Academician Chu Junhao took the podium, saying that to achieve excellence one must grasp the underlying "way": know what it is, and know why it is so.
On November 4, Chu Junhao, a Chinese Academy of Sciences academician and semiconductor physics and device expert who this year was honored as a Shanghai Science and Technology Meritorious Figure, returned to his alma mater from exactly 60 years ago—Shanghai Normal University. Together with university teachers and high school teachers, he delivered a civic education class on the theme of carrying forward the spirit of scientists and pursuing the journey of building a strong nation through science and technology for university and high school students, which was also streamed live online.
Academician Chu Junhao faced the university and high school students.
From only one perfect score to becoming a science "male idol"
Facing the university and high school students who filled the second-floor lecture hall of the First Teaching Building, Academician Chu Junhao returned to his old profession. Now in his eighties, he completed his entire education from primary school through university in Shanghai, and his first job was as a high school physics teacher. He later entered the Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics under the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1978 for graduate studies, truly embarking on the path of scientific research in infrared optoelectronic materials and devices.
Chu Junhao was completely open, starting with his sixth-grade report card from the Affiliated Primary School of East China Normal University. On this 1956 report card printed in traditional Chinese characters, the "graduation overall assessment" was graded out of 5, and he had only one 5 in the general knowledge course "Nature," while two courses were only 3, equivalent to a passing grade—these were "Handwriting" and "Drawing." Chu Junhao admitted frankly that his primary school grades were mediocre, with handwriting and drawing being weak points, and that things only improved in middle school. In his second-year middle school annual assessment, he achieved perfect scores in five courses, but still had two courses with a 3: "Physical Education" and "Drawing." It was not until high school that, in Chu Junhao's own words, he suddenly became a "male idol" passionate about science. From the book list he provided, he had already read and self-studied a large number of books including Astronomy, The ABC of Relativity, Atomic Physics, Molecular Physics, Absolute Differential Calculus, Stories of Scientists' Struggles, Biography of Madame Curie, Science and Society, The Universe from the Perspective of Modern Physics, Glasses and the Sun, and Cosmic Matter. Moreover, he began writing tens of thousands of words of mathematical and physical research papers and submitting them to university professors.
His high school teacher also took the stage to teach together.
Only one major filled in for all three university preferences
An entire notebook of miscellaneous notes that Chu Junhao wrote at age 16 in high school was born during this period of scientific explosion, and the related archives have been donated to the Shanghai Municipal Archives for preservation. He read a passage from the original text to the university and high school students in class: "China, with its long history, surprisingly does not have a single law named after a Chinese person in the ranks of laws, which is the greatest stimulus and blow to anyone with national integrity. We must fight for this honor, and in the shortest possible time, achieve the goal that in the ranks of laws, there should be laws discovered by our great China in proportion to its population, and win honor for our great motherland." He also asked the students below the podium, including those in the Class of 2026 physics teacher-training program: "Why can't we write more Chinese names at the frontiers of world science?"
For physics, which has the most "so-and-so's law," Chu Junhao was determined to "not study anything but physics." When he took the college entrance examination in 1962, he filled in three preferences: the Department of Physics at Fudan University, the Department of Physics at East China Normal University, and the Department of Physics at Shanghai Teachers College. His physics college entrance exam score was indeed 100, but he misjudged the topic of the Chinese essay question "Speaking of Not Fearing Ghosts" and received only 40. At Shanghai Normal University, Chu Junhao published an article titled "Diligence + Wisdom = Strength" on the physics department's blackboard newspaper. Under this title, which had the flavor of a law or formula, Chu Junhao signed as "Tan Niu." He joked that his explanation to others was "working hard like an ox on a flat field," but his inner explanation was "Einstein and Newton."
In the ten years starting from his graduation from teachers college in 1968, Chu Junhao was assigned to Meilong Middle School as a physics teacher. He had a tractor driven into the campus to explain mechanical principles, and he also participated in the Shanghai textbook compilation group for Industrial Basic Knowledge. When the "spring of science" truly arrived in 1978, he registered for the graduate entrance examination and was admitted to the Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics as a master's student with a score of 90, the second highest, later becoming a researcher there. He revealed that back then he relied on self-study and supplementary reading of the book Semiconductor Physics by Professors Huang Kun and Xie Xide, so laying a solid foundation during undergraduate study was very important in order to cultivate the ability to learn new knowledge.
Teachers from Shanghai Normal University and its affiliated middle school taught simultaneously.
Technology education takes on special meaning amid the intelligent wave
"In the intelligent era, science and technology education has particularly important significance." With AI currently at its peak, Academician Chu Junhao gave a "road show" during this summer's World Artificial Intelligence Conference. He asked a certain large language model whether it could use the principles of classical mechanics to derive Newton's second law: F=ma, that is, the relationship between the net external force on an object (F), mass (m), and acceleration (a). As a result, the AI clearly stated that it "could not do it." In Chu Junhao's view, today's machine learning can discover patterns in data, but it cannot form creative and explanatory scientific theories the way Newton did. "The greatness of F=ma lies in unifying countless phenomena within a concise conceptual framework—this is precisely the 'scientific intuition' and 'conceptual abstraction' ability that current AI lacks, and it also reveals the irreplaceable focus of new science and technology education."
Chu Junhao took infrared detectors prepared from different semiconductor materials as an example, involving processes such as material growth, device fabrication, physical modeling, technical specifications, process optimization, and engineering implementation, requiring talent to possess foundations in physics, mathematics, chemistry, and experimentation, as well as ways of thinking and a scientific spirit. "Not only must one be able to make it and make it well, but one must also make it new—discover new laws, master new methods, and open up new fields."
In the construction of the Shanghai Normal University–Xuhui District "Great Civic Education Course" overall pilot zone, using the joint teaching and research center for the integrated construction of civic education courses across primary, middle, and high schools as a platform, teachers and the academician hoped, through "teaching one class together," to inspire young students: to tackle major national needs, solve frontier scientific problems, and achieve high-level scientific and technological innovation, a large number of innovative scientists, engineers, and technical talent are urgently needed.
Chu Junhao, this old alumnus, still retained the true character of a teacher, and asked everyone to read aloud a "conclusion" on education to encourage all teachers and students present—"Build a healthy physique, absorb nourishment from the outside world, cultivate inner qualities, gather driving force, and integrate into the trends of the times!"
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