In 2016, the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) presented a variety of academic activities, attracting many great thinkers and renowned scholars. Experts and scholars gave over 830 lectures (2.3 per day) on campus; SUSTech organized over 50 high-level forums and academic conferences (one per week); over 80 academicians/fellows (seven per month) shared their research findings at SUSTech and four Nobel laureates (one per quarter) visited SUSTech.

45 sessions of SUSTech lecture create frontier academic atmosphere

In 2016, 45 sessions of SUSTech Lecture were held. As a top academic lecture brand organized by the Office of Public Relations, and co-organized by all schools and departments of SUSTech, SUSTech Lecture series covered fields such as common sense, mathematics, physics, chemistry, biology, electronics, economics, astronomy, the environment, computer science and history. Speakers included Nobel laureates, Chinese academicians and foreign fellows, top experts in relevant fields, and so forth. These lectures, one per week, have effectively and continuously promoted the creation of a strong academic atmosphere, attracting wide attention in the society. For example, on March 1 2016, Prof. Shi Chunfeng, a world-renowned scientist and educator, was invited to the 61^st session of SUSTech Lecture to speak on “How to boost the core power of innovation and entrepreneurship”; on August 16, Prof. Anthony James Leggett, a Nobel laureate in physics, was invited to the 78^th session of SUSTech Lecture to explain “Why can’t time run backwards” in a simple way; on October 16, Prof. Steven Chu, a Nobel laureate in physics, was invited to the 86^th session of SUSTech Lecture to explain “why choose STEM”; on December 2, Fields Medal winner Prof. Efim Zelmanov was invited to the 95^th session of SUSTech Lecture to elaborate on mathematics and its applications. These lectures popularized the most cutting-edge technical concepts and conveyed deep scientific spirit, drawing attention from and arousing heated discussions among SUSTech’s teachers and students, and attracting teachers, students, technology enthusiasts and senior high school students.

Over 760 lectures organized by schools and departments (centers, colleges) create brands and open doors to encyclopedic knowledge

SUSTech’s schools, departments, centers and colleges held over 760 lectures (about 16 per week) in 2016, including over 100 held by the Department of Mathematics, over 90 by the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, and over 80 by the Department of Chemistry, the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, the Department of Biology, the Department of Physics and other departments. Many schools and departments created distinct lecture brands, such as “Mathematical Lecture”, “Chemical Lecture”, “Nanshan Distinguished Lecture on the Environment”, “Mechanical Engineering Forum”, “Computer Frontier Lecture” and “Biomedical Engineering Lecture”.

These branded school and department lectures with higher specialization, more diverse forms and more targeted audiences effectively promoted SUSTech’s internal and external academic exchanges. Teachers and students probed into specific research topics in related fields so as to improve the research and teaching level of schools and departments, and release academic vitality at all levels.
Apart from highly specialized school and department lectures, SUSTech’s colleges and centers also created their lecture brands, such as “Shuren Lecture” of Shuren College, “Humanities Celebrity Lecture” of the Humanities Center and “Social Science Lecture” of the Social Sciences Center. Within a few months, the Social Sciences Center held 16 sessions of “Social Science Lecture”, and the Center of Art invited 15 renowned artists to share their experience and knowledge. These lectures, closely integrating with the professional features of colleges and centers, became important channels of enriching campus life, improving the humanistic and social science qualities of teachers and students, and enhancing their artistic taste.

Over 50 forums and summits illuminate the way of innovation and entrepreneurship

Apart from brief lectures and presentations with specific guests and content, SUSTech also organized and undertook over 50 major academic forums and summits, which brought together industrial experts to discuss and analyze the development of professional fields, and probe into frontier issues with focus on specific subjects.

In June 2016, the Young Scholars Conference · Annual Forum, organized by the Chemical Committee and co-organized by SUSTech, was held, with the participation of Prof. Robert H. Grubbs, a Nobel laureate in chemistry, as well as academicians, fellows and professors ; on July 25^th the International Conference on Discrete Simulation of Fluid Dynamics was held at SUSTech, bringing together over 130 fluid dynamics experts and scholars from 18 countries; in October, SUSTech organized the 2^nd Newton Forum, with nearly 50 experts and scholars from over 20 domestic and foreign universities and enterprises attending the opening ceremony. Besides, SUSTech organized the Fourth Sino- and International Conference on the Industrial Plasma Technologies of China, with the participation of nearly 100 experts and scholars; in November, SUSTech organized the “Quantum and Information Science” SUSTech Summit, 22 academicians from across the country gave keynote lectures and over 100 experts attended the summit. SUSTech also organized the 6^th Lingnan Organic Chemistry Forum in association with the Guangdong Chemical Society, with the participation of academic leaders and young scholars from 30 universities and research institutes in eight domestic provinces and municipalities. It co-organized the “3^rd Shenzhen International Life Science & Health Industry Summit”, bringing together Prof. Craig C. Mello, a Nobel laureate in physiology and medicine and over 150 experts from renowned domestic and overseas research institutes and medical institutions, as well as enterprise representatives, to explore the new opportunity for the connection of frontier medical technologies with capital and biomedical technology issues. In December, SUSTech organized the “Aerospace Intelligent Manufacturing Symposium & Strategic Symposium on Mechanical Engineering Development”, during which experts and company representatives probed into issues such as the production-education-research integration process in aerospace intelligent manufacturing.

These academic forums and summits, organized by SUSTech independently or in association with relevant academic institutions and enterprises, vigorously promoted the research, innovation and entrepreneurship causes of SUSTech, and gave play to SUSTech’s role in leading and driving technology innovation and production-learning-research integration.

2016 is a brilliant year in which SUSTech presented a wide variety of academic activities, an impressive year in which numerous scholars and experts gave lectures at SUSTech, and a year of advancement in which SUSTech created a strong research atmosphere and released great vitality. In 2017 which marks a new start, SUSTech will continue its profound and effective academic exchanges with the concerted efforts of all teachers and students, thereby opening a new page for “research, innovation and entrepreneurship”.