Breaking School Records! Scholars from Multiple Local Universities in China Publish in Top Journals Such as Nature and Science This Year
Recently, numerous local universities in China, including Changsha University, Henan University, Shaanxi Normal University, Guangxi Normal University, and Nanjing University of Chinese Medicine, have successively announced “breaking records in their school history” by publishing research papers in top international journals such as Nature, Science, and Cell.
This also demonstrates the rapid improvement of research vitality and international influence of local universities in China.
On November 26, Changsha University’s news website published an article titled “Our School Publishes Research Results in the International Top Academic Journal Science for the First Time as the First Unit”: On November 22, Professor Yang Bo’s team from the School of Electronic Information and Electrical Engineering published a Letters article titled “Small wetlands: Critical to flood management” in the top international academic journal Science. The article was authored by Professor Yang Bo as the first and corresponding author, with Changsha University as the first affiliated institution and Huazhong University of Science and Technology and Wuhan University as collaborating institutions. It was also selected as the cover story for Letters in the same issue. The publication of this research is another landmark achievement for Professor Yang Bo, following his article published in Nature in September this year.
The article addresses the challenge of river flood management by proposing the systematic planning and construction of an ecological flood control system based on small wetland communities across the entire watershed. This system works synergistically with technical interventions such as river embankment reinforcement, diversion projects, and reservoir group scheduling to effectively enhance the river’s flood defense capabilities in extreme situations. The research provides innovative solutions and feasible methods for sustainable river flood management under global climate change conditions, laying the foundation for the integrated development of water, wind, solar, and storage in Chinese watersheds and the full utilization of watershed hydropower potential in alignment with the “dual carbon” goals. The research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the National Key Research and Development Program, and the Key Support Project of the Joint Fund for Changjiang River Scientific Research of the National Natural Science Foundation of China.
Changsha University was established in 1970, with its origins tracing back to the Teacher Training Class of the Changsha Revolutionary Committee in November 1970, Changsha Basic University in July 1978, and Changsha University in May 1983. In 2004, it was upgraded from the original Changsha University (junior college) to a full-time public undergraduate university, implementing a “joint construction and management by the province and city, primarily managed by Changsha City” system. The university is a master’s degree-granting institution, a planned applied undergraduate university in the national “13th Five-Year Plan” for the integration of production and education, a national demonstration base for practical education, innovation, and entrepreneurship in universities, a high-level application-oriented college with unique features in Hunan Province’s “Double First-Class” initiative, a first-tier university for recruitment in Hunan Province, and a civilized university in Hunan Province.
Just a few days ago, according to the official WeChat account of “Henan University,” at 0:00 Beijing time on November 21, Professor Shen Huaibin’s team’s research achievements in the field of quantum dots were published in the top international journal Nature under the title “Efficient green InP-based QD-LED by controlling electron injection and leakage,” marking significant progress in non-toxic quantum dot LED technology. This is the first time that Henan University has published research results in Nature as the first corresponding unit!
The article explains that LED display lighting is a pillar semiconductor industry in China, and accelerating research on new display lighting LEDs is of great significance for enhancing the country’s industrial competitiveness. Electroluminescent devices based on fluorescent quantum dots (QD-LEDs) have advantages over traditional LEDs, such as a wider color gamut, higher color purity, and lower energy consumption, and are expected to be widely used in ultra-high-definition displays and high-end lighting. They have become one of the key technologies that countries worldwide are competing to develop for the next generation of mainstream luminescent displays. InP-based quantum dot electroluminescent devices are particularly favored by the industry due to their environmentally friendly characteristics. Compared to red and blue devices, the efficiency and lifespan of green InP-based QD-LEDs, one of the three primary colors, have become a key bottleneck restricting the commercialization of full-color QD-LEDs.
To solve this problem, Professor Shen Huaibin from Henan University collaborated again with Professor Fan Fengjia from the University of Science and Technology of China and others. Based on revealing the electron transport mechanism of the device, they proposed and developed a synthesis and structural regulation method for new large-size, high-quantum-yield InP/ZnSe/ZnS core-shell structured quantum dots. Through the coating of a thick ZnSe intermediate shell layer, they simultaneously achieved enhanced electron injection and suppressed electron leakage, successfully constructing a green InP-based QD-LED with a peak external quantum efficiency (EQE) of 26.68%, a brightness of 270,000 cd/m², and a T95 lifespan of 1,241 hours at an initial brightness of 1,000 cd/m², setting a new world record.
Henan University was founded in 1912, originally named the Henan Preparatory School for Overseas Studies, with Mr. Lin Bokang as its first president. The campus was built on the site of the former Henan Imperial Examination Hall. It later underwent several name changes, including Zhongzhou University, National Kaifeng Zhongshan University (also known as the Fifth National Zhongshan University), and Provincial Henan University, before being upgraded to National Henan University in 1942. In 1952, during the reorganization of departments and faculties, some were either established as independent universities or merged into other institutions, and the main campus was renamed Henan Normal College. After going through several stages, including Kaifeng Normal College and Henan Normal University, it resumed its original name, Henan University, in 1984. In October 2008, the university became a joint venture between the province and the ministry. In September 2017, it was selected as one of the first universities in the national “Double First-Class” initiative. In February 2022, it was again selected as a university in the national “Double First-Class” initiative.
In April this year, the official website of Shaanxi Normal University published an article introducing that on April 5, Professor Wu Di from the Innovative Team of Ferroelectric Functional Materials and Devices in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Shaanxi Normal University co-authored a research paper titled “Pseudo-nanostructure and trapped-hole release inducing high thermoelectric performance in PbTe” in the international journal Science, achieving a new breakthrough in the performance of thermoelectric materials and devices in the medium-temperature range. This is the first time a Shaanxi Normal University faculty member has published a research article in Science.
According to Shaanxi Normal University, the paper was jointly completed by Southern University of Science and Technology, Shaanxi Normal University, Wuhan University, the Institute of Physics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. The co-first author of the article, Professor Wu Di, is the leader of the Innovative Team of Ferroelectric Functional Materials and Devices in the School of Materials Science and Engineering at Shaanxi Normal University. In recent years, the team has focused on the national strategic demand for electronic components, targeting the design, development, performance optimization, and elucidation of physical mechanisms of solid-state ferroelectric energy storage materials, solar ferroelectric photovoltaic films, and high-performance thermoelectric material components. They aim to improve materials’ solid-state energy storage performance, output photocurrent density/voltage, and thermoelectric performance through material composition design, energy band/defect structure regulation, and surface interface engineering optimization, while clarifying the internal mechanisms for performance enhancement and solving key scientific problems.
Located in the ancient capital Xi’an, Shaanxi Normal University is a key university directly under the Ministry of Education. The university’s predecessor was the Shaanxi Provincial Normal Junior College, established in 1944. In 1954, it was renamed Xi’an Normal College, and in 1960, it merged with Shaanxi Normal College to become Shaanxi Normal University. In 1978, it became a normal university directly under the Ministry of Education. In 2005, it was selected as a university in the national “211 Project” for construction. In 2008, it was selected for the construction of the Teacher Education Advantage Discipline Innovation Platform in the national “985 Project.” In 2017, it was selected as one of the first universities in the national “Double First-Class” initiative, embarking on a new journey to build a first-class normal university rooted in China.
According to the news website of Guangxi Normal University, on May 23, 2024, Professor Zhou Qihai and Associate Professor Fan Penglai from the School of Life Sciences at Guangxi Normal University published a Letter article titled “Hope for limestone langurs’ conservation” in the journal Science (impact factor of 56.9).
The article comprehensively summarizes the conservation dilemmas of seven species of limestone langurs worldwide and reports on the conservation efforts of the Chinese government, scientists, and communities over the past 20 years, which have doubled the population of the critically endangered species of white-headed langur unique to Guangxi. It is hoped that global limestone
