With Teachers’ Day due in just a few days, the Ministry of Education recognized Professor Liu Qingsong from the Department of Ocean Science and Engineering at Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) as a “National Model Teacher” for 2019. He is one of 41 in Guangdong Province and the only one from a university in Shenzhen. It is also the first time a SUSTech faculty member has been commended with this honor.

Professor Liu Qingsong has been with SUSTech for 3 years and was appointed as a Distinguished Professor of the Ministry of Education. He is regarded as a national leading expert in Shenzhen. Liu Qingsong is mainly engaged in the basic theory of paleomagnetism and the basic & comprehensive study of its application in geosciences. He has presided over more than 10 key projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), the National Key Research and Development Program and the China Mainland Framework Drilling Program. Liu Qingsong has published more than 190 SCI papers and been cited in more than 5700 SCI papers.

During his time at SUSTech so far, he has mentored three postdoctoral students, six doctoral students and four master’s students. There are currently three postdoctoral students, three doctoral students and one master’s student studying under his tutelage. His current mentees have published 36 articles as first authors, including 30 SCI-quality articles. His pedagogic efforts saw him win the “Excellent Tutor Award” in the 2017 SUSTech Teachers’ Day Awards.

Liu Qingsong has considerable experience in working in laboratories around the world, and has integrated his knowledge into the realities of domestic research development. Over the last eight years, he has created a set of unique teaching and research ideas to transfer front-line scientific knowledge to students in a timely manner. Liu Qingsong is constantly striving to foster independent, innovative and communicative researchers.

As a professor, Liu Qingsong is keen to maximize student’s opportunities to solve their own problems, in order for them to mature into successful scientists. He also encourages students to work with advanced laboratories, with many of his graduate students having cooperated with university laboratories in Germany, Spain, Italy and the United Kingdom. Several other students have worked independently to present their work at high-level international conferences such as the European Geoscience Conference (EGU) and the American Geophysical Conference (AGU).

One area of passion outside of his research is the popularization of science and common education. He has been leading the Popularization of Science group at SUSTech, and is an active participant in a variety of academic lectures for children in society to introduce the new discovery and future research of Ocean Sciences. He has designed numerous classes for primary and secondary school students on his research area, to the point of having given more than 50 such lectures at schools and other public venues around Shenzhen.

Liu Qingsong is taking his passion for the popularization of science and putting it into print. He is working with other members of the SUSTech community to publish a popular science book, in which he hopes to promote public awareness of scientific and technological progress. In this way, people will slowly cultivate within themselves a scientific spirit and will be inspired to make further contributions to society and urban culture.