One resigned "just to be the boss"

When I was a graduate student in the late 1970s and early 1980s, we all called our tutors teachers, which was very kind. When I was studying in the United States in the 1980s, my classmates also called my tutor "the boss". Nowadays, under the influence of network culture, graduate students often call tutors "bosses". The name "boss" has several meanings and can be a nickname. Tutors provide research funds for students and guide the research direction; It may be a nickname, and students feel that the tutor makes them do all kinds of things; It can also be a joke, that is, in the absence of the tutor, students tease each other. However, the tutor himself should not pretend to be the boss.

The position of tutor is based on three authorities, namely academic authority, moral model and funding seeker. Tutors stand high academically, see far, can win all kinds of funding for students, support students' research, become role models for students, and truly establish authority.

The process of tutor guiding graduate students is not entirely a process of "I teach you to learn". Postgraduates should be innovative in writing their papers, some of which are realized by students themselves and some are realized under the guidance of tutors. But in any case, everyone is equal before academics, and tutors and students should be in a relationship of mutual discussion and promotion.

There is an old saying in China: "Once a teacher, always a father". I think it is more appropriate to be a teacher for one day and a friend for life. As a mentor, the highest realm should not be "disciples all over the world", but "peaches and plums all over the world". Personal academic achievements and respect from academic circles are relatively high honors, but the highest honor should be "peaches and plums are all over the world", which is the realm where the inner world of the tutor can get the greatest satisfaction.

Second, quit "supervision"

Tutors should help students grow academically as soon as possible, instead of monitoring what students do every day, which is not conducive to students' development and does not help students to make high-level innovative achievements. Therefore, tutors should treat students as students, not laborers and subordinates. We should discuss with students academically and respect their personality. Tutors should also give priority to encouragement, supplemented by supervision. In the team composed of tutors and a group of students, there needs to be a harmonious academic ecology so that everyone can express their ideas independently.

Tutors should encourage students to innovate independently, and should not excessively ask students to follow the rules. Students who completely abide by the rules may not get high grades, and asking students to completely abide by the rules may arouse students' disgust and lead to tension between teachers and students.

Three commandments "indifference"

Tutors' indifference to students is an extreme situation, but this situation is developing at present. At present, the average number of tutors in colleges and universities in China is about 8, which is quite high all over the world. There are 2-3 people in America and even fewer in Europe. The situation in Taiwan Province Province and South Korea is similar to ours.

There is an old saying in China that "the master leads the way, and practice depends on the individual". It may be feasible for a tutor to guide a small number of students, but if the number is too large, there will be a problem of large-scale training. The increase in the number of graduate students instructed by tutors per capita will easily lead to distraction, and it is impossible for tutors to pay attention to every graduate student. If we don't pay enough attention to students, it is easy to have negative effects, that is, individual students or a group of students don't perform well, which will affect the brand of tutors, disciplines and even the whole school. This is the relationship between personal development and collective brand. Therefore, students should be given enough care. Tutors' concern for students often affects their development for a long time.

Let me talk about the joys and sorrows of the structural echelon first. At present, there is a common situation, that is, there is a team of teachers and postdoctoral students under the tutor, and there are doctors under the postdoctoral students, and doctors take masters, forming an echelon structure. The advantage of this structure is that it can take many students, and the performance of the echelon looks great. However, this situation also has a negative effect, that is, the tutor has no close relationship with the guidance process of students, and there are also extreme examples. The tutor didn't even know his own students when he defended. Some students have not received timely guidance from their tutors and have not formed the habit of observing academic norms. In order to meet the graduation requirements, there may be problems such as plagiarism. At this time, students and tutors will regret it for life.

Each tutor may train many students in his whole academic career, and each student is one of many students to you, but for each student, his several years of postgraduate career is an important life experience, and the tutor is the most important person and the leader in this life experience.

Here, I also want to emphasize the concerns of different types and the whole process. Tutors should distinguish between different students, some of whom are very independent, and they can achieve mastery by giving some guidance and guidance; Some students' autonomous ability is not fully cultivated, which needs full attention. Tutors should understand the different characteristics of each student and pay attention to them.

Under the temptation, it is "too tight"

The frequency at which tutors care about students also needs to be grasped. For a student, the tutor may care once a month and once every half a month, and the difference may be great. But it may not be appropriate to care too much. Innovation needs space, learning and research need time, and tutors should leave necessary time and space for students.

What is the purpose of training graduate students? Is it to finish a paper or a project? No, it is to cultivate his research ability. Therefore, "too tight management" is not good for cultivating ability. Mentors should find a balance between "overprotection" and "indifference", which is also the art of being a mentor.

We hope to cultivate diversified students, cultivate character and promote innovation. It's a bit like mandatory action and optional action. To master the proportion of prescribed actions and optional actions. Prescribed movements are basic methods and knowledge, while optional movements are students' games.

The cultivation of graduate students should have a process. Some work is technical and will be finished in a short time; Other work is challenging, demanding and requires a lot of preparation. The process of cultivating students is the process of gradually changing from skilled work to challenging work.

How to judge whether it is too tight for students? There are many signs to be observed, for example, students will not discuss them in group meetings; Students will not give critical and constructive opinions; Or whether the tutor is there or not is very different, the students present refuse to communicate, and the students who are not present can communicate well, and so on.

Five Commandments of "Constant Criticism"

Tutors should not always criticize students. Confidence is a very important quality for students. Never deprive students of self-confidence. Repeated psychological setbacks will make students at a loss. Occasionally harsh criticism is necessary, but frequent criticism will have a negative impact.

Tutors and students may not stand on the same level in knowledge, but the difference in knowledge between teachers and students should not turn into abuse of discourse power. This will lead to the extinction of innovation consciousness, students' rebellious psychology and the tension between teachers and students.

In fact, the profit and loss, tutor and training environment of graduate students are the same. Students' innovative achievements are good, and their tutors have a sense of honor; Similarly, the academic status of tutors will be improved and students will have a sense of honor. The same is true of schools. If students are well-trained and rich in scientific research results, they will fully win the interests of the school.

Excessive criticism will also lead to excessive criticism of the style of study and writing. The purpose of contempt for authority is not to oppose authority, to criticize simply, or to be famous by criticism. Criticism is a deep thinking about new fields and new problems.

Six commandments "unfair treatment"

We should pay full attention to the unfair treatment of tutors. Teachers' mistakes will dampen students' enthusiasm. For example, since the reform of postgraduate training mechanism, tutors can give students some financial aid, but it is forbidden to treat students too finely and quantitatively, resulting in imbalance among students.

Tutors should not divide students into different distances, which will easily lead to students' distrust of tutors or the prevalence of flattery. If there is such an atmosphere among students, which runs counter to the spirit of the university, it is difficult to produce results.

The Seven Commandments "Don't master your heart"

Tutors tend to be more focused at the beginning of their academic career. With the rise of its academic status, it is easy to be disturbed by complicated affairs, thus distracting energy. I want to remind young tutors not to lose the spiritual pillar of "academic progress" Strive for the academic frontier and don't blindly follow suit. If the tutor doesn't know enough about himself and doesn't have enough energy to study, the guidance for students will not be very targeted.

In the study, we should also pay attention to the relationship between stem and branch, sharpening and chopping wood. Instructors should always grasp the research direction and accurately distinguish the main problems from the secondary problems in the research. For young tutors, it is necessary to lay a solid academic foundation when they are young, and then become a strategic scientist after having a profound experience.

Bajie's "fake scholarship"

Some time ago, the missed inspection rate of NSF (National Science Foundation) projects in the United States was close to 90%, and only a few projects passed the review. Applying for project funds has a "gambling" effect. Therefore, some applicants try their best to make their applications impressive, put forward "good stories" and create some new concepts, but pay little attention to the possibility of realization. Of course, most scientists use slightly exaggerated language in their applications and keep a clear head in practical research.

The concepts of "hard" science and "soft" science were put forward over 20 years ago. "Hard" science refers to scientific theories that can be completely verified, while others that cannot be completely verified are "soft" sciences. Now a large part of science is already a "soft" science. I'm not saying that "soft" science is not good, but that academics need to be as "real" as possible, but they can't be completely "real". It needs to be said from the conscience of a scholar that I have been as "real" as possible.

The human brain has the dual functions of "creating concepts" and "logical criticism". If the function of "creating concepts" is too strong, you will become a dreamer, while if the function of "logical criticism" is too strong, there will be no innovation, which requires a balance. To borrow Mr. Hu Shi's words is "make bold assumptions and be careful to verify."

Nine commandments: "Never forget your roots"

A common mistake that students make in research is tangent, which leads to a dead end (or just cutting branches and vines). After encountering problems in the research, it is easy to go astray along the details and forget the original research purpose. Excessive pursuit of details will lead to the loss of research direction, easy things will be done first, less important things will be done a lot, and the really important research content will be forgotten.

This is related to the judgment and values of the tutor. Tutors need to help students establish the values of "what's important", find the right direction to move on, and don't care too much about details. Of course, it is also possible that a detail is very important and rewarding, which requires the judgment of the tutor and the judgment of the students: to do great things, to stand tall, to be original and to be innovative.

Ten commandments "rapid expansion"

Young tutors are often "willing but unable". They compare the number of students with other research groups and like to recruit more students. So the acceleration is too fast and the inertia is too great, and the result is uncontrollable. Because young tutors often don't know how to guide so many students in the initial stage, and they often don't know how to get scientific research projects to support these students' research; At the same time, young tutors are not attractive enough to recruit the best students. Young tutors are still at a critical stage on the academic road, and premature distraction will lead to low grades.

Therefore, I suggest that it is enough for young tutors to guide three or four students in the initial stage, and then guide more students when their horizons are broadened, they can learn from others and the research funds are sufficient.

About the author: Yang Wei, academician of China Academy of Sciences, party secretary and director of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, served as president of Zhejiang University from August to October, 2006.