The COVID-19 pandemic may separate people apart, but it never stops the "research in cloud" and "communication in cloud" of teachers and students from various universities. Recently, the Department of Chemistry of Tsinghua University and the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of Huazhong University of Science and Technology jointly held the 2020 Doctoral Academic Forum, to further stimulate the academic interest of doctoral students, deepen cooperation and exchanges between the two universities, and create a good atmosphere of academic contention. From 8:30 am to 5:30 pm on April 20, 2020, the "Tsinghua University-HUST Joint Doctoral Academic Forum" was held online via Tencent Meeting. Prof. Li Jinghong, Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Associate Prof. Liang Qionglin, Secretary of Party Committee, Prof. Wang Xun, Director, and Associate Prof. Feng Lin, Deputy Secretary of Party Committee, Prof. Xu Huaping, Deputy Director of the Department of Chemistry of Tsinghua University, Prof. Li Tao, Secretary of Party Committee, Prof. Zhu Jintao, Dean, Ms. Wu Jiang'e, Deputy Secretary of Party Committee, Prof. Liu Hongfang, Vice Dean of the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of HUST, and leaders from Shimadzu (China) Co., Ltd., as well as about 500 teachers and students were present at this forum.
At the opening ceremony, with Prof. Xu Huaping, Deputy Director of the Department of Chemistry of Tsinghua University as the host, Prof. Wang Xun, Director of the Department of Chemistry of Tsinghua University, Prof. Zhu Jintao, Dean of the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of HUST and Mr. Naoki Hamada from Shimadzu China Mass Spectrometry Center and Mr. Zhang Jianjun, Deputy Director of Marketing Department gave opening speeches. Prof. Wang Xun, on behalf of the Department of Chemistry of Tsinghua University, expressed his warm welcome to the experts, scholars and postgraduate students present at this forum. Prof. Zhu Jintao gave an introduction of the measures taken by HUST during COVID-19 pandemic, and encouraged students to think and plan for future study and research. Combining with the scientific research achievements and research fields, Mr. Zhang Jianjun expressed expectations for the development in chemistry by sharing and exchanging at this forum.
This forum consists of 5 sessions including opening ceremony, invited report, poster session, oral session and closing ceremony. In the invited report session, Prof. Li Jinghong, Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Member of the 12th and 13th National Committee of the Chinese People's Political Consultative Conference and Director of the Academic Committee of the Department of Chemistry of Tsinghua University, Prof. Wang Deli of the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of HUST, Associate Prof. Jiao Liying of the Department of Chemistry of Tsinghua University gave themed reports; Ms. Hu Xiaohui from Shimadzu Analysis and Planning Division of Marketing Department gave an application report; doctoral student representatives Zhang Li from Tsinghua University and Zhao Yajun from HUST shared their research progress. The excellent reports received numerous praises, and the reporters and audiences had heated discussions regarding the report contents.
At 13:00-13:50 in the afternoon, the poster session started. 43 posters made by students from the two universities were categorized into 6 groups and presented via QR code. The meeting IDs were also attached in the poster, so that the audience can exchange ideas with the reporters.
Some of the posters presented
Afterwards, the oral report started in two parallel sessions simultaneously. 36 extraordinary doctoral student representatives shared their latest research progress and achievements in hotspot fields including organic synthesis, biomedicine, energy catalysis, polymer and etc. The judges raised questions regarding the report contents and scored each report in terms of contents and achievements, ppt slide design, language and expression, Q&A and time control.
At 5:20 in the afternoon, the closing and awarding ceremony started, with Associate Prof. Feng Lin, Deputy Secretary of Party Committee as the host. Representatives from both universities and Shimadzu were present. Prof. Li Tao, Secretary of Party Committee of the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of HUST summarized this conference with three keywords, i.e. "gratitude, gain, hope". He said, this forum provides an opportunity for students from both universities to share their research achievement and plays an important role in enlightening thoughts and building confidence. It is also an interpretation of the "one school for one school" policy promulgated by the Ministry of Education. Associate Prof. Liang Qionglin, Secretary of Party Committee of the Department of Chemistry of Tsinghua University said, this forum is a new start point for the two schools to enhance friendship, cooperation and exchange. He expressed his expectations for the two schools to join hands and overcome the difficulties in the pandemic.
At the end of the closing ceremony, Ms. Wu Jiang'e, Deputy Secretary of Party Committee of the School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering of HUST, and Ms. Hou Yanhong from the Marketing Department of Shimadzu (China) Co., Ltd announced the winners for the poster and oral session. Selected by the organizing committee, 30 students including Yang Yi from Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Liu Qingda from Tsinghua University won the first, second and third prizes respectively. And the forum ended successfully.
