On December 17, 2009, Tsinghua University held a ceremony to announce the establishment of the Qiu Chengtong Mathematical Sciences Center, the predecessor of the Qiu Chengtong Mathematical Sciences Center. Qi Chengtong, director of the center, Fields Medalist, and chair professor at Tsinghua University, wrote on the official website, "In the hundred-year history of Tsinghua University, Tsinghua is renowned for its strong disciplines in engineering and applied sciences. Tsinghua University has far-sightedly recognized the fundamental and strategic role of mathematics in scientific disciplines..."
In the following 15 years, the center continued to develop, with an unwavering focus on basic sciences represented by mathematics.
Recently, the 2024 International Conference on Mathematical and Physical Development Frontier and the 15th Anniversary of the Establishment of the Qiu Chengtong Mathematical Sciences Center were held at Tsinghua University. In an interview with the media, Qi Chengtong frankly stated, "We still need to increase our emphasis on basic science."
Meeting Expectations After 15 Years of Work
China Science Daily: At this conference, Academician Xi Nanhua, director of the Chinese Mathematical Society, who has been closely collaborating with the Qiu Chengtong Mathematical Sciences Center, stated that under your leadership, the center has continuously injected vitality into the field of Chinese mathematical research and helped propel the development of mathematics in China to new heights. In your opinion, what work has the center done in the training of talent in basic science?
Qi Chengtong: First, it needs to be clear that talent cultivation and scientific research are inseparable. Especially in the field of basic science, if talent cultivation does not ultimately aim to engage in scientific research and is not supplemented by first-class research, it will be difficult to produce first-class research talents.
In the 15 years since the establishment of the center, we have hired a large number of world-class scholars and subsequently established the Beijing Yanqihu Institute of Applied Mathematics and the Truth-Seeking Academy. The Yanqihu Institute of Applied Mathematics has already gathered over a hundred top scholars, combined with nearly a hundred scholars working in the Mathematical Sciences Center, establishing a team with sufficient research capabilities. The establishment of the Truth-Seeking Academy allows us to select a group of students in China and even in the world who can be considered top-notch and provide them with training tailored to their characteristics.
First-class research, first-class faculty, and first-class students are necessary to ensure the production of first-class talents. This is also a goal we have worked hard to achieve over the past 15 years.
China Science Daily: Do these efforts meet your expectations?
Qi Chengtong: It can be said so. 15 years ago, when the center was just established, there was a considerable gap between China and other science and technology powers like the United States in terms of scientific research and talent cultivation in basic science, especially in the field of mathematics. At that time, we could not have predicted that over the course of 15 years, we would achieve leapfrog development and now have a place in the international arena.
This is not without the significant impetus brought about by the continuous improvement of China's comprehensive national strength and the high level of attention given to basic science at the national level. This is not exaggerated praise but a realistic evaluation.
For example, under the direct care of the state, we established the Truth-Seeking Academy three years ago, which can break through certain institutional restrictions of the existing education system and even admit children with special talents without going through the college entrance examination. These children often bear the halo of "genius" in their original environment, which brings them immense psychological pressure. In addition, the current college entrance examination and even the high school entrance examination system are also constraints for them.
But at the Truth-Seeking Academy, these "genius" children find a group of like-minded peers, and their psychological pressure is greatly reduced. Our faculty, research level, and surrounding environment are also more conducive to their growth. Currently, the growth of these children is very good. I can even assert that the abilities of many of them can surpass those of students of the same age at top universities like Harvard University in the United States, which is an important change.
Without the support of basic science, it is impossible for "all flowers to bloom"
China Science Daily: Why hold an international conference on the development frontiers of mathematics and physics while celebrating the 15th anniversary of the center's establishment?
Qi Chengtong: Since the 1970s and 1980s, interdisciplinary research has increasingly become the mainstream of scientific research, especially the inseparability of mathematics and physics.
Former physicists often believed that they could still conduct first-class research without mathematics. But today, no physicist would say such a thing; first-class physics research cannot be separated from the support of mathematics. Of course, they need the most advanced mathematics.
Similarly, former top mathematicians may have arrogantly considered physics unimportant, but after decades of cooperation, we have found that there are many important ideas in physics that we cannot do without, and they have changed many important directions of development in the field of mathematics.
Therefore, I believe that the joint efforts of mathematics and physics are an important direction for the scientific development of China and even the world. Of course, apart from physics, mathematics also holds an important position in fields such as engineering, biology, and computer science. It is not an exaggeration to say that mathematics has become the most important foundational discipline in the entire modern scientific and technological field, and even in modern society—without good foundational mathematics, we cannot see theoretical problems being solved, and the development of engineering, biology, and other fields will also face great difficulties.
China Science Daily: Is this one of your long-standing goals in cultivating leading talents in the field of mathematics?
Qi Chengtong: No scientific research can do without the support of basic science. Otherwise, related research may only "accidentally" produce one or two sparks, but it can never achieve "all flowers blooming." If China wants to become a world scientific power, it cannot be satisfied with the production of a few scientific achievements; we need outstanding talents in basic disciplines such as physics, chemistry, and computer science, and the foundation of these disciplines is still mathematics. In recent years, despite the increased emphasis on foundational sciences, particularly mathematics, there's still room for improvement in my view.
Some institutions and even governing bodies, driven by short-term goals, either neglect the development of fundamental subjects like mathematics or, if they do value it, often focus solely on applied mathematics. However, without robust foundational mathematics, even applied mathematics struggles to excel.
My own trajectory reflects this. For the first 30 years of my research career, I focused on fundamental science. Over the past two decades, I've also made significant contributions in applied mathematics. However, these endeavors are closely linked to my earlier work in fundamental science.
Without a solid foundation in basic science, breakthroughs in applied mathematics, let alone in engineering applications, are challenging. This is why, although China has dominated in publishing AI-related papers in the past decade, groundbreaking achievements like ChatGPT often emerge from the United States. The underlying reason lies in their more advanced foundational mathematics, which cultivates more creative talent compared to us.
There's no "shortcut to success."
"Chinese Science Bulletin:" In recent years, many have envisioned that we might one day achieve a "shortcut to success" in foundational science. What's your perspective on this?
Qiu Chengtong: In science, there's fundamentally no such thing as a "shortcut to success." Any breakthrough requires extensive prior training and accumulation.
Many misunderstand this, thinking that foundational training is time-consuming and arduous. However, in reality, much of it doesn't require as much time as perceived. Based on our observations, even a thirteen or fourteen-year-old middle school student, upon entering the Leading Scholars Program at Qiu Chengtong Academy, can complete a lot of foundational training within one or two years.
Yet, there's still a prevailing notion that engaging in basic science is a waste of time.
We aim to cultivate a cohort of capable foundational science workers, allowing some to transition to engineering, biology, and other disciplines. In fact, in the United States, almost all important disciplines, such as biology, medicine, and even economics, require students to undergo two to three years of foundational science training, providing them with a solid grounding.
Contrastingly, in China, students are often not required to study as much foundational science, and this needs to change.
Take engineering as an example. In my view, if an engineer lacks understanding of foundational sciences related to their field, they may be competent in some "middle-to-lower-level" tasks but will inevitably face shortcomings when tackling truly high-level engineering problems.
In other words, to nurture leading talents in engineering, learning foundational science knowledge is indispensable. Otherwise, we'll struggle to pose genuinely pioneering questions, always trailing behind others and never truly taking the lead.
"Chinese Science Bulletin:" In cultivating foundational science talent, do you intentionally integrate foundational science with applied disciplines to some extent?
Qiu Chengtong: Certainly. On the surface, much of our work seems only related to basic or pure mathematics. However, Qiu Chengtong Academy invests a lot in cultivating talents in applied mathematics, emphasizing the integration of mathematics with important disciplines such as artificial intelligence, biology, and even economics.
For us, this is crucial. We don't aim to solely produce theoretical scholars but rather to nurture scholars who understand other disciplines, expecting them to make groundbreaking contributions in fields like artificial intelligence and biology.
"Chinese Science Bulletin:" Regarding talent cultivation, especially in nurturing outstanding mathematical talents, what are your further thoughts?
Qiu Chengtong: Many top universities worldwide have institutions for cultivating mathematical talents, and their methods are largely similar. However, the key lies in whether we can find first-rate faculty and allow them to leverage their unique teaching styles.
As mentioned earlier, in recent years, we've invited numerous world-class scholars to join us, such as Fields Medalist Professor Cautchel Bilcar and internationally renowned mathematical physicist Professor Nikola Leshetkin. Each of these masters has their unique style and follows their own path. We need to respect this diversity. Different masters leading different paths, when combined, form a complete discipline.
Of course, having top-notch faculty alone isn't enough. We also need sufficiently excellent students. It must be acknowledged that in the field of foundational science, students' talents, foundational abilities, and willingness to learn significantly impact their eventual success. The more prestigious the international university, the stricter their requirements for student selection. I hope that while Chinese universities emphasize recruiting "celebrity" professors, they also prioritize the selection and evaluation of promising students.
