- 1-? When all elites want to do finance.

Today, our GDP ranks second in the world, but as a country, we rank in the top 20 in terms of technological innovation and innovation ability of basic research. Some people may suspect that what I said is wrong, and say that we all went to the moon and caught turtles in the sea. How can we not innovate enough? There are high-speed trains all over our motherland. How can we rank among the top 20 in scientific and technological strength?

What I want to say is that the indicators and phenomena you see are determined by economic strength, not by scientific and technological strength. What advantages do we have? We have the advantage of economic volume.

When I was overseas, whenever someone spoke ill of my motherland, I would try my best to defend myself, because I felt very patriotic.

In April, I received the prize at the annual scientific meeting of the Royal Swedish Academy. During the dinner, I chatted with a famous Swedish professor and talked about the development of science and technology in China. He is very dismissive. I feel very wronged and resentful, but I still say simply: Anyway, our country has landed on the moon. Where are you? But he answered, leaving me speechless. He said: Professor Shi, if we have China's economic ability, we can send 500 people to the moon and come back safely.

At home, I feel like a critic, because it is hard for me to tolerate that we are not prepared for danger in peacetime. We should have a clear understanding of the country's scientific and technological strength and status quo, how to develop and how to do it, and form a certain consensus, rather than just staying at the level of debate.

First of all, I want to say that university is the core. The first point I want to make is that research universities have never been employment-oriented, and they should not talk about employment in universities. Employment is just an export. If the university is well run, it will naturally find employment. How can we run a university for the purpose of employment?

Employment is an economic issue, and how many jobs China will provide when its economy develops to a certain extent has nothing to do with universities.

Universities, especially research universities, are places to train talents and are the pillars and leaders of the country. What happens if students want to find a job after they go in? Is that everyone desperately wants to make more money.

Where are 70% to 80% of the top students in Tsinghua? Went to the School of Economics and Management. Even my best student, the student I want to train most, told me, teacher, I want to go to a financial company.

It's not that finance can't innovate, but when all the elites in this country want to turn to finance, I think the problem is very big.

Management is very popular in Tsinghua, Peking University and even the whole of China, which is against the law of education. The idea of running a college is to train professionals and provide screws for the industry, but universities are places to train talents, elites and leaders from all walks of life in the country and cannot be confused.

Learning is not practical. You heard me right. We used to put too much emphasis on applying what we learned. When I was in college, I thought it was useless to take a course, so I didn't have to take it. In fact, university study, especially undergraduate study, has never been used.

But that doesn't mean it's useless, because you can't predict the future, neither scientific development nor technological innovation. This kind of unpredictability will always happen first, and if you predict it, it will not be called innovation.

There is a big problem with the orientation in the university. What should I do? It's actually quite simple. Universities should be diversified, not across the board. Every school should be employment-oriented, and every school should be assessed by employment, which will seriously interfere with universities.

I also have opinions on basic research. Our country attaches great importance to the transformation of achievements, and what is often said now is "strengthening transformation", but I want to ask, where does the transformation come from?

Is it because many high and new technologies in our universities have not been transformed into productive forces, or do we not have these high and new technologies at all? I think it is the latter. At present, the basic research ability of our university is too poor to be transformed, not because of the lack of transformation, but because there is nothing to be transformed.

When a university professor has an achievement, no matter how basic the invention is, as long as it has application prospects and the possibility of industrial transformation, multinational companies will flock to it. I am an example.

Fourteen or fifteen years ago, I made a simple discovery that I didn't even realize. I was targeted by a company and came to me. These companies keep smelling, watching and listening like those drug dogs. They are too sensitive to miss a meaningful discovery.

What was the last straw that crushed the camel? Is to encourage scientists to start businesses. You heard me right. I feel very heavy when I heard this at the National People's Congress this year.

There is a specialization in the industry. I only know my basic research and a little education. You asked me to do business management, run a company and be the president. This is the wrong use of my talent and wisdom. One can't be a university professor, a company manager, and also be in charge of finance.

We should encourage scientific and technological personnel to transfer their achievements and patents to enterprises. They can participate in the form of consulting and scientific consultants, but it is putting the cart before the horse to let them start their own businesses.

I can give you an example. Joseph Leonard Goldstein won the Nobel Prize of 1985 for discovering the low-density lipoprotein receptor that regulates cholesterol metabolism in blood and cells. He is the behind-the-scenes controller of many big American enterprises, including Pfizer. Now he is very rich, and it should be said that he is the person who emphasizes transformation the most.

Two years ago, he wrote an article in Science magazine, attacking the special emphasis on transformation. He said that transformation comes from basic research. How to transform when there is no strong basic research?

He said that when he realized how important basic research was, he did so, and this change was natural. With the research results, the natural transformation is very fast, and there is no need to pull out the seedlings.

He listed the process of nine medical students doing basic research at the National Health Research Center, which changed the history of American medical pharmacy. Very interesting.

We should look at history, not only the modern history of China, but also the history of scientific development. We should look at how powerful places in various countries rose, not take it for granted.

The cultivation of innovative talents is also related to our cultural atmosphere. The same problem exists when one wants to innovate. What is innovation? It is controversial that innovation means being in the minority.

Three years ago, after winning an Israel Prize, I was invited to attend a celebration reception at the Israeli Embassy. At the reception, the Ambassador told me how the Israelis value education, and I also told him how the China people value education. He looked at me with a smile and said, your education method is different from ours.

He gave me the example of former Israeli Prime Minister Shimon Peres. He said that when he was in primary school, his Israeli mother only asked two questions every day. The first one is that you asked a question at school today and the teacher couldn't answer it. The second is whether you did anything to impress your teachers and classmates today.

Hearing this, I sighed and said that I have to admit that my two children come back every day. My first sentence is: Did you listen to the teacher today?

But I want to say that I am not pessimistic. Actually, I am optimistic. I encourage myself every day. Our country has a bright future, especially in the past two years. I really see hope.

Now, no matter in the political field or in the field of education, profound thinking and changes have really begun.

It is enough for each of us to do one thing well in this spring tide. It is our contribution to express our views realistically and do our own thing well in our own field.

In this way, our country will have a bright future.

-2-? What are we missing?

I was born in Zhengzhou, Henan, but grew up in Zhumadian, Henan. Why do you want to mention Zhumadian in particular? Because this place is particularly representative.

Zhumadian is relative to Henan, just as Henan is equivalent to China, just as China is relative to the world. This is true from geography, economy, science and technology and culture. I grew up in Zhumadian, just when I began to have memories and feelings for society.

When I was a junior high school student in Zhumadian Primary School, the elementary school general knowledge teacher at that time said a word to me: Shi, when you grow up, you must win glory for our Zhumadian people!

You may not think of this simple sentence, but I will never forget it. From then on, every time I won any honor, I felt that I was winning glory for Zhumadian people.

Today, I also want to say: Hello, teacher! I am still winning glory for our Zhumadian. Middle school went to Zhengzhou, and university went to Tsinghua. I often miss my hometown, miss my hometown in Zhumadian, and keep thinking: What kind of life is my hometown living? What kind of life do you live?

An incident of 1987 had a great influence on me, which almost completely disrupted my life and world outlook. Before that, although I received a traditional education and my father told me to be a scientist and engineer, in fact, I didn't know what I wanted and what I could do in the future.

1987 September 2 1 day, my father was knocked down by a tired taxi on the bicycle lane. When the driver took my father to the People's Hospital of Henan Province, he was still in a coma, with a heartbeat of 62 beats per minute and a blood pressure of 130/80.

But he lay in the emergency room of the hospital for four and a half hours and didn't get any help, because the hospital said that he needed to pay money first and then save people.

By the time the driver raised 500 yuan, my father had no blood pressure, no heartbeat and died in the emergency room of the hospital without any treatment. This matter has a great influence on me. Until now, I still can't help thinking of my father in the dead of night.

This incident fundamentally changed my view of society. I once resented and wanted to get back at the doctors in hospitals and emergency rooms from the destruction: Why didn't you save my father?

But then I figured it out. I really figured it out: there are so many people in such a big country as China, and I don't know how many people and families are experiencing the same tragedy as my father. If I am really ambitious and responsible, I should change the society so that such a tragedy will not happen again and let more people live a better life.

In 20 12, Tomb-Sweeping Day went back to Zhumadian to attend a primary school reunion, which was very emotional. Two of my classmates have left, one is cardiovascular disease and the other is cancer. At that time, another classmate was receiving chemotherapy for terminal cancer, and now he is gone.

I often think: as a person, I am really lucky. I don't worry about food and clothing. Received higher education, went abroad, studied abroad, and had a favorite job. But there are many people in China who are not as lucky as me.

My parents and their children are not as lucky as me. Although they are not as lucky as me, they have always been proud of me. They cheer me up.

I am different from many persistent scientists in some places. What is the difference? They do scientific research because of their interest. I am interested, but I didn't have such a strong interest in doing research at first. My interest was cultivated very late, and what drives me is more responsibility and obligation.

I grew up in Zhumadian, a native of Zhumadian. The neighbors there have never treated me like an outsider. This kind of affection often touches me. I want to repay my parents with my own efforts and creativity, even if I make them proud of me. This is the education I received from childhood. I really appreciate it and want to repay it.

Unconsciously, my ideas seem to be out of date. I don't understand why today's society has become so materialistic and why so many people view money in unison.

Man is not a commodity, but he lives and breathes. When college graduates take income as the sole measure, price themselves and choose companies with slightly higher bids for employment, I really don't understand, and the world around them becomes strange.

I sometimes wonder if the world is changing too fast. I am old and really can't keep up. Why can't I understand? Even the people around me, even some of my colleagues, classmates and friends, I can't understand. I don't know what's wrong with this society. Our focus is very narrow!

There are really many people in China who are less fortunate than us. They need our help badly. Every lucky person needs to pay attention to his living environment, and we need everyone present to work together.

I don't want my students to do formal social practice, but I strongly support them to choose underdeveloped areas in China to visit and experience, such as teaching.

Here I give an example of teaching. In 2008, I worked full-time in Tsinghua, and one of my undergraduates came back from a Hope Primary School in rural Shaanxi.

In my office, he cried bitterly. He said: Teacher Shi, do you know that although it is Hope Primary School, the children there, from grade one to grade five, are very thin. There are only two meals a day, one at 10 am and one at 4 pm.

Why? No money!

They have no meat to eat and can only eat two meals; They should not get up too early in the morning and go to bed as early as possible at night, because in order to save energy, they should spend their energy in class between 10 am and 4 pm.

But they are all satisfied and happy. ...

I don't know, we do basic research, what we can do and what we can change. I am deeply educated by China tradition. As a courageous scholar, I should not only listen to the storm, but also care about family affairs, state affairs and everything in the world.

Unfortunately, my time and energy are too limited. I always want to find some like-minded friends to do something, and I always want to have the opportunity to go home and do something for my hometown. I'm ashamed. In fact, I didn't take good care of my mother and my wife and children.

What are we missing? We lack this sense of responsibility to society, and we lack this kind of action to repay fellow villagers.

In Tsinghua, every time I give entrance education to freshmen in the College of Life Sciences, I always tell them: Don't forget that you come to Tsinghua to represent not only yourself, but also yourself. You also represent a village, a county, a region, a group of people and a nation. You can't forget that you shoulder this responsibility.

I really hope that no matter myself, my students, or my fellow travelers, each of us will really assume a little social responsibility and do a little duty for those who are less fortunate than us and the villagers.

This is all my motivation except my interest in science itself, and it is also the most important support for my future progress.