On March 26, Zhong Yunyan, an undergraduate of the School of Materials Science and Engineering of Nankai University, was taking a general elective course "Opportunities and Challenges in Materials Science". 

At the other end of the screen, professor Zhu Meifang, an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and dean of the College of Materials Science and Engineering of Donghua University in Shanghai, was lecturing on the magical world of fiber under the title of "History and Future of Fiber Materials".

"When I stepped into the university from high school and stepped into the world of materials, I felt a little bewildered and anxious about my major," Zhong Yunyan said, "Academicians are all at the forefront of the research, and the lectures are based on the frontiers, simple but profound, enabling me to have a general understanding of the research trend and direction of materials science."

To cultivate more talents with solid foundation in materials discipline, the School of Materials Science and Engineering of Nankai University set up the "Masters-led" general elective course "Opportunities and Challenges in Materials Science" at the beginning of this semester. Focusing on the frontiers of new materials research and gathering "elite teachers" in the field of materials science, the course brings the undergraduates the new progress and cutting-edge technologies as well as opportunities and challenges of materials science in a plain way to broaden their scientific horizons and cultivate their scientific thinking.

The course given by academician Zhu Meifang is the fifth lecture of this general elective course. In the previous four classes, Li Yongfang, Chen Xuesi, Sun Shigang and Han Buxing, academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences concentrated on the discipline development frontiers and enriched the teaching content with new theories, new technologies and the new progress of major national scientific research projects they participated in, combined with their respective research fields.

Among them, academician Li Yongfang, focusing on "photovoltaic materials and devices for polymer solar cells", emphatically introduced the development status of narrow-band gap small molecule receptors, high molecular polymer receptor of small molecule receptors, and the photovoltaic materials of the matched wide-band gap polymer donor led by Chinese scholars after 2015.

Academician Chen Xuesi introduced the practical application value of polylactic acid (PLA) and the current production capacity status of PLA in China over "biodegradable and biomedical polymer material", and discussed the application status and optimization direction of PLA in the fields of bone fixation devices, scaffolds for tissue engineering and drug carriers, etc.

Centering on "electrochemical science and engineering & energy materials structure and performance regulation", academician Sun Shigang expounded the structure-activity relationship between the structure and performance of electrochemical energy materials, and discussed the structural design and performance regulation of electrochemical energy materials such as electrocatalysts and electrode materials.

Aiming at "green chemistry and green carbon science", academician Han Buxing introduced the significance of developing green chemistry and green carbon science to realize sustainable development of chemical industry and carbon neutralization, meanwhile, analyzed and discussed the development trend of green chemistry and green carbon science.

"During my 40 years at Nankai University, I have attended many academicians' courses. Their profound knowledge and personality charms are of great help to my future scientific research," said Bu Xianhe, president of School of Materials Science and Engineering, Nankai University, "Academicians teaching undergraduates are not overqualified. The value may not be fulfilled immediately, but the impact on students will be profound and subtle."

In the following courses, more than ten famous masters including Wang Zhonglin, foreign academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and academicians of Chinese Academy of Sciences--Liu Zhongfan, Li Can, Li Yuliang, Yu Shuhong, Chen Jun, Bu Xianhe, etc., will also bring students a series of academic feast.

(Edited and translated by Nankai News Team)