In late 2012, Professor Jiang Wei joined the Department of Chemistry at Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech). It can be said that he belongs to a generation of young teachers who have grown up with the South University of Science and Technology.

In the past seven years, SUSTech is famous for its reform and innovation. SUSTech has developed together with the Shenzhen and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area. In recent years, SUSTech has made breakthroughs in the development of its talent pipeline, the development of its academic disciplines, its scientific research achievements and the transformation of the scientific results.

In his time at SUSTech, Jiang Wei has developed an organic supramolecular chemistry and materials research group. His group has focused on the design, synthesis and applications of molecular machines and smart materials. Earlier this month, the group had its paper on transient hydrogel materials published in renowned chemical journal Nature Chemistry. It is also a major scientific achievement at the Center for Macromolecular Materials of the Shenzhen Grubbs Institute.

Get closer to your dreams at SUSTech

When he joined SUSTech, there were 12 full-time teachers and 3 laboratory engineers in the Department of Chemistry. At the time, that was considered a big department. Jiang Wei recalled that core personnel like Tan Bin and Liu Xinyuan who are now familiar with the Department of Chemistry at SUSTech have now developed into a strong and youthful department.

“I met Tan Bin at the Scripps Research Institute. I came to SUSTech because of Tan Bin, as the Chinese community at the Scripps Research Institute essentially knew that someone would join SUSTech. At the time, SUSTech was both strange and mysterious. It was full of charm that filled people with curiosity and wonder. I took the initiative to find Tan Bin in order to understand SUSTech. He talked to me about SUSTech and then told me, I want you to come with me.”

Dare to try to lift your sleeves

“This is a photo we took at the beginning of December in 2012. The atmosphere at SUSTech was very good, but it was challenging to do research at the time. We would carry out our research in the teaching laboratory. We really wanted to do pure independent research.”

Success naturally follows the pursuit of excellence. This young group of scholars full of dreams set up a golden age of scientific research at SUSTech. Jiang Wei gave an amusing example of what happened with these superb scientific researchers. “We set a rule that whoever sent the article would be invited to the conferences. However, we stumbled across a problem, because Tan Bin and Liu Xinyuan would always get invited.” Their influence on Jiang Wei has been significant. Their influence on the Department of Chemistry has its rapid development and set benchmarks across the Department. By influencing each other, like-minded researchers and educators have joined the Department. An example of that is Li Yuchuang, who has not only brought some unique ideas but also some different domestic experiences that have helped the Department of Chemistry to work with fellow researchers across mainland China.

When Jiang Wei arrived in Shenzhen for the first time, he traveled from Shenzhen North Station to the new campus. While they were working at the old campus, the Department was preparing to move into the new campus, providing something for them to work towards. While it took time to develop the physical components of the Department, the spirit of the Department was solid throughout its establishment. The Department has also embraced the SUSTech spirit of “dare to try, be truthful and pragmatic, reform and innovate, pursue excellence.”

“When we started, we wanted to achieve a lot, but we didn’t have any labs, instruments or research platforms. We didn’t have any doctoral students at that point, just research assistant and postdoctoral researchers. We called our postdoctoral researchers Research Fellows because they couldn’t get the postdoctoral subsidy from Shenzhen. I have to thank Peking University (Shenzhen) Graduate School for allowing us to work with their teachers and borrow their laboratory equipment. President Chen Shiyi was the dean of Peking University (Shenzhen) Graduate School, who provided a lot of support to the Department. Once President Chen joined SUSTech, he ensured that the Department was able to build laboratories and instrument platforms that would help recruit postdoctoral researchers and doctoral students.”

SUSTech has developed rapidly since he arrived. He commented that the quality of the research has also improved. Professor Zhang Xumu has seen many academic conferences come to SUSTech, which has improved the Department’s connection with our peers around mainland China and the world. Through the consistent and continuous development of the Department, the quality of faculty members recruited has improved. Their academic achievements continue to improve, while the new faculty members provide a unique style and personality to the Department. The establishment of the Shenzhen Grubbs Institute has also seen further high-level cooperation and more advanced scientific concepts.

Working to make innovative breakthroughs

Jiang Wei believes that SUSTech provides an academic atmosphere and relaxed environment that encourages faculty members, staff and students. “As a young teacher with a youthful team, I feel that SUSTech provides the Department with an environment for positive research growth. We encourage everyone to do basic research work first, before rapidly increasing in difficulty. The researchers have plenty of resources to take advantage of, so most young researchers need to be patient in our research environment.

Young researchers

Jiang Wei spoke about his research into supramolecular chemistry, summarizing the interaction between molecules. In the past few years, Jiang Wei and his team have synthesized a series of features by simulating the cavity characteristics of biological receptors. Jiang Wei published more than 30 papers in famous journals such as Nat. Chem., JACS, Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. He has also received many honors such as “Yuqing” from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the National Academic Nova Award for Supramolecular Chemistry, the National Special Expert (Youth), and “Outstanding Young Professor” of Southern University of Science and Technology.

The story of Jiang Wei is one of constantly breaking through and innovating. His story is common among young scholars who work hard in their research and teaching positions at SUSTech.