After winter came spring, and summer followed spring

The COVID-19 pandemic in 2022 has left us a special memory.

The Graduation Thesis Defense in 2022

This important ceremony of “completing graduate study”

In this special period

Assumed a different meaning.

Despite the inevitable regret of being separated in two places

We have recorded this wonderful regret

Sending graduates our best wishes

That they would stay true to their original aspiration and chase their dreams

Set sail from Tsinghua to embrace their bright future

This campus is always their home

As the Chairman of the Defense Committee announced that his thesis defense was unanimously passed by the committee and proposed to award him the degree of the Doctor of Science, Deng Zhu, a doctoral student in the Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, who originally wanted to record this unforgettable moment with his mobile phone, was so excited that the picture he took became blurred. More than two decades of learning as a student finally drew to an end. In front of the screen, Deng’s mind was crowded with memories. Despite the absence of flowers, applause, hugs and handshakes, Deng was still overwhelmed when recalling the whole process of thesis defense.

Online thesis defense was not something new this year, but was somehow different from that in the summer of 2020. According to Lu Hui, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee of the Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, in the previous online defense, professors were in the university while students were at home; professors organized the defense process, and students joined the Tencent conference. This year, the students were in the university, while the members of their defense committee and the secretary participated in the defense online, which raised higher requirements for students' expressiveness. Students should do their best to present their innovations clearly in a simple and easy-to-understand way, answer questions clearly and straightforwardly, and convince members of their defense committee. In an environment without body movements, eye contact, drawing on the blackboard or a defense atmosphere, to keep oneself in high spirit and one’s brain working fast was indeed a challenge. Therefore, Prof. Lu Hui told his student He Qing that her defense statement should be "clear, concise and brief".

Faced with the serious rebound of COVID-19 pandemic, the Sub-committee of the Degree of Earth System Science of Tsinghua University and the Teaching Office of the Department of Earth System Science quickly deployed and implemented the defense process according to the requirements of the graduate school of the university, understood the difficulties encountered by the students and solved the problems reported by the students in time.

When asked about the difference between online and offline defenses, supervisors and students generally said that there was little difference, but the form had changed, and the requirements for expression in the process of defense became higher.

A photo of He Qing taken after the end her defense

Under the severe pandemic, A/Prof. Lu Hui, who worked from home, could not guide students or participate in the final sprint of students' thesis defense in person. As a cadre also in charge of student affairs, he had to attend endless online meetings and receive much WeChat information. To “keep teaching and research while tightening pandemic control measures”, A/Prof. Lu had to review papers on weekends and at night. When receiving her paper corrected by her supervisor, He Qing found that he had polished the paper line by line, and the time of comments was on weekends or deep at night.

To keep the online audience's attention focused on the report, Liu Zhu, associate professor and doctoral supervisor of the Department of Earth System Science, Tsinghua University, paid special attention to the revision and improvement of PPT when guiding his student Deng Zhu in his preparation for thesis defense. “To maintain the audience's attention, it is essential to have a PPT with clear logic and focused points. For this reason, under the guidance of my supervisor, I systematically reviewed my research work and revised the defense PPT several times to highlight the logic and innovation of my research as much as possible," said Deng Zhu.

Deng Zhu (upper left) on the cloud defense site

Before the thesis defense, Deng Zhu and his supervisor simulated the defense three times. "Repeated practices enabled me to constantly identify the deficiencies in the report and correct them in time. I remember that it was late at night when I revised the last version of my PPT, and Prof. Liu listened carefully to my simulated defense during his time off work and gave me very critical advice," said Deng Zhu.

One week before the scheduled defense, Yue Siyu received a notice of online defense. In her view, whether online or offline, "the content of the report is the key". Therefore, she was more focused on the preparation of her defense PPT. Prof. Yang Kun, her supervisor, gave detailed advice from the sequence of PPT presentation to its framework, from the font to the format of references. Online communication could be conducted in various ways. Despite the absence of face-to-face exchange, online communication could be done "anytime, anywhere", which reduced the communication cost. "During the instruction sessions about my thesis, Prof. Yang always discussed with me about important matters in time. I remember that on the New Year's Eve, Prof. Yang was still correcting my paper overnight on the train home for the Spring Festival. He always said, ‘No matter how occupied I am, I would not neglect my student. My most important identity is your teacher,' "said Yue Siyu.

Yue Siyu after the completion of thesis defense

Looking back at the whole defense process, Yue Siyu concluded, “Despite the lack of a sense of ceremony offline, the whole process was still very solemn. I have also had many discussions with teachers on scientific issues, and received many useful opinions and much advice, and I feel very good on the whole,” said Yue Siyu at the end of her defense.

"The main regret is that I could not share my joy with my classmates offline. I hope I could hold a makeup celebration party after the pandemic," said Yang Kun.

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, changes have occurred in all aspects of our life. Despite myriad changes, the eternal feeling remain unchanged. "The pursuit of science stays the same, everyone's inquiry and questioning about science haven't changed, the happiness of training doctoral students remains the same, the friendship between teachers and students is the same, and the cheers and accolades on WeChat Moments after the graduation of every student remain the same," said Lu Hui.

He Qing, who had been "non-stop" since she began to prepare her thesis defense in December last year, finally calmed down from her hectic pace. Looking back on the past six months, she relished a sense of accomplishment and satisfaction upon completing a challenge. "I admire my indomitable self in this process," said He Qing. Just as Shi Pengfei, another graduate, also noted, when the Chairman of the Defense Committee read out the results of the resolution, he realized that he was no longer a doctoral student, but became a doctor, and he was moved by the fact that his efforts had eventually paid off.

A photo of Shi Pengfei after his completion of thesis defense

The last defense in the students’ career has left a special memory from a special period. Let’s embark on a new journey while keeping this memory in mind.

The future is in our hands!

Written by Wang Jiayin

Photographed by He Qing, Yue Siyu, Deng Zhu and Shi Pengfei

Reviewed by Lu Hui and Zhang Qiang