On the morning of September 18th, the Chemistry Department of theAulinCollege of Northeast Forestry University held an offline lecture with the theme of academic reports and career planning. Several well-known alumni participated in the event via online means and had a remote dialogue with the freshmen of the 22nd grade majoring in Chemistry, discussing career prospects.
Firstly, the senior students and alumni discussed the "significance of chemistry", describing it as a central science, as our clothing, food, housing and transportation are all related to chemistry from the moment we open our eyes to the world. At the same time, they pointed out that in recent years, chemistry, with its unique thinking, has met the demands of the national development strategy. Through continuous innovation and the development of new concepts and strategies, and by integrating with disciplines such as physics and engineering technology, it has made significant contributions in the field of science. Furthermore, through the comprehensive chemical education teaching ideology of Mr. Dai Anbang, they once again expounded on the importance of this science.
Among them, Senior Xie Jin, with the topic "Chemistry - Carrying Your Dreams", encouraged and advocated that college students actively participate in various experiments in their sophomore year and try independent scientific research in their future academic journey. Senior Xie Jin told the students on this topic: Scientific research is a process of exploring the unknown world based on existing knowledge. First, one needs to learn the known knowledge, solve the unknown problems on this basis, and then convince the readers according to some possible evaluation criteria that we have indeed solved the problem. The biggest difference between scientific research and learning lies in that the learning process has a correct answer, while scientific research does not. Scientific research can be summarized as "bold conjecture, careful verification". The interesting part of scientific research is that it can satisfy people's curiosity and sense of achievement, but the unpleasant part is that we will face the risk of failure.
As for how to do well in scientific research, Senior Zheng Kai said that whether students choose to pursue a postgraduate degree in China or study abroad, they should actively join their supervisor's research group, which is the main way to gain research experience.
Domestic postgraduate students need to find their own rhythm in the fierce competition, so as to gradually improve their abilities step by step in accordance with their goals and future plans. Meanwhile, professional mentors and teams will gradually guide students to participate in scientific research activities from the basics to the advanced levels. However, it is best for students to express their willingness to their preferred mentors and join the research groups as early as possible, because scientific research is a long-term process.
Furthermore, we also need to participate in the school's subject innovation projects. These projects mainly come from professional mentors, so they do contain some scientific research training. However, after all, the project team is only a small part of the formal scientific research activities, so the project research is generally relatively simple and still has a certain distance from real scientific research. This is just a good transitional opportunity. Similarly, we can also exercise our abilities through winter and summer exchange programs. Because through these programs, we can go to top foreign universities. Although most of these programs can only complete the training of scientific research capabilities, as long as we perform well in the program, it is very likely to get a recommendation letter from a well-known professor.
All three seniors emphasized that many students encounter numerous confusions in the early stages of research. However, they are reluctant to ask their teachers for fear that their questions might be too naive, and thus they just struggle on their own. In fact, compared to students who never ask questions and quietly disappear, teachers prefer those who constantly ask seemingly stupid questions.
Near the end of the lecture, President Liu Zhiming once again expressed his hope that all the students, on their already embarked university journey, would find their own pace, constantly adjust their learning methods and habits, make career plans in advance, and be responsible for their own future and prospects. After having a broad vision and the ability to think independently, they should understand the cutting-edge knowledge in their fields, identify their directions and keep striving.
After attending the lecture, He Yiran from Class 3 of Chemistry expressed that as the college life just begins, it is inevitable that there are some uncertainties in personal planning. At this time, lacking experience, we can participate in various academic exchange meetings held by the college and the university to learn about the research achievements in current hot fields. We can get inspiration from the topics, reports and discussions after the meetings of the seniors. The summaries of the seniors' research work can help us to be more clear about what to do next and how to do it. Meanwhile, through the reports, various ideas will collide and broaden our thinking. Many scientific research ideas will come to us suddenly, thereby enriching our academic abilities.
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