Peking University, Oct. 17, 2013: Established as early as 1913, Beida’s School of Physics is embracing its centennial.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Alumni are returning to their Alma Mater for the grand celebration from October 18 to 20. Physicists from the School’s counterparts - home and abroad - are also being invited. Seminars, speeches, academic salons, and a celebration gala are to be performed this weekend.

 

 

 

Dating back to 1913, the “WuLi Men” (Physics Division) was established at Beida, which was renamed the Department of Physics in 1919. Its establishment was not only an announcement of the importance that the University placed on physical science, but also a milestone on the runway of science modernization in China.

 

 

 

Merged from several entities in 2001, the School of Physics now includes the traditional fields of physics study, as well as related disciplines. With Physics, Astronomy, Atmospheric & Oceanic Sciences, and Nuclear Science & Technology as its key disciplinary fields, the School consists of two teaching centers, eight departments and more institutes - including the State Key Laboratory for Artificial Microstructure and Mesoscopic Physics, and the State Key Laboratory of Nuclear Physics and Technology.

 

 

 

The preparations for the centennial were much in advance. The “Centennial Physics Lectures,” starting in 2010, is held once each semester. Eminent scholars around the world take turns to present lectures on fundamental or cutting-edge problems in physics, astronomy, and atmospheric and oceanic sciences.

 

 

 

This time on October 19, Harvard Professor Xiaoliang Sunney Xie, enrolled by BIOPIC (the Biodynamic Optical Imaging Center at Beida), will be behind the lectern at Yingjie Exchange Center. Other distinguished attendees include Marie & Pierre Curie's granddaughter Hélène Langevin-Joliot and grandson Pierre Joliot, a famous nuclear physicist and a noted biologist, respectively.

 

 

 

The alumni, concerned about the celebration schedule, gathered earlier this year to give pieces of advice to their Alma Mater.

 

 

 

Besides, hundreds of students, as the current generation of “Beida Physics People,” have registered to volunteer their service for the centennial.

 

 

 

To seek more information, please visit the official website of the centenary celebration.

 

 

 

Written by: Meng Yiran

 

Edited by: Zhu Wenjia