Dialogue @ ZJU: With WANG Zhuo and HE Chun, Chu Kochen Scholarship recipients

【Editor's note:In this Dialogue @ ZJU, we will share scientific research stories of two female students, doctoral student WANG Zhuo and postgraduate student HE Chun. WANG is committed to the research on the interaction of ultrafast laser and matter and its application in optical storage. She has published 7 SCl papers in international high-level journals such as Advanced Materials and Opto-Electronic Advances, and applied for 4 invention patents. HE is committed to the research of green prevention and control of agricultural pests, focusing on the intersection of artificial intelligence and agricultural disciplines, and providing technical support for the safety evaluation of GM food. She has published 4 SCl papers in international high-level journals like Nature Communications and Genome Research.】

Q1: How did you choose your major? What arouses your scientific interest?

HE Chun: My major is Resource Utilization and Plant Protection, mainly engaged in research related to agricultural pest control. I used to be very afraid of insects, but in my undergraduate field practice, I saw a cornfield devastated by the corn borer, with leaves full of wormholes. When I felt terrible, I realized the importance of pest control research for agricultural development. Therefore, I chose entomology as my further study direction during my master's program.

After starting my graduate studies, I learned from my advisor that artificial intelligence is a leading trend of the era, and I was also very interested in this area. Therefore, I considered whether it would be possible to integrate AI with my research direction, to improve agricultural production efficiency and the quality of agricultural products through new technologies. Guided by this idea, I began to conduct interdisciplinary research on artificial intelligence and agricultural science, using AI to discover new resources for biological pest control.

WANG Zhuo: When I was a child, I looked forward to becoming a doctor, but in the college entrance examination, combining scores and my personality, I chose another distinctive major, —— Optoelectronic Information Science and Engineering. Before applying for the examination, I did not know much about the future development of this major. During my undergraduate period, when I participated in the scientific research training led by the teachers of the college, I became interested in scientific research, and gradually clarified and determined my research direction.

Upon entering graduate school, I met my advisor, Professor QIU Jianrong. Professor QIU specializes in ultrafast laser-material interaction research, and our laboratory happened to be working on a research and development project for optical storage. Professor QIU asked me to first investigate the background and encouraged me to conduct meaningful research. After reviewing some literature, I found that optical storage not only integrates our laboratory's expertise with the national initiative to accelerate the upgrade of the data storage industry but also effectively addresses the issues of short lifespan and high energy consumption of traditional data storage, applicable to production and daily life. Therefore, I naturally entered into research in this direction.

Q2: How did you solve the difficulties you encountered in the process of scientific research?

HE Chun: As the first member of our research group to conduct AI cross-over research, I lack the knowledge background and guidance on artificial intelligence, so I encountered difficulties from basic knowledge theory to applied model construction. Through reading a lot of reference books and literature to accumulate knowledge, and at the same time actively communicate with students in College of Computer Science and Technology, I tried to use various methods to solve problems step by step, and finally completed the research and development of sensitization protein identification tool. In the face of difficulties, we need to constantly try to put forward solutions, adhere to our established goals, do not give up easily, and maintain our focus and execution, so as to finally overcome the difficulties.

WANG Zhuo: There will certainly be difficulties. What is important is how to solve them after encountering them. Some problems can be avoided for a while, but they may be endless. When you first find difficulties, constantly try to solve them, so as to really solve the problem. What we need to do is to learn from the experience of predecessors, constantly improve and try, and finally solve the problem.

Q3: What unforgettable experiences did you have during the scientific research process?

HE Chun: What I remember most is the first three-month experience when I entered my graduate school. It was the starting point of my scientific research. It was a period when I gradually mastered some basic knowledge and technology. My insect bioinformatics research requires a certain computer basis for data analysis in a programming language. When I first came here, I knew nothing about computer technology. Although I was very tired and hard, it was when I grew the fastest. I gradually adapted to the rhythm of scientific research and felt the sense of achievement of focusing and seriously doing one thing and finally solving problems, and I also liked such a serious and focused myself. At that time, I had the passion to do a career, and my whole body was full of energy, and every day I was full of spirit to study and research. I hope I can keep this original aspiration at that time, and continue to explore the mystery of agricultural research.

WANG Zhuo: What I remember most is an accident in the process of scientific research. One time, an inadvertent operation caused me to damage a sample, and I suddenly discovered that this sample could display brilliant colors of light. Before this, we had worked on fabricating various microstructures inside mediums using ultrafast lasers, but most of them could not display colors directly under a microscope. Therefore, I was filled with curiosity about this novel phenomenon, but initially hesitated to tell my advisor because I had damaged the sample. After conducting several experiments on my own to confirm the phenomenon and discussing it with my senior labmate and advisor, we decided to continue exploring in this direction. As our research progressed, we gradually began to understand this new phenomenon through experiments and theoretical calculations, and proposed the large-scale permanent optical storage technology based on micro phase transition structural colors. Sometimes, life is just like this; new things are discovered unexpectedly. Once discovered, if meaningful, then we should explore, understand, and conquer it.

Adapted and translated from the article written by ZHOU Xiao

Translator: ZHAO Hanle('25, Education)

Editor: HAN Xiao('25 PhD, Education), TIAN Minjie