He is going to be the first PhD student enrolled by President Chen Shiyi after the latter came to SUSTech.

He is Liu Zijian, a graduate of 2016, who has been called “Jian Shen” by many students. He got this nick name as he was a “study god (literally means a genius of study)”, who works harder than a “study overlord (a straight A student).”

During the short talk with him, Liu Zijian used numerous classic quotes, which made us realize that we had long way to go to catch up with him. He was a super “study overlord” with a GPA of 3.93. What’s more, he inherited a rigorous and precise attitude toward research from the professors of SUSTech .

GPA is the abbreviation for Grade Point Average, which usually follows a five-point or four-point marking system in China’s institutions of higher education. The way to convert into hundred-mark system is different depending on the specifications of each school. For a four-point marking system, 90 points or higher in the hundred-mark system is equivalent to 4 point in GPA, 80 points or higher to 3, 70 points or higher to 2 and 60 or higher to 1.

“Learning is Joyful and Fruitful”

In this early June, during the competition for the top ten graduates of SUSTech, Liu Zijian presented in the PPT his transcript of the four years for the first time, which amazed the present teachers and students. The transcript got viral on the online platforms of SUSTech as his average score was 95 and 90% of the subject scored more than 90, making his overall grade point ranking the first in the grade. For many subjects which had an average score of lower than 70, he still scored over 90.

While he thanked the instructors for his transcript, Liu Zijian mentioned in particular the teachers of his senior high school. He said: “I am grateful to Teacher He in the Gao Tang Senior High School of Shandong Province, where the intense learning cultivated my attitude towards knowledge. I’ve kept the learning habit till now. If we study in the way like we did in the senior high, we can score high in universities easily.”

During the four years’ college life, while many students felt lucky to get rid of the miserable senior high and slacked off in their studies, Liu Zijian kept the good habit and attitude in doing everything and enjoyed it.

Does study brings happiness?

Liu Zi jian answered:” If we treat each course and project as an artwork, we will enjoy great sense of achievement and much happiness.”

“Rigorous Attitude Decides Where You Stand”

After graduating from SUSTech, Liu Zijian would pursue his doctoral degree of the joint cultivation program by SUSTech and National University of Singapore. Previously, President Chen Shiyi wrote a recommendation letter for Liu Zijian personally and would be his doctoral adviser to guide him on furthering study on Fluid Dynamics. He would be the first SUSTech Ph. D student of President Chen Shiyi, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Prof. Xu Hu of the Department of Physics was Liu Zijian’s supervisor of scientific research and also the teacher who recruited Liu Zijian. Liu Zijian is very grateful for Prof. Xu Hu’s guidance on every aspect especially on scientific research. He said: “Prof. Xu is very earnest when he guides students. Busy as he is, he still helps students in person to solve each problem, which I really appreciate. For an undergraduate student, it’s quite difficult do write the first article with various technical and research problems. Prof. Xu mainly works on the research field of ‘the First-principles Calculations’. In the second half of my junior year, he assigned me a related project which I didn’t work out anything. At that time, I always doubted whether I was cut for research. Luckily, Prof. Xu’s help and encouragement made me more determined to go on the research. Until this semester, I discovered a magic point on which I am writing an article.”

Liu Zijian was also thankful to other professors of the Department of Physics. He said: “We follow the professors in doing scientific research, but to reach their levels, we need not only rich knowledge but also their rigorous attitude.”

Liu Zijian mentioned that Prof. Ye Fei was very conscientious and would like to help students. Once Prof. Ye Fei gave Liu Zijian a difficult problem concerning “fractional statistics”, Liu Zijian had to consult the professor for many times to solve the problem. “Prof. Ye teaches me personally how to deduce the answer with a method which i the extension of some derived formulas in the textbook. Knowledge in the textbook is actually very helpful in scientific research. So it’s crucial to grasp the content of the textbook and the method employed in those formulas. Prof. Ye often says the purpose of exams is to make you to read the textbook one more time.”

Liu Zijian also mentioned Prof. Huang Mingyuan who was also extremely careful in scientific research. Prof. Huang pursued study in Columbia University and got “excellent” of the top one percent for his doctoral dissertation.       

“Still Try Hard For Uninterested Things”

“During the research, you will gradually realize that physics in university is quite different from what you have learned in your high school. Instead simply observing the changes among different forces when “pulling the wood block”, it consists of several trivial yet abstract things. Then, you might lose your interests and sense of fulfillment; in this case, you should pick up the interest and stick to it.”

In fact, “Study Overlord” Liu Zijian was not born to love learning and his research path was not always smooth. Sometimes, he also felt frustrated and hesitated like ordinary people. Unlike ordinary people, however, he reflected more and persisted longer. Liu Zijian said: “When you are not into it, work hard and you will gain your interests soon.”

“Much attention should also be paid to those uninterested courses. This is not for the sake of high GPA, but to apply these knowledge in the future. When I was a freshman, I also had some complaints about Chemistry and Biography. I constantly asked why we need to learn Chemistry and Biography. Although I still got high scores, I didn’t have any thoughts about the usage of these courses. Fortunately, now I find that those knowledge, even a concept, may be applied out of blue. If you have learned Chemistry before, you would know the location of a concept in the textbook and can find it immediately. From the psychological perspective, once they have formed a knowledge system, people tend to forget it. Hence, you are likely to remember nothing about Chemistry and Biography after a semester of learning. However, you would be very pleasant once you can put it into practical use. In other words, to meet practical needs with what one has learned is quite joyful.”

“Exploring, Summarizing, Reflecting, Harvesting”

Liu Zijian enjoys his extra-curriculum life too. During his four years of college study, he not only took part in school football team, but also was in charge of the academic team of Zhiren College Student Wardens which is mainly responsible for organizing a series of academic activities for college, including “Mentor Sharing Session”, “Morning Reading Campaign”, “English Corner”, etc. With that, Liu Zijian not only contributed to establishing the college’s academic atmosphere, but also improved his own organizational capability.  

“I really cherish this experience, enabling me to contact many things that I didn’t understand before. These things are similar to academic affairs, but not completely the same.” Liu Zijian said, “From the very beginning, for even a small activity, every member of the team needs to assume part of the work, which is much more tiring than learning. Later, two persons can handle everything. From this perspective, it is the same as learning in which you need to frequently summarize and reflect your work. Even though you might make mistakes at the beginning, it is also a process of growth during continuous exploration. ”

During his service at the college, Liu Zijian launched the “Morning Reading Campaign”. He advocated and led the participants to read and recite at the early morning. In every morning, from six to seven, he would show up at the activity room of Zhiren College on time. Even when the weather was cold and no one would show up, he still persisted in morning reading here.

As a matter of fact, Liu Zijian is not a bookworm. Beyond study, he learned to cooperate with others, to summarize and reflect his work and to improve himself. “I really appreciate two partners, Lin Shen and Guo Kaizhu. Lin Shen led me into Student Wardens while Guo Kaizhu co-chaired the academic team with me. They are more experienced and considerate than me and have helped me a lot.” Liu Zijian said.