Academician Guo Lei Attended Yuxian Alumni Forum of Shandong University
On May 8th, the second "Yuxian" alumni forum was held at the central campus of Shandong University. The event invited Professor Guo Lei, an alumni of the Department of Mathematics of Shandong University and a long-time academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, as the speaker. Academician Guo Lei brought a wonderful lecture to teachers and students on the theme of "Don't be afraid of difficulties and be brave in innovation". The event was chaired by Professor Liu Jianya, Vice President of Shandong University.
At the beginning of the lecture, Academician Guo Lei shared an old photo with us. The photo was taken in July 1982. It is a graduation photo of the control theory major of the 1978 math department. Academician Guo Lei introduced two people in the photo. One of them is Professor Pan Chengdong, former president of Shandong University and now head of the Department of Mathematics. another is Professor Chen Zuhao, a graduation thesis instructor who provided a lot of help to Academician Guo Lei. Afterwards, Academician Guo Lei started from General Secretary Xi Jinping's incisive discussion on innovation, and shared the theme of scientific and technological innovation. He explained from three parts. The first part is the relationship between innovation and the environment. The second part is what kind of problems to look for. The last part is how to look at the smoothness and frustration of the innovation process.
Firstly, Academician Guo Lei conducted an in-depth analysis on the question of what environment is needed for innovation. Then he recalled the difficult living conditions after his return to the country with Chen Jingrun's experience of climbing the peak of mathematics under difficult conditions. It was in such a difficult environment that Academician Guo Lei solved a well-known theoretical problem in the control field about convergence of a self-tuning regulator. Through the introduction of his own growth experience, Academician Guo Lei shared his understanding with us. You can become a talent in good times, but you must know how to cherish and use it. You can also become a talent in adversity but you must learn to turn difficulties and stress into motivation.
When it comes to what kind of questions to choose for scientific research, Academician Guo Lei takes the stories of three famous scientists Einstein, Hilbert, and Kalman as references, combined with his own experience, to give the audience inspiration and suggestions. First, we must discover and Refine scientific questions of fundamental significance. Second, the questions must be universal, clear and easy to understand. Last, quantitative research through mathematics must be conducted to discover new laws, establish new theories, and create new methods.
In response to the question of whether the innovation process will be smooth sailing, Academician Guo Lei believes that the life of science lies in innovation, but innovation itself is not the purpose. Innovation is only a means, the real purpose is to discover unknown laws and solve important problems. He quoted Wang Anshi's famous sentence to explain that in the process of scientific research, innovation means taking its own path of independence. At the same time, he took famous scientists Shen Nong, Bellman, and Kalman as examples to illustrate that it is not uncommon for scientific innovation and scientific research results to be recognized. Subsequently, Academician Guo Lei introduced the "Why Science is Conservative" view expounded by Professor He Yuqi to show that the truly groundbreaking scientific research results often require considerable effort and struggle before they can be accepted.
In the concluding remarks, Academician Guo Lei said that innovation achievements depend mainly on subjective factors in addition to innate factors and environmental factors. Fundamentally speaking, it is determined by the world view, life view, and values. This "three perspectives" largely affects one's scientific innovation system. It is naive to complain about the environment and conditions blindly, hoping to wait until the external environment has completely improved before worrying about studying major scientific issues. The scientific system is a "complex adaptation system", which is open and "conservative". Failure in the innovation process is normal. Even if there is no failure, the process recognized by most people may be more tortuous, especially innovation that changes traditional concepts and research paradigms. Emphasizing this law of scientific innovation does not make people frustrated, on the contrary, but makes us more calm and confident when facing frustrations and twists and turns on the road of innovation. "In the history of science, there are many people who have made significant achievements in their 20s to 30s." Academician Guo Lei encouraged students to strengthen their confidence and not to be afraid of danger.
During the audience's questioning session, Academician Guo Lei answered the questions of the students one by one. After the lecture, the young student representatives presented Liu Jianya's calligraphy works and a hand-painted commemorative book reflecting the academic experience of Academician Guo Lei's growth during the school year to the Academician Guo Lei. It expressed the deep friendship between teachers and students of alma mater to Academician Guo Lei.
The "Yuxian" alumni forum is an outstanding alumni exchange and sharing activity organized by Shandong University adhering to the mission of "reserving talents for the world and enriching the country" and the original intention of "educating the nation". The event is planned to be held once a month. It will use the full online live broadcast to build a communication platform between the school and alumni, alumni and young teachers and students. It will encourage students to take the example of outstanding alumni, to inherit the spirit of the Shandong University, to strive hard and to pursue excellence.
(Editor in Charge: Lei Hao)
