On the morning of Nov. 29, the President's Lecture of Liaoning University, the eighth of its kind, was successfully held in the Cai Guanshen Academic Lecture Hall on the Puhe Campus, Liaoning University. The lecturer invited was professor Wang Enge, former President of Peking University, former Vice President and academician of China Academy of Sciences, and Chairman of Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory. Professor Yu Miaojie, a deputy to the 14th National People’s Congress, a member of the Standing Committee of the 14th National People’s Congress of Liaoning Province, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Committee, and President of Liaoning University attended the lecture and introduced the keynote speaker. The lecture was presided over by Professor Huo Chunhui, member of the Standing Committee of the CPC Committee and Vice President of Liaoning University.

Based on the topic of Enlightenment of Fundamental Research on Scientific and Technological Innovation, Professor Wang explained that fundamental research is the source power for scientific and technological innovation from the perspective of the relationship between fundamental research and scientific and technological innovation by using vivid language. He noted that to turn scientific research into industrial achievements is like a relay race, in which we need to do a good job in institutional reform. We should also upgrade scientific and technological resources, pool more high-end talents, integrate more financial capital, and forge a friendly ecological environment for scientific innovation. Guided by national demand, we need to attach great importance to fundamentally theoretical issues related to major disciplines and revolutionary issues, which can better serve national development strategies. Based on his decades of scientific research experience, he brought an academic feast for teachers and students at Liaoning University with his profound knowledge and unique insights.

In his speech, President Yu introduced to teachers and students the outstanding contributions made by academician Wang in the exploration of nano-new materials. He noted that academician Wang started his education at the Physics Department of LNU in 1978 and obtained a bachelor's degree and a master's degree. After graduating in 1985 as a postgraduate, he stayed at the school to teach students, and later in 1990, he graduated from Peking University as a doctoral student. Being an outstanding alumnus and pride of LNU, he survived under the difficult scientific research conditions when he just returned to China in the 1990s. With a deep feeling of serving the country through science and technology, he persisted in innovating and made great achievements in the field of education management. President Yu stressed that academician Wang has long cared about the development of his alma mater, especially the discipline development and student training, and actively supported the construction of doctoral programs in physics. Apart from an Academician Workstation in the College of Physics at LNU, set up by academician Wang, there is a Joint Experimental Center for Materials Physics co-established by Songshan Lake Materials Laboratory and Liaoning University to jointly train postgraduate students.

President Yu attending the lecture and introducing the keynote speaker

Vice President Huo hosting the lecture

After the lecture, professor Yu Miaojie, Deputy Secretary of the CPC Committee and President of Liaoning University presented the commemorative plates of “President's Lecture” and “Outstanding Alumni” to academician Wang. Teacher representatives Ning Chong and Lu Xuemei offered a bunch of flowers, school badge, and school hat to him.

More than 400 students and teachers from the College of Physics, the College of Life Sciences, the College of Information, the College of Chemistry, and the College of Mathematics and Statistics attended the lecture.

Introduction to the keynote speaker:

Wang Enge, is an academician of the China Academy of Sciences, professor at Peking University, Director of Academic Committee of Institute of Physics in the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and Honorary Director of Kavli Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. From 1999 to 2021, he was director of Institute of Physics in Chinese Academy of Sciences, director of Beijing National Laboratory of Condensed Matter Physics, president of Peking University, and vice president of China Academy of Sciences/director of the Faculty of Mathematics and Physics. At present, he is executive vice president of the International Union for Pure and Applied Physics (IUPAP), chairman of the International Union of the National Science Centers, and international director of American Physical Society (APS).