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Text: Zhang Runchen
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introduction
At the two sessions in 2014, some people questioned our current academician system, arguing that it was unreasonable for academicians to have no retirement mechanism.
Many deputies believe that academicians should retire and that our academician system should be reformed accordingly. But it seems that to this day, the academician system has not changed, and academicians still "cannot retire".
Even if some people reach retirement age and resign from their administrative positions, they no longer sit in the office, but run to the front line of hardship, why is this?
(Chinese Academy of Sciences)
1. Academicians do not retire
In 2014, when someone questioned the academician system, Bai Chunli, the president of our Academy of Sciences at the time, responded, saying that the questioning of "academicians do not retire" was problematic in itself.
The academician itself is an honorary title, and the honorary title is lifelong, and there is no such thing as retirement, so "academicians cannot retire" itself is a pseudo concept.
The fact is that academicians can choose to retire in their actual positions, and it is true that scientists who have reached the level of academicians are basically free to choose whether to retire or not. There are even cases where you want to retire, but your research institute and school do not allow you to retire.
(Chinese Academy of Sciences)
However, the vast majority of academicians actually choose not to retire on their own, or retire from administrative positions, but they are still active in the front line of scientific research.
This situation is common in our country, and perhaps this is also inseparable from the spirit of the older generation of hard-working, and everyone hopes to make more contributions to the motherland in their limited lives!
Second, the old people who refuse to retire
Most of the well-known academicians in the mainland are very old, so much so that when it comes to the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the Academy of Engineering, many people feel that the metaphor of "nursing home" is also very vivid. The reason why those academicians, who are all grandfathers, are unwilling to take a back seat to retire to their old age is because they always have something in their hearts that they can't rest assured.
Their work will hardly stop until the last moment of their lives, and in a blink of an eye, the well-known academician Yuan Longping has passed away for more than 3 years.
The author especially remembers that before Academician Yuan Longping passed away, the latest news about him was that he was wearing clothes for 10 yuan a piece......
(Yuan Longping)
In addition to Academician Yuan Longping, the most well-known person may be Academician Zhong Nanshan.
Born in Nanjing, Jiangsu Province in 1936, he is 88 years old this year. Zhong Nanshan was elected as an academician of the Mainland Academy of Engineering in 1996 and is the absolute authority of the Department of Respiratory Medicine in the mainland medical community. In 1974, he began clinical research on respiratory diseases, and in 1979, he went to the University of Edinburgh to study and obtain a doctorate.
(Zhong Nanshan)
In 1991, Zhong Nanshan first proposed the concept of "occult asthma", in fact, for a medical scientist, this step is enough to eat for a lifetime. But in 2003, SARS swept the world, and Zhong Nanshan, who was already young, took charge of Guangdong, working 38 hours in a row, and even insisted on working even if he was infected with pneumonia.
Thanks to the efforts of Zhong Nanshan's team, the SARS infection mortality rate in Guangdong Province is only 3.8%, far lower than the world average of 11%!
Of course, in addition to them, there are many academicians who have dedicated their lives, but everyone has never even heard their names.
Li Lanjuan, academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, was born in Shaoxing City, Zhejiang Province in 1947 and is exactly 77 years old this year. Li Lanjuan was born as a "barefoot doctor" in the country, and it was not until 1970 that Li Lanjuan received formal medical education from Zhejiang Medical University. But it was this "barefoot doctor" who made one breakthrough after another in the field of liver in China in the future.
(Li Lanjuan)
Thanks to the efforts of Academician Li Lanjuan, the mortality rate of acute and subacute severe liver disease in China has decreased from 88.1% to 21.1%, and in some cases, our average life expectancy has increased in such an inconspicuous place.
In 2013, Li Lanjuan's team made a breakthrough in H7N9 avian influenza, and its scientific research results have been recognized by the international mainstream medical community.
In 2020, Li Lanjuan took command and led the Zhejiang medical team to rush to Wuhan, which was the most dangerous at that time, and in the face of the unknown future and possible dangers, the 74-year-old academician Li Lanjuan did not complain, because she knew that the people needed her. Whether it is for Li Lanjuan or Zhong Nanshan, from the moment they put on the white coat, saving lives and helping the injured has become their lifelong responsibility.
(Li Lanjuan)
As the Nahippocratic oath was, "My only purpose is to seek happiness for the sick."
3. Retired old people
At the two sessions in 2014, a member of the scientific research community once said: "If you don't retire, you have to give lectures, and if you don't want to lecture, you have to retire." "So where did these academicians go after they retire?
In fact, after choosing to retire, many academicians devote themselves to scientific research.
For example, Academician Wang Demin is one of the first academicians of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the first academician of petroleum exploitation.
Academician Wang Demin has made great contributions to Daqing Oilfield, helping Daqing Oilfield to achieve transformation for three consecutive times, and "extending its life" for Daqing Oilfield for more than ten years.
(Wang Demin)
In 2000, Wang Demin retired, but after retirement, Academician Wang Demin did not rest, but devoted himself to the "oil search" work of Daqing Oilfield day and night.
In 2017, Academician Wang Demin successfully achieved the fourth oil recovery for a closed Daqing oilfield, and the Daqing oilfield radiated new vitality.
(Wang Demin)
But Wang Demin is still not resting, and he has formulated a long-term plan for the Daqing Oilfield in 10 years. Academician Wang Demin himself said: "This topic is very big, and it may take more than ten years or even decades to do it. I want to do it for a few more years while I still have to. ”
In a short sentence, what is hidden is a deep love for the motherland.
Most of these old academicians in China today have experienced the war-torn years and the era of arduous struggle. They all have a warm heart to save the country through science, and they have all experienced the "gilded years" in the early days of reform and opening up.
(Daqing Oilfield)
Perhaps it can also be said that today's old academicians all went through a "round of screening" back then, and those who can stay are all patriotic. They are only willing to "devote their whole lives and all their energies to the most magnificent cause in the world."
It's just a pity that they dedicated their lives, but people take everything for granted. The trivial things about celebrities can make thousands of people rush to them, but about these people who really contribute to society, they are searched all over the Internet, but there are few followers. It's so sad and lamentable!
In recent years, forty or fifty academicians have passed away every year, but the vast majority of people in China only saw that name for the first time when they died!
When I started writing this, I knew it was destined to be an area that no one was paying attention to...... If you can, I hope you can help like, favorite, and retweet!
Resources
Academician Wang Demin: After my retirement, my scientific research work has accelerated. China Science Daily.2024-06-21
Why didn't the academician retire? -- The deputies and members discussed the reform of the academician system. Science & Technology Daily.2014-03-11
"As soon as I arrived in the super rice field, I was excited!".The Paper.2024-05-22