On Mar. 20, Professor Gong Peng, the director of the Department of Earth System Science (DESS) joined the first session of the “Midday Diner” activity. Together with the young teacher Wang Han and 15 more graduate students of the DESS, the activity was held successfully at S818, Mengminwei Science and Technology Building. During the event, Prof. Gong Peng shared his insights on the hot topics out of the interests of the students, and handed an in-depth discussion with the students.

This semester, the DESS has launched a public elective course of “Artificial Intelligence Frontiers and Industrial Trends”. Prof. Gong said that the development of artificial intelligence (AI) is now in full swing, and there are some applied researches in the field of earth system science. In fact, the current research done by the DESS is also related to artificial intelligence, that is, “put the wisdom of human into the computer to study the earth”. Microsoft recently launched a research project called “AI for Earth”, which is dedicated to using artificial intelligence technology to study climate change issues. "We can't lag behind and must enter this field," said Prof. Gong. He also mentioned that Tsinghua has a broad platform and a wealth of alumni resources, which will provide good opportunities for promoting the construction of artificial intelligence. Leaders in the artificial intelligence industry will be invited to visit the DESS to discuss the prospects of the combination of artificial intelligence and geoscience research.

In the field of innovation and entrepreneurship, Prof. Gong encourages the students to personalize their development. The department will be willing to support the creative and reasonable ideas, as well as help seek external support.

The education should support the development of each student. Students themselves should also establish self-confidence in scientific research. Every student can carry forward his own strength. Professor Gong used programming as an example. He mentioned that once a beginner learns to program, he will find that "programming is just a logical organization.” Therefore, self-confidence was gradually established during the process of overcoming obstacles

Prof. Gong was sharing his point of view with the students

In the end, Prof. Gong hopes that the students could learn to truly express themselves. Some Chinese students have too much concerns to talk to others, which leads to inadequate expression. In Gong’s view, the words form students are more important than their course scores to let the teachers to know the needs of the students. Only after the students can truly express their feelings, more help can be given from the mentors, which will improve the relationship between the teachers and students.

The whole activity was in a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere. After the event, the participating students benefited a lot. It Is hoped that they will have more in-depth thinking on their scientific research work and future life.

Free talk

The “Midday Diner” is an academic sharing event in the form of a luncheon party organized by the Graduate Student Union of the DESS. It aims to build an exchange platform between the consultants and students. As one of the series of “Drink Hour” academic activities of the DESS, the name "Midday Diner" was inspired by the movie "Midnight Diner”. During the “diner”, the consultant members will share their academic experience, and listen to the students' perplexities in order to promote the a good relationship between the teachers and students.

Group Photo