On October 16th, the opening ceremony and first lecture of the "Pragmatic Forum" was held in the Auditorium & Staff Activity Hall of USTB. After Prof. YANG Renshu, President of USTB, delivered his opening speech, Academician WANG Enge, member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, delivered a report titled “The Core Role Played by Physics in Technological Innovation”. Hundreds of teachers and students took part in the meeting both in-person and online.

Before the meeting, Prof. YANG Renshu spoke with Academician WANG Enge. On behalf of the Party Committee, Prof. YANG and Mr. WU Guilong, Chancellor of USTB, expressed their warm welcome to Academician WANG, and showed their gratitude for his continued concern and support for USTB. They also held a deeper exchange on the issues of discipline construction, talent cultivation and scientific research.

At the opening ceremony, Prof. YANG expressed his sincere congratulations on the establishment of the forum as a representative of USTB. He pointed out that the name of the forum was taken from the motto of USTB, “seeking truth and endorsing innovation”, and the purpose of the forum is to promote interdisciplinary integration, advance cooperative innovation, create an active academic atmosphere, and serve the construction of double first-rate universities. He hoped the forum would focus on new developments of disciplines, explore the frontiers of scholarship and expand academic views, and at the same time serve to enhance school reform. Prof. YANG stressed the high expectations for the forum. USTB will take the opportunity to build the forum into a first-class event where the sharing of ideas will stay at the forefront, constantly strengthen the development of disciplines and level of education, and finally raise the enthusiasm of teachers and students on scientific and technological innovation.

For his lecture, Academician WANG started with the origin of science and physics, introduced the application of physics in the development of science and technology, and explained history from quantum physics to the integrated circuit. He spoke of how basic scientific concepts plays a key role in human life, and talked about his expectations for scientific development in the future. In addition, he also systematically introduced the theories and applications of his team’s research results, such as the third-generation semiconductor material SiC, transparent ceramics and large area graphene.

In the interactive session, Academician WANG spoke with the teachers and students who attended the meeting. He gave detailed answers to their questions which won warm applause from the audience.