August 7, 5:04 a.m
Former President of Wuhan University
Space physicist Hou Jiechang
Zhongnan Hospital of Wuhan University
He died of illness at the age of 83
Hou Jiechang, born in November 1937 in Meixian County, Guangdong Province, served as president of Wuhan University from October 1996 to July 2003, space physicist, doctoral supervisor, outstanding achievements in the study of the relationship between ionospheric and radio wave propagation, some of which fill the domestic gap.
For innovation in colleges and universities, Hou Jiechang strongly advocated it when he was in office, and he once said: "Innovation is the soul of a nation. In my experience, colleges and universities have always been innovative. The talents cultivated by institutions of higher learning should contribute to the treasure house of human knowledge so that we humans can continue to move forward. If I do what people do, I will do it, and if I don't add a brick or a tile to the treasure house of human knowledge, then there is no need for your university to exist. ”
"Wide caliber, thick foundation, high quality"
He focuses on cultivating "innovative talents"
Since April 1998, a great debate on educational ideas around the cultivation of innovative talents has been launched at Wuhan University. This extensive and in-depth discussion has greatly promoted the transformation of educational thinking and the renewal of educational concepts in the whole school.
Hou Jiechang said that traditional higher education is mainly based on instilling and imparting knowledge, and the sense of innovation and innovation ability of talents cultivated are relatively weak. For example, our middle school students can win the championship in the International Olympiad of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry, but why can't we win the Nobel Prize? Because the knowledge used in the Olympic Competition is ready-made, and the Chinese students are very diligent and hardworking, they can grasp this part of the knowledge very well and use it flexibly, but the Nobel Prize emphasizes what others have not done, what has been invented and created, which puts forward higher requirements for us.
So, what is an innovative talent? Hou Jiechang believes that the basic requirements are a wide caliber, a thick foundation, and high quality. Wide caliber refers to the characteristics of having a wide range of professional knowledge, strong adaptability and many employment opportunities; a thick foundation is to have a solid basic knowledge, basic theory and basic skills; high quality refers to the psychological quality and physical quality of the structure of high realm, high intelligence, and high stability ability.
Hou Jiechang said: "The Chinese nation wants to achieve comprehensive rejuvenation in the 21 st century, relying on these college students now. In the future, the backbone of all walks of life should be highly educated people. How the ability and quality of these people directly determines the future and destiny of the Chinese nation. So innovation is too important for higher education. ”
Dare to doubt will delve into and innovate
He encouraged his students to doubt authority and books
Hou Jiechang said that on the basis of implementing the credit system, the double degree system, the major and minor system, and the undergraduate-master-doctoral study, Wuhan University has recently introduced supporting reforms such as the mutual selection system between graduate students and tutors, the principal responsibility system for teaching work, the teaching consultant supervision system, and the classroom teacher appointment system, and has set up an academic innovation fund aimed at encouraging students to innovate and nearly 100 scholarships for various disciplines.
"Now some of our students, the reason why the sense of innovation and innovation ability is not strong, mainly do not dare to doubt the authority, do not dare to doubt the books." Hou Jiechang said, "In fact, the things in the books and the statements of the authorities are all conclusions reached under the objective circumstances of the locality at that time, and when the objective reality changes, new conclusions should be drawn according to the new situation." If Einstein had not broken new to Newton's conception of time and space, it would have been impossible to propose the theory of relativity. Dare to doubt, good at doubting, will delve into, to innovate, will have curiosity. Innovation is certainly something new, something that has never been done before. The source of innovation is curiosity. ”
In accordance with the requirements of cultivating innovative talents, Wuhan University has always been committed to building an innovative teaching team. Hou Jiechang said that the school has also introduced a series of policies and measures to mobilize teachers' enthusiasm, such as "methods for attracting outstanding talents to work in schools", "implementation measures for the system of specially appointed professors", "implementation measures for the youth academic backbone project", and "implementation measures for teacher performance allowances".
Hou Jiechang said: "The key to the cultivation of innovative talents is to have innovative teachers, and teachers without innovative ability can never teach students with innovative ability." ”
It is understood that after Wuhan University advocated the goal of innovation, the academic atmosphere of the school has become more and more intense, and there are more and more joints between disciplines and disciplines. The Department of Physics and the Department of Chemistry can jointly apply for a project, and doctoral students in the Department of Chemistry can go to the Department of Biology to do postdoctoral work.
Hou Jiechang said: "For example, to make a radar, there must be people who understand antennas and people who understand reception; there must be people who understand transmission and electronic technology; there must be people who understand computer signal processing, and there must also be people who are engaged in theoretical physics." It is impossible for a single individual to complete the entire process of radar production. Now any problem is a multidisciplinary coordinated operation. When there is no goal of innovation, there are very few ideas for cooperation, and even if you want to cooperate, there are very few projects available for application. Either you dare to do it if you can do it alone, or you dare to do it when you can do it by two people. Science and technology have developed to today, and synthesis is the trend. Without synthesis, there is no condition for intersection. ”
Yangtze River Daily reporter: Hu Yihua Part of the content from the website of Wuhan University Poster: Finishing | Chen Zhi produced | Wang Yuzhe
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