In response to the university’s educational philosophy of attracting and nurturing talents, fully implementing the college strategy of strengthening development through talent cultivation, rolling out extensive publicity and briefings on talent policies, and accelerating the recruitment of outstanding talents from home and overseas, the School of Materials Science and Engineering, Jilin University, successfully hosted the 2024 International Forum for Young Scholars on Advanced Materials and Engineering Frontiers of Jilin University on December 27, with strong support from the Talent Office of Jilin University.
The forum kicked off at 13:30 in the conference hall on the 8th floor of the Machinery & Materials Building. Liu Xiangwei, Deputy Director of the University Talent Office, Professor Jiang Qing, Professor Zhang Lijun (Dean of the School), and Professor Han Qigang (Vice Dean) attended the event, which was presided over by Vice Dean Professor Han Qigang.
In his opening address, Deputy Director Liu Xiangwei stated that Jilin University thoroughly implements the new vision, strategy and initiatives of General Secretary Xi Jinping on talent work for the new era. The university always adheres to its original mission of cultivating talents for the Party and the country, and has continuously refined its systems for talent recruitment, career development and comprehensive services. He elaborated on Jilin University’s overall profile and talent policies covering campus culture, research platforms, institutional frameworks and support services. Finally, Professor Shi Zhan extended a warm invitation to outstanding young scholars to join Jilin University and the School of Materials Science and Engineering to jointly pursue academic undertakings and build a promising future.
Dean Professor Zhang Lijun delivered a comprehensive introduction to the School of Materials Science and Engineering from eight dimensions: historical evolution, discipline development, faculty team, research platform support, experimental instruments and equipment, talent training, scientific research, and innovation research teams. On the school’s development achievements, he offered detailed explanations of research awards, representative scientific outputs, Highly Cited Researchers, advances in fundamental research and applied research. He also provided an in-depth interpretation of the university’s talent recruitment system, promotion pathways, remuneration packages and supporting resources.
Professor Zhang highlighted the school’s talent support programs. He emphasized that the school pools all resources to recruit and cultivate talents, fully addresses all concerns of researchers with thoughtful, sincere and dedicated services, and provides ample resources and guarantees to enable talents to focus on academic research. At the end of his speech, Dean Zhang sincerely invited all young talents to join the School and write a new chapter in its development.
In his invited keynote speech titled Suggestions on Career Development for Young Talents Returning from Overseas, Professor Jiang Qing thoroughly analyzed key considerations for young returnee scholars when choosing research institutions. He systematically summarized the characteristics of the Four National Young Talent Programs, and offered exhaustive strategies and guidance covering proposal writing and critical details for project applications.
Regarding research roadmap planning for young scholars after returning to China, Professor Jiang proposed that young researchers should build upon their existing academic foundations and closely align their work with national strategic demands. By leveraging the host institution’s research platforms, state-of-the-art experimental facilities and robust team support, scholars can translate these institutional strengths into personal advantages and gradually shape distinctive research directions. He stressed that the disciplinary strengths of one’s affiliated institution play a decisive role in career growth, and young talents should fully capitalize on such strengths to integrate personal academic advancement with national development priorities.
Subsequently, distinguished young scholars invited to the forum delivered academic reports sharing their latest research progress. The speakers came from world-renowned institutions and enterprises at home and abroad, including Max Planck Institutes, Tsinghua University, the University of New South Wales, Johns Hopkins University, the University of Tokyo, Imperial College London, Zhejiang University, the Iberian International Nanotechnology Laboratory, the University of Adelaide, and Danaher Corporation. Over a hundred participating scholars gathered to conduct in-depth discussions on international frontiers and hot topics in materials science.
Through featured keynote speeches, panel exchanges and one-on-one talent recruitment talks, the forum built a platform for outstanding young scholars in materials science and engineering to exchange ideas and spark academic innovation. It not only helped young scholars gain a holistic understanding of the School, but also clarified their career development pathways. Such exchanges and collaborations further fostered multi-field and all-round cooperative mechanisms, creating favorable conditions for high-caliber young talents to join the university.
Taking this forum as an opportunity, the School of Materials Science and Engineering fully demonstrated its sincere aspiration and earnest desire to attract top talents. Backed by comprehensive policy guarantees and a sound working environment, the School strives to build a magnet for gathering outstanding researchers. It aims to provide talents with broad room for development, enabling them to give full play to their strengths and realize personal academic value, thus laying a solid talent foundation for high-quality advancement of the Double World-Class Project construction.
