Author | Ni Sijie
November 24 this year marks the 95th birthday of Mr. Li Zhengdao, Nobel Laureate and Foreign Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
On October 10th, the High Energy Physics Branch of the Chinese Physical Society held an academic lecture on "Celebrating the 95th Birthday of Mr. Li Zhengdao" at the Institute of High Energy Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
At the meeting, Zhang Jie, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences who was regarded by Li Zhengdao as a "yearless friend", told the story of Li Zhengdao and china's scientific and technological development, China's higher education development, and China's scientific and technological talent training.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="115" > he wants to break the situation of not paying attention to the cultivation of basic science talents</h1>
In May 1974, when Li Zhengdao returned to China, he found that there was no systematic college entrance examination in China, and at that time, only the ballet company was probably trained from an early age.
Mr. Li told Chairman Mao that ballet needs to be cultivated from an early age, and talents need to be cultivated from an early age. After that, the junior class of the University of Science and Technology of China was born from this. Zhang Jie said.
However, Li Zhengdao said: "The actual purpose of my proposal is not actually to engage in any kind of juvenile class, but to break the situation of not attaching importance to the cultivation of basic science talents and other types of talents, so that the cultivation of all kinds of talents in the country is on the right track." ”
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="114" > he regards talent training as more important than Nobel Prize achievements</h1>
In 1979, Lee Jung-do returned to China to give a lecture.
At that time, in the early stage of reform and opening up, Li Zhengdao found that although the college entrance examination had been resumed, China's scientific and technological talents were still in short supply, and the speed of national talent training needed to be accelerated.
How can we accelerate the cultivation of Chinese?
"Mr. Li proposed to launch the CUSPEA (Sino-US Joint Graduate Program in Physics) program." Zhang Jie said, "In this matter, Mr. Li has done a lot of work. For example, at his instigation, CUSPEA's selection borrowed the Columbia University Doctoral Qualification Examination Method, and the 1979 Columbia Physics Department's admission to graduate students was the subject of the first CUSPEA examination. ”
After ten years of practice, there are 76 American universities participating in CUSPEA, 21 Canadian universities, 95 Chinese universities and research institutions, more than 6,000 students taking the exam, and finally sending 915 students, the project has cultivated a group of scientific and technological talents for China, and has also become an important breakthrough in sino-US university cooperation and exchanges.
Since then, this cooperation method has been extended to other fields such as biology and chemistry, which has promoted the accelerated cultivation of high-level talents in China.
Li Zhengdao said: "I feel that CUSPEA is meaningful and valuable, and in some ways, it is more meaningful than me making a cosmona without conservation." ”
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="113" > he proposed the postdoctoral system and worried about postdoctoral allowances</h1>
When China was already able to train college students, master's students, and doctoral students, Li Zhengdao thought that China needed a systematic training mechanism.
In March 1983, he proposed the preliminary idea of setting up a postdoctoral research mobile station in China.
In 1985, China's postdoctoral system was officially implemented.
"Mr. Li not only made suggestions, but also helped to implement them. How to recruit postdocs, how many allowances need to be given, need a postdoctoral apartment, the wife or husband of the postdoctoral fellow should come together... All these things he had in mind. The emblem of the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation was also designed by Mr. Li himself. Zhang Jie said.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="112" > he promoted the orderly development of scientific research in China</h1>
After China had basic scientific talents, Li Zhengdao began to think about how China's scientific research could accelerate its development.
Therefore, Li Zhengdao proposed that if China wants to form a good scientific research environment, it needs natural and orderly funds, and on July 3 and 12, 1985, he twice wrote to Deng Xiaoping proposing the establishment of the National Natural Science Foundation.
On February 14, 1986, the National Natural Science Foundation of China was established, and Li Zhengdao served as an honorary advisor. The Natural Science Foundation has made great progress in basic research in China.
In 1986, Li Zhengdao also discussed with Mr. Zhou Guangzhao, then president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and proposed the idea of setting up an advanced science and technology center in China.
He said: "We want to build a strong foundation of basic science, we want to build a base from here to develop high technology, we want to build a material civilization of the 20th and 21st centuries from the development of high technology." ”
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="111" > him to donate money, goods, and houses</h1>
On January 23, 1998, Li Zhengdao used his private savings to set up the "Qin Huishu Li Zhengdao Chinese University Student Apprenticeship and Training Fund", referred to as the "Gongzheng Fund", to commemorate Mr. Li's wife, Qin Huizhuo, who participated in peking university, Fudan University, Soochow University, Lanzhou University, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (hereinafter referred to as Shanghai Jiaotong University) and Hsinchu Tsinghua University in Taiwan.
Zhang Jie introduced that by 2018, the fund has trained 4,070 scholars, of which 2,228 are female scholars, accounting for 55%.
On October 27, 2006, Zhang Was appointed President of Shanghai Jiaotong University. "Before I went to Shanghai Jiaotong University, Mr. Li told me, 'The science department of Jiaotong University is still very weak, and I will help you develop together.'" Zhang Jie recalled.
In May 2009, Mr. Li visited Shanghai Jiaotong University at the invitation of Zhang Jiezhi.
During this period, he expressed his willingness to donate to Zhang Jie, proposing to donate all kinds of literature manuscripts, Nobel medals, and works of art to Shanghai Jiaotong University, and later proposed to donate his real estate on Wanping Road in Shanghai to Shanghai Jiaotong University, hoping that these things could play a greater role.
In June 2011, on behalf of Shanghai Jiaotong University, Zhang Jie proposed to the state to build the Li Zhengdao Library to promote the spirit of science, and was approved.
Zhang Jie introduced that there are now 86,000 collections in the library, including 13 categories such as papers, manuscripts, lecture notes, and books.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="110" > he and his juniors are also mentors and friends</h1>
Zhang Jie and Li Zhengdao, who are regarded by Li Zhengdao as "yearless friends", have many interesting stories.
"From 1979 to 2017, Mr. Li has been promoting Sino-US cooperation in high-energy physics. I was the Chinese leader of the Sino-US high-energy physics cooperation from 2003 to 2006, and Mr. Li gave me a lot of guidance in all aspects during this time. Zhang Jie said.
One thing that Zhang Jie still remembers is that in 2004, the celebration meeting of Sino-US high-energy physics cooperation was held in the Great Hall of the People, celebrated in the form of a cocktail party, with Zhang Jie as the host. However, since he had never hosted an international cocktail party, Zhang Jie had some drumming in his heart.
"Mr. Li spent an afternoon telling me how to serve the wine glasses and correcting my habits, such as when we Chinese like to bow, and he told me to use the Western way when communicating with Westerners." Zhang Jie said.
<h1 class="pgc-h-arrow-right" data-track="81" > he remains concerned about the future of Chinese technology</h1>
When the Lee Jeong-do Library was built, Li Zhengdao, chatting with Zhang Jie, mentioned that China should make great contributions to the world's scientific progress in the future, hoping to establish a world-class research institute similar to the Bohr Institute in China, attract the world's top scientists, train a group of top scientists belonging to China, and promote physics, astronomy and interdisciplinary research.
This idea of Lee Jeong-do has been highly valued by the leaders of the country. At present, the Lee Zheng Dao Research Institute is under construction, and the construction goal of the institute is to build a world-renowned source of major original innovation, a gathering place for the world's top scientific elites, and a future-oriented place for young Chinese talents.
"Today we are celebrating Mr. Li's 95th birthday together, and I think we should truly understand Mr. Li's broad mind in the development of China's science and education cause and the progress of human civilization." Zhang Jie said.
Courtesy of the Institute of High Energy Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Mr. Li Zhengdao showed a message to China's high-energy physics cause in front of the camera. In his message, he wrote:
Dear friends and colleagues,
Thank you very much for attending this seminar.
In the past 30 years, the basic research of high-energy physics in the motherland has achieved a series of important internationally influential results.
Looking back at the development history of BEPC, it can be seen that the successful construction and operation of BEPC, BES, Daya Bay Neutrino Experimental Device and High Altitude Cosmic Ray Observatory (LHAASO) have laid a good foundation for Basic Research on High Energy Physics in China, which not only brings basic research in the motherland into the ranks of international competition, but also cultivates a large number of key talents, and promotes the rapid development of basic research in high-energy physics to multiple frontier directions.
Basic research is the embodiment of the country's comprehensive strength and the foundation of the country, and Comrade Xiaoping clearly pointed out that "a country like China must occupy a place in the field of high technology", and basic research "reflects the ability of a nation and is also a sign of the prosperity and development of a nation and a country".
I sincerely wish the motherland's high-energy physics cause to flourish and develop healthily, and Chinese scientists to make more world-class important original achievements!
Lee Jeong-do
October 2021
![Li Zhengdao welcomed his 95th birthday, wrote a letter of thanks and "reported peace to everyone"[fig]](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAP///wAAACwAAAAAAQABAAACAkQBADs=)