Dear students and teachers,
Good Afternoon!
Today, we are here to hold the opening ceremony for newly admitted postgraduates of 2018. First of all, on behalf of the whole university, please allow me to extend my warmest welcome to 7,189 new students!
Starting from today, you will open a new page and start a new journey of your life as a postgraduate at TJU. You are living in a new era where there is plenty of space for development and a great mission to accomplish. It is an era that calls on young people who are aspiring, competent and responsible to build an innovative country through science and technology development.
Postgraduate study is an important stage for academic research and scientific innovation. George Bernard Shaw, an Irish writer, once said that university students should not merely memorize what they learned from textbooks but should also practice the essence of knowledge for a lifetime in order to obtain the true value of true learning. For graduate students, true knowledge should not only be what you learn in textbooks, but also be internalized as a spiritual pursuit for truth and independent thinking. True skills, which need to be honed repeatedly in practice, are the most solid foundation for your progress. My dear students, your dream starts from study, and your career depends on your competence. I hope you will focus on seeking truth and becoming more competent while you are studying here.
First, you should have a rigorous and conscientious attitude. Students who have visited TJU’s History Museum know that there is an exhibition hall in the museum that displays notes and manuscripts of teachers and students from both Peiyang University and Tianjin University in different periods. These notes and teaching plans reveal TJUer’s attitude of “Precise Learning and Strict Teaching”. This attitude pervades TJU’s school administration, teaching and academic activities. At the beginning of Peiyang University, the founder, Sheng Xuanhuai advocated the idea that strict teaching could cultivate outstanding students, laying a solid foundation for “Precise Learning and Strict Teaching” attitudes. In the early stage of reform and opening up, Shi Shaoxi, one of the former presidents of TJU, put forward the policy of "Precise learning, strict teaching and serious teaching requirements" that later became the specific requirement of the university's talent training.
Over 123 years, the spirit of “precise learning and strict teaching” has passed through time and space and has been renewed and integrated into the blood of every TJUer. Wang Jingkang, a well-known academician, was tutored by Professor Zhang Jianhou when she was studying at TJU. In her first class, Prof. Zhang put forward the requirement of “no winter or summer vacation, and that no exam can be passed with scores under 70 out of 100”. Alumnus He Yu, Chief Commander of China Manned Space Program’s manned spacecraft system in China Academy of Space Technology (CAST), often tells his colleagues that “the key to avoid risks is to fully understand the technology”. Under the requirements of “zero failure and zero problem”, he successfully completed three major national missions including Tiangong-1 and Shenzhou-9, Tiangong-1 and Shenzhou-10 as well as Tiangong-2 and Shenzhou-11. Dear students, I hope you can stand the test of strictness, lay a solid foundation for development with a scientific attitude and move forward with preciseness, seriousness and determination on the road of scientific research.
Real knowledge and skills require a firm and indomitable perseverance. The most important thing in scientific research is to persevere no matter what difficulties you encounter. Only if you have the will to persist in climbing can you have the chance to reach the summit of science. All of you come to TJU to begin your postgraduate study with your life ideal and academic pursuit. To seek real knowledge is to stick to your ideal and carry on your efforts.
Dr. Zhang Yinyu, who has just graduated from TJU’s School of Materials Science and Engineering has published 5 papers in SCI as the first author. In order to complete his experiment well, he buried himself in reviewing literature and repeatedly modifying the experiment scheme, and tried 40,000 test samples. At the most difficult time during his scientific research, what supported him to go on was his great love for scientific research and his dogged persistence. It was his perseverance that made him finally break through his three-year bottleneck of scientific research and successfully complete his doctoral study. He said that his postgraduate study experience was the wealth of his life and he would continue to work hard in the future and contribute to the construction of the motherland. Dear students, "no matter how high the mountain is, if you climb it, you will finally reach the top. No matter how long the journey is, if you hold on, you will finally reach the end. I hope you will not be afraid of difficulties in scientific research, strive to climb the peak of science, and enjoy the feeling of fulfillment!
Real knowledge and skills require the pursuit of innovation. In the coming decades, a new round of scientific and technological revolution and industrial transformation will interact with the development of human society in a historic way, and scientific and technological innovation will become an important engine for the development of human society. Three months ago, the Ministry of Education of PRC released the AI innovation action plan for institutions of higher learning, proposing to implement the “AI +” action. It can be said that AI will profoundly change higher education, and higher education will promote AI into a new development stage.
Universities are the birthplace of new ideas, new knowledge and new technology. Only by pursuing innovation can the university maintain its vigor and vitality. The spirit of Innovation is the pursuit of TJUers. In May this year, TJU established the School of Artificial Intelligence, and the Division of Intelligence and Computing. This July, TJU enrolled its first undergraduate students majoring in intelligent medical engineering. Currently, TJU has already formed a number of research directions and research platforms related to intelligence, such as smart power grid, smart equipment, intelligent driving and intelligent robots. And these research platforms will also provide strong support for students to carry out innovative research. My fellow students, innovation bears the spirit of the times. I hope you will focus on the country's major strategic needs, the forefront of the world's scientific and technological development, be bold in innovation, be good at innovation, cultivate innovative thinking, enhance innovation ability, and finally become the pillar of the country!
My dear students, you are at the height of your youth and vigor. As the young generation that is to make the country strong, it’s your duty to move forward with the new era and realize the “two centenary goals” and the Chinese dream of national rejuvenation. To be a young man with real knowledge and ability is not only a chance that the era gives to you, but also a challenge for you. I hope you cherish your learning time, keep in mind the historical mission, seek real knowledge in study and hone real skills in practice with a rigorous attitude, a firm and indomitable perseverance and the pursuit of innovation. I hope all of you could be a TJUer with real knowledge and real skills, win glory for China and bring benefits to the people.
Finally, I wish you all success in your studies, good health and happiness.
Thanks.
Translated by Song Shuang
Editors: Yin Wei & Doris Harrington
