Prof. Robert H. Grubbs, a Nobel Laureate for Chemistry, visited Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) for the second time and held talks with students on June 18, 2016.

Prof. Zhang Xumu, Chair of the Department of Chemistry, and Chair Professor Chen Zhongren were also present on the occasion.

The Q&A session with students was conducted shortly after Prof Grubbs’ brief self-introduction. Prof Grubbs answered many queries, asked by the students.  The questions selected for answering covered in various fields.

In the session, Grubbs talked about what is the difference between a Chinese student and an American one. He believed that the best-qualified individuals, regardless of nationality, share those common qualities, for example concentration. He also showed how the Chinese researchers worked in his lab and became excellent.

In reply to one of the questions in related to what is the role that commanding good mathematic skills plays in learning chemistry well, Grubbs said he was not good at math. Some students, who have a solid foundation in math, would often come across some problems in his organic chemistry course.

Moving on to the field of finding the wider range of application of catalyst, Grubbs said that more and more people are using his catalyst after promoted, and when the inapplicable situation occurred, the immediate feedback from the users will push them to develop a new generation of the catalyst.     

To end the Q&A, Prof. Chen Zhongren amended some answers given by Grubbs.