Unsurprisingly, Yan Ning Passed perfectly, and then came to Princeton University to pursue a doctorate.
Since then, her learning momentum has not diminished at all.
American universities are well-known for their "wide in and strict out", usually speaking, it takes at least 7 years to get a doctorate, but Yan Ning tirelessly studied and studied, and it took only 4 years to graduate.
Promote to doctoral supervisor and overcome difficult problems
In 2007, Yan Ning's mother missed her daughter very much because she had not seen her daughter for a long time, so Yan Ning put down her work and returned to China to visit her relatives.
When she was hanging out at her alma mater, Tsinghua, she accidentally bumped into Zhao Nanming, the head of the biology department, and Zhao Nanming was very excited and asked her what she had been doing recently, and Yan Ning told him about Princeton's situation.
Zhao Nanming took her hand and said: "Now there is an urgent need for young people like you in China, if you want to come back to teach, Tsinghua's school door will always be open for you." ”
Yan Ning was deeply moved, and the scenes on the Tsinghua campus in the past echoed in her mind one by one, and she felt that she should do something for the motherland - "the great hero, for the country and the people", didn't she say so in the martial arts novels she read when she was a child?
Therefore, Yan Ning resolutely gave up the favorable conditions abroad and went to Tsinghua University as a teacher.
Fast forward to 2007, and with unremitting efforts, the 37-year-old Yan Ning has become the youngest doctoral supervisor in the history of Tsinghua University.
While abroad, she was exposed to the study of "membrane proteins," which has been an unsolved mystery since it was proposed in the 1960s and 1970s.
It is of great significance, as long as it can be solved, human anti-cancer will be a big step forward, but successive generations of biologists have devoted themselves to research, and the results have been very small.
Yan Ning was very interested in this problem, and she made a puzzling move: quit the laboratory, took her own students to study, and before long, she really made a model of membrane protein.
Now back in China, this research has no environment, so it is dusted by her and no longer mentioned.
First, there is a lack of partners, and it is difficult to support alone.
Second, there is no sophisticated experimental equipment in China, and some fields are out of reach.
But after Yan Ning became a doctoral supervisor, everything improved.
A group of high-achieving students who were willing to follow him gathered around him and made the foundation for research;
In order to support her research, Tsinghua University spent a lot of money to buy the world's most advanced cryo-EM, and the tools were appropriate.
However, the road to membrane protein research is still extremely difficult, Yan Ning is an acute child, and everything wants to be completed quickly.
She set out to take care of the experiments, installing the test bench and buying test items. Although there are many funds sent above and there are many deputies around, no one in the project is as knowledgeable as Yan Ning, so the burden still falls on her with a strong sense of responsibility.
For half a year, Yan Ning was restless every day, almost crazy, until the laboratory was properly arranged and the project began to enter the right track, and Yan Ning's irritability gradually stopped.
In the subsequent study, Yan Ning had to soak in the laboratory for 14 hours a day, and then she felt troublesome and moved the bedroom directly to the laboratory, never going out except for eating.
A friend advised her: "You have been working for too long, are you not tired?" ”
Yan Ning replied with a smile: "I think the laboratory is the place for me to relax, sometimes I start working in the afternoon, work for more than ten hours in a row, when I look at the watch, it is already five or six o'clock in the morning." ”
In just half a year, Yan Ning led a team with an average age of no more than 30 years old to solve the problem of "protein structure analysis" that has plagued biologists around the world for half a century.
The results shocked the world at once, and Science magazine named it the top ten progress of the year, and the International Protein Society Young Scientist Award and the Sackler International Biophysics Award were awarded to her.
Yan Ning quickly became popular on the Internet, and titles such as "beautiful scientist", "new scientific research talent" and "patriotic intellectual" were successively awarded to her, and she became the hottest figure in China.
Tsinghua Garden
Leaving China and going to the United States, only for scientific research
In 2017, just as Yan Ning's scientific research was booming, Tsinghua University issued a message saying that Yan Ning would leave Tsinghua university to become a lecturer at Princeton University.
The news detonated across the country like a depth charge, and many people speculated about it.
Some people believe that Yan Ning is greedy for the material conditions of foreign countries, so he decided to go back.
Others said that this matter is not to blame Yan Ning, to blame it is to blame the salary is not high, the title is not enough.
The salary is not high, but what is the "title"?
It turned out that everyone paid attention to this young, talented female scientist all the time, and admired her contributions, and naturally hoped that she could get a status that was in line with her achievements.
As for which status is worthy of Yan Ning? Many people think of themselves as "academicians".
Academician Certificate (Example)
Academician is the highest academic title in science established by the mainland, usually selected by the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Chinese Academy of Engineering, if a person can be elected as an academician, it means that his academic level is already the top in the industry, which is the dream of countless scholars.
And Yan Ning's academician election also affects the hearts of hundreds of millions of Chinese.
In 2017, Yan Ning was nominated, but before everyone was happy, there was sad news that Yan Ning had lost the election.
Soon after, Yan Ning left China to teach at Princeton University.
After that, she was elected as an academician by the United States, and this sense of contrast made many fans secretly uneven.
Therefore, some people said: Yan Ning is dissatisfied with the existing system and runs away in anger.
But Yan Ning himself said lightly: "I don't need to explain, I look at that kind of thing very lightly, and it is not worth saying specifically." ”
Proston University
Later, through her speech on the social platform, she clarified: I just think that the atmosphere of Tsinghua University is too comfortable, and I need a tense environment to make myself work hard.
The implication is that she does not want to be self-contained, but wants to have some challengers and leaders around her to take herself further on the road of scientific research.
As for what academician failed, she didn't care at all, she had already got too many of these external things, only strength was the last word, what was the use of making a false name?
Because she did not want to be discussed, she herself responded to the application for academicians.
He said he didn't know anything about the process and wasn't interested.
And science popularization: domestic selection of academicians, pay more attention to practice, only do things that are visible to the naked eye to benefit the public, can be selected.
Foreign academicians are private, and they need to pay a membership fee to enter the science club first, and then pass the recommendation. More important is the ability to do research.
These two kinds of academicians have different meanings, and what the two criteria produce is not worth discussing together.
In short, Yan Ning's going abroad is purely her personal choice, and she still retains her Chinese nationality and often uploads her recent situation through social networking software.
We don't have to stick to these few years, what we have to do is to create a relaxed scientific research environment as much as possible.
Maybe one day, when Yan Ning reaches the peak of his scientific research ability, he will return to China again.