Serving the public and shouldering the mission, working hard and acting with dedication to write a new chapter. This year marks the 105th anniversary of the founding of the Communist Party of China. Across the Party, learning and education activities are being carried out in depth to establish and practice the correct view on performance, with solid and practical work as a clear practical orientation. As the leading university, the University of Science and Technology of China, together with China Agricultural University, Zhengzhou University, and Southwest Jiaotong University, jointly recorded a course that was selected as one of the 2026 Demonstration Micro Party Lectures for Party organizations in higher education institutions by the Ministry of Education. Firmly grasping the overall requirements of the learning and education activities on establishing and practicing the correct view on performance, and focusing on the theme of “working hard and delivering real results,” the four universities provided in-depth interpretations of the contemporary significance of the spirit of scientists, the Nanniwan Spirit, the Red Flag Canal Spirit, and the Qinghai–Tibet Railway Spirit. The course aims to guide teachers and students in higher education institutions to vigorously cultivate a spirit of hard work and strengthen their sense of responsibility, so that they may overcome difficulties and accomplish meaningful results on the new journey of accelerating the building of China into a leading country in education, and write an educational chapter worthy of the times and the people in the grand picture of national rejuvenation.
On the afternoon of July 10, the University of Science and Technology of China’s micro Party lecture chapter, titled “Promoting the Spirit of Scientists and Shouldering the Mission of Serving the Country through Science and Education,” was broadcast simultaneously on multiple platforms, including Xinhuanet, the People’s Daily Plus app, Guangming Online, Xuexi Qiangguo, Weiyan Education, the National Network for Ideological and Political Work in Higher Education Institutions, and China University Student Online. Academician Chang Jin, Deputy Secretary of the USTC Party Committee and President of USTC, led the lecture, together with frontline researchers and young students of the university. They jointly told the vivid stories of USTC members who uphold the original mission of “serving the country through science and education and pursuing excellence,” fulfill their mission through hard work, and contribute to the building of a strong country with solid achievements.
Under the strong leadership of the Party, China’s scientific and technological endeavors have made historic achievements. In the course of innovation practice, the country’s science and technology workers have forged the spirit of scientists, which has become an important component of the spiritual lineage of Chinese Communists. General Secretary Xi Jinping has repeatedly emphasized the need to vigorously promote the spirit of scientists. The report to the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China clearly stated the need to “cultivate a culture of innovation, promote the spirit of scientists, foster fine academic conduct, and create an atmosphere for innovation.”
At a time when the whole Party is carrying out learning and education activities on establishing and practicing the correct view on performance, General Secretary Xi Jinping has emphasized the need to “proceed from reality, act in accordance with objective laws, consciously make achievements for the people, and achieve results through hard work.” “Working hard and delivering real results” is not only a clear requirement for work style, but also an important value orientation. It is also the practical requirement and code of action for promoting the spirit of scientists.
Chang Jin, Deputy Secretary of the USTC Party Committee, President of USTC, and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences:
The spirit of scientists is rooted in the historical process of saving the nation from peril and ensuring its survival, enriched through the vivid practice of serving the country through science, and elevated by the mission of the times to build China into a strong country in science and technology. It is highly consistent with the requirements of the correct view on performance, which emphasizes working hard and delivering real results. From the perspective of value stance and practical logic, the two are deeply isomorphic, with profound dialectical unity and intrinsic connection. One must act without empty gestures and work without superficiality, achieving real results through concrete actions. True performance must be solid achievements that can stand the test of practice, the people, and history.
The University of Science and Technology of China is a “red university” personally founded by the Party for the cause of “Two Bombs, One Satellite.” Since its establishment, it has shouldered the mission of “planting the red flag on the peak of science.” The university motto, “being both politically committed and professionally competent, integrating theory with practice,” is in essence a vivid interpretation of the correct view on performance. It requires us always to put “what the people need and what the country expects” first, to disregard personal fame and gain, to conduct genuine research, and to cultivate genuine talent.
For more than six decades, the torch has been passed on from generation to generation. The spirit of scientists has been deeply integrated into the educational lifeblood of the University of Science and Technology of China, becoming an important source of the university’s profound spiritual strength. “Working hard and delivering real results” has also become a distinctive hallmark of USTC people.
Li Liangbin, Secretary of the Party Committee and Deputy Director of the National Synchrotron Radiation Laboratory, University of Science and Technology of China:
At the University of Science and Technology of China, Academician He Duohui led the development of China’s first dedicated synchrotron radiation light source. Looking back on those difficult years, what impressed me most deeply was this: true hard work means creating the conditions to move forward even when no conditions exist. Party members charged ahead, and the older generation of light source researchers worked in close unity and with relentless dedication. When the first beam of synchrotron radiation light appeared, everyone present was moved to tears. This “Made in China” facility, with more than 95 percent of its components independently developed, produced light after only 23 hours of commissioning, setting the world record for the fastest commissioning-to-light output of a synchrotron radiation accelerator.
The older generation of scientists devoted their entire lives to practicing hard work and responsibility, laying a solid foundation for China’s scientific and technological development. Researchers in the new era are born at the right time and shoulder heavy responsibilities. Standing at the frontiers of science and technology, they continue to write a new chapter in promoting the spirit of scientists with the drive to work hard and deliver real results on the front lines of scientific and technological innovation.
Shi Fazhan, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and Vice Dean of the School of Physical Sciences, University of Science and Technology of China:
On April 26, 2016, General Secretary Xi Jinping visited the University of Science and Technology of China for an inspection. I was fortunate to be there in person and hear his instructions with my own ears. Over the past ten years, we have earnestly implemented the spirit of General Secretary Xi Jinping’s important instructions, written our papers on the land of the motherland, continuously played our role as a source of vitality for quantum science and technology, and produced original achievements one after another. We have reached the international forefront in the field of microscopic magnetic resonance. The innovative spirit of scaling scientific heights and daring to be the first has guided us in breaking with the old and establishing the new, and has stimulated our motivation to take action and pursue our work.
Zhang Jinghe, Specially Appointed Associate Researcher at the National Key Laboratory of Immune Response and Immunotherapy, University of Science and Technology of China:
The spirit of scientists is a force that can be passed on and must be put into practice. It requires us to face problems directly, seek truth from facts, respect objective laws, and maintain an overall perspective.
The value of hard work lies in not seeking empty fame or superficial achievements. We should uphold the truth-seeking spirit of pursuing truth and conducting rigorous scholarship, promote the spirit of dedication marked by indifference to fame and devotion to research, calm ourselves, and maintain strategic focus. I hope that on my future research journey, I can closely integrate basic research with major national needs, so that scientific research can truly move out of the laboratory and into clinical application, and effectively serve the health and well-being of the people.
Wang Maohua, PhD Student in the Department of History of Science and Scientific Archaeology and Docent at the USTC History Museum:
This year marks the 120th anniversary of the birth of Mr. Qian Linzhao. Mr. Qian, a former vice president of our university, was one of the pioneers and founders of the study of crystal defects and the history of physics in China. Through lifelong dedication, he practiced the original mission of the older generation of scientists to devote themselves to research and serve the country and the people. This seal, engraved with the phrase “The moon is brightest over one’s homeland,” embodies Mr. Qian’s deep hope that students would return after completing their studies and serve the country and the nation. Today, the seal is open to every visitor, who may make a rubbing as a keepsake, passing on this patriotic sentiment that transcends time and space.
As young students, we must tell the stories of the older generation of scientists well. We should base ourselves on our fields of study, remain down-to-earth, study diligently, devote ourselves to research, and transform the spirit of scientists into an inexhaustible driving force for climbing scientific peaks on the road of research.
Those who act with dedication often succeed, and those who keep moving forward often reach their destination. To open up a new chapter, responsibility must come first. Standing at a new historical starting point, the University of Science and Technology of China will always take the spirit of scientists as its guide and “working hard and delivering real results” as its clear orientation. It will devote itself to fostering virtue through education, persist in tackling key challenges and pursuing innovation, maintain the resolve to endure long periods of quiet and painstaking work, uphold a firm attitude of respecting objective laws, strengthen the courage to shoulder responsibility, and cultivate the realm of fostering virtue and nurturing talent. USTC will integrate the correct view on performance throughout the entire process of running and governing the university, build a high-standard and high-quality demonstration zone for the integrated development of education, science and technology, and talent, and write USTC’s answer to the building of a strong country in education, science and technology, and talent through solid work and real achievements.
