April 15 marked the official launch of ZJ Academy under ZJ Lab and the opening of the "Sailing Class", where 80 newly recruited researchers heard their first lecture in ZJ Lab.

At the opening ceremony, ZHU Shiqiang, President of ZJ Lab, outlined the purpose of ZJ Academy with five phrases, namely, keep informed, stay clear-headed, improve capacities, nurture the root, and mold the soul. He hoped that through training at ZJ Academy, everyone would have an overall understanding of ZJ Lab, broaden their strategic visions and build holistic thinking, improve academic capacities, enhance the sense of identity with the Lab, and abide by the Lab's principle of scientific spirit and patriotism. The establishment and operation of ZJ Academy will further strengthen the training of researchers and rebuild the talent development system.

ZHU Shiqiang gave the first lecture to 80 newcomers on the law and trend of scientific innovation and ZJ Lab's mission.

With the discovery of penicillin as his opening gambit, ZHU Shiqiang introduced the paradigm shift in scientific research, the trend of scientific development in modern times, the driving forces of scientific innovation, and organizational models. As scientific innovation evolves fast, interdisciplinary research dominates the scientific field, and systematic innovation driven by major projects increases, traditional organizational models and means of scientific research can hardly adapt to and satisfy the needs of modern scientific development. As a result, we need to build new organizational models and systems to provide greater impetus for development.

When talking about the organizational models of scientific research, ZHU Shiqiang emphasized, organizational collaboration and "free exploration" are not contradictory. Instead, they are two concepts at different levels, as the former is the method, and the latter is the content. Exploration entails uncertainties and hard work, while organizational collaboration helps make exploration more efficient and successful. Scientific researchers at ZJ Lab must enhance their awareness of internal cooperation.

ZHU Shiqiang pointed out, the numerous research results that ZJ Lab has achieved in just four years lie in its institutional and systematic innovation and shared principles. The institutional and   systematic innovation in management and operation, project organization, personnel appraisal, transformation of scientific results and other aspects have fostered a robust driving force for scientific research. In addition, all the researchers dedicated themselves to their research, led by ZJ Lab's overall principle of scientific spirit and patriotism that comprises the scientific research principle of being driven by one's mission and pooling   wisdom to tackle difficulties, the academic principle of interdisciplinary research with openness and collaboration, the research-centered and demand-oriented humanistic principle, the self-improvement principle of embracing changes and valuing hard work, and the values principle of encouraging academic heroes and accepting failure.

During the two-hour lecture, ZHU Shiqiang systematically analyzed the strategies and plans of scientific development in China and other countries, thoroughly introduced the establishment, current situation and major achievements of ZJ Lab, and shared his revelations about life from his own experience with the audience.

The following are some excerpts of his speech.

Under good scientific research conditions, we must always strive to better ourselves and work harder. We should not wait there and rely on others, but keep making progress.

We must respect authority in scientific research, but do not blindly believe in it. A lot of major progress and breakthroughs were attained by smashing authority.

Intellectuals must keep the interests of the nation in mind. They must have the courage to shoulder the responsibilities of the times, contribute innovation to the nation and bring benefits to the people.

The highest stage of scientific research is to dedicate yourself to something that no one has ever done before. I hope you will dare to lead and blaze a trail.

A grateful person will remain peaceful, reasonable and wise and get more trust and opportunities. I hope you will be grateful, caring, and dedicated teammates who fit in the Lab.

Young researchers should be ready to play supporting roles, while key team players should be ready to give a helping hand to youngsters. We must look at competition correctly. Competition is not   about restraining but reinforcing each other. We must keep amity among peers and support each other in a free and equal academic atmosphere.

We must promote mental and physical health. I wish you will find your passion in one sport that benefits you for a lifetime.

Rigorousness and self-discipline are the basic prerequisites for career success and self-improvement, and the key to work efficiency and a life of ease. I wish you will keep rigorous and self-disciplined, and build a virtuous cycle of behavior under your own control.

Introduction to ZJ Academy

Inaugurated on April 15, ZJ Academy is a physical operating platform under ZJ Lab that aims to organize the training of researchers and build a hierarchic and integrated personnel training system. ZJ Academy will establish a researcher training system by developing systematic courses on key research fields, building a faculty team with strong research and teaching abilities, implementing training programs that satisfy the needs of whole-process talent development, empowering academic groups that encourage openness, sharing and cross-discipline communication, and building and running a smart online platform of study scenarios. A teaching committee and a management organization under ZJ Academy have carried out several training programs, including the "Sailing Class", "Pilot Plan", "Young and Middle-aged Researchers Class", and "Academic Nova Class".