Academician Ying Chongfu
In order to flourish research atmosphere and promote academic exchanges in our institute, Ultrasonic Physics and Testing lab will hold a series of academic activities in the next few months. As the first blow of the activities, a lecture titled "Methodologies in Scientific Research" was given by Academician Ying Chongfu in Room 218 of Dezhao Building on Jan.12, 2007.
Academician Ying Chongfu is the founder of Ultrasonics in China. He struggled to return to our homeland and found the first ultrasonic lab for our country after his graduatiton from America Brown University with his doctor degree. He has made great contributions to the development of Ultrasonics.
In this lecture, Academician Ying shared his 60 years' working experiences with the audience and introduced some methods in scientific research. The lecture consists of 3 parts:
1. The relationship between practice and theory.
Academician Ying said practice is the primary while theory the secondary as regards to scientific research. There is an old saying "Practice is the sole criterion of truth". The theories originate from practice and serve practice in turn.
2. The harmony between collective and individual.
Collective is the source of strength for scientific research; individual is the essential component of the collective. Collective can't be separated with individual, and vice versa. So we should keep a balance between them in order to gain the maximum benefit for both sides.
3. Careful investigation, precise analysis and regular review.
He explained the three points in detail: 1) Careful investigation is the first step of research. We should pay attention to the conditions and phenomenon around us. Careful investigation is necessary to discover scientific puzzles. 2) Precise analysis is followed. During the process of analysis, we should get rid of the bad habits formed in daily life; contrarily, we should put the applicable scientific methods into life. 3) Regular review of the experiences is indispensable. Only by this way could we draw lessons from the past successes and failures. We shall have to be more careful and review our experience regularly in the future work.
At the end of the lecture, Academician Ying also recommended some references. The attendants warmly applauded to express their thankfulness for Academician Ying's sincere words and best wishes.
According to Prof. Wang Xiuming, the following academic activities will be carried out in 2 forms: fixed-time academic reports by teachers and students and lectures by international famous acoustics experts. The aim of the activities is to improve the students' communication ability, cultivate excellent talents and promote the innovative researches in our institute.
