Youxun Academy
Release time：2023-04-25
1. Introduction to Youxun Academy
In 2020, taking the establishment of the Collgeg of First-Year Students as an opportunity to reform the traditional student management model, Nanjing University established seven academies within theCollege of First-Year Students to explore a student learning and living community with the College as a unit.
Youxun Academy is one of the six academies named after Wu Youxun, a distinguished representative in the history of Nanjing University, who was an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, one of the pioneers and founders of modern physics research in China, known as the “founding father” of physics research in China, and a famous educator who was the president of Central University, the predecessor of Nanjing University.
Wu Youxun
In June 1920, Wu Youxun graduated from the Department of Mathematics, Physics and Chemistry of Nanjing Higher Normal College. In 1925, he received his doctorate from The University of Chicago, where he later served as an assistant and lecturer in the physics research laboratory under Professor Compton. In October 1945, he became the president of Central University. In 1948, he was elected as an academician of Academia Sinica. In December 1950, he became the vice president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. In 1955, he was elected as a member of the Academy of Sciences of China (academician).
Wu was the first scientist in China to participate in a research project that won the World Prize in Physics, and the first Chinese scientist to be named a member of a foreign academy of sciences. He established the first physics laboratory in China and spearheaded the establishment of the first physics laboratory in China.
He devoted his life to physics research, training of scientific talents and scientific management. Wu’s contributions were mainly in the research on X-rays, especially on scattering and absorption. In the 1920s, he contributed to the establishment and recognition of the Compton effect with systematic and superb experiments and incisive theoretical analysis in the study of X-ray scattering. After returning to China, he pioneered experimental and theoretical research in X-ray scattering spectroscopy and other aspects, and creatively developed the universal theory of X-ray scattering by polyatomic gases. He contributed to the training of Chinese physics talents, and scholars such as Qian Sanqiang, Qian Weichang, Yang Zhenning, Deng Jiaxian and Li Zhengdao were his students. After the founding of New China, as one of the commanding figures on the science and technology front, he made significant contributions to the development of science and technology in New China.
Youxun Academy consists of freshmen from the Science Experimental Class (mathematical and physical science class), Maths Consolidated Foundation Class, Maths Elite Class, Physics Consolidated Foundation Class, Physics Elite Class, Astronomy Elite Class, and Science Experimental Class (Kuang Yaming Honors College Pan-Science Class), which arealigned with five departments of the Department of Mathematics, College of Physics, College of Astronomy and Space Science, College of Atmospheric Sciences and Kuang Yaming Honors School.
2. Structure of Youxun Academy
Dean of Youxun Academy, Xing Dingyu, is a well-known physicist, a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a member of the Standing Committee of the Department of Mathematical Sciences, a doctoral supervisor and professor of the School of Physics of Nanjing University, the director of Nanjing National Laboratory of Microstructure (preparation), and the chief scientist of the “Quantum Regulation” National Basic Research Program.
The Academy has established an Academy Council, consisting of the Dean, the Deputy Party Secretary in charge of students affairs of the five corresponding faculties, the Vice Dean/Vice Director in charge of undergraduate academics, and the Academy Director of the Student Affairs Center, which is mainly responsible for conducting and studying the daily construction work of the Academy and communicating and coordinating with corresponding faculties. To the work philosophy of “student-centered and helping students to become successful”, the Academy carries out education and management work covering all students through student tutors, the Student Affairs Center. The Student Affairs Center of the Academy is responsible for the daily management. Tang Jian, director of the Student Affairs Center, presides over the work and is in charge of the work of the Party Branch of the College.
3. Talent Training Philosophy of Youxun Academy
Guided by the spirit of the 11th Party Congress of Nanjing University, in order to implement the requirements of the “Smelter Project” and improve the new system of talent cultivation, Youxun Academy is committed to implementing the “Educating Five Domains Simultaneously” based on the integration of “education”, “teaching” and “management”, cultivating elite talents in basic science in all aspects, and finally achieving the integration of “teachers” and “students” in the College to build a community of growth and development.
