Editor's note: Nine Peking University professors and associate professors have been announced as the winners of this year's Peking University Teaching Award, which is an annual award that recognizes outstanding educators in the school. The award comprises two categories: the Teaching Achievement Award and the Teaching Excellence Award, and is befittingly announced each year on September 10, the Teacher's Day in China. In this series, we celebrate these distinguished teachers by sharing their unique methods on cultivating bright minds and views on the future of education.

Peking University, September 11, 2026: For Professor Wang Jianxiang of Peking University (PKU) School of Mechanics and Engineering Science, learning science is not simply about knowing the answers — it is about understanding the path leading to the discovery of those answers and going beyond.



Ever since he returned to PKU in 1998, Wang has been teaching here for 28 years, cultivating the spirit of inquiry in his students across both undergraduate and graduate courses. His commitment to nurturing independent thinkers and explorers has earned him the 2026 Peking University Teaching Achievement Award. 

Wang does not see his role as simply passing established knowledge from one generation to the next. Rather than preparing students to follow in his footsteps, he encourages them to think independently, pursue their own interests, and go beyond what their teachers have taught them.

His approach to teaching is rooted in the same spirit of inquiry that has shaped his research career. In 2020, Wang and his collaborators received the Second Prize of the National Natural Science Award for their work on the micromechanics of composite materials with interface effects. They developed theoretical approaches to understanding how interfaces influence the behavior of materials at small scales.

Mechanics is often regarded as a demanding subject, with lengthy derivations and complex formulas. Wang sees beauty in the process of reducing seemingly complicated phenomena to simple and fundamental principles. Scientific principles may appear complex, but they can sometimes be expressed through simple and elegant formulas.

"Put yourself in the position of the discoverer at the scientific frontier of the time, how would you make progress?" he would ask students. This shifts their attention from what is known to how knowledge is created. For Wang, acquiring knowledge is only the starting point. The more important question is whether students can eventually create new knowledge by themselves.



This principle also underpins his approach to mentorship. Wang does not believe that successful students should necessarily follow the same path as their teachers. His own academic journey has reinforced this belief. Wang credits his master's supervisor at South China University of Technology and his doctoral supervisor at the University of Sydney with introducing him to mechanics of composites and giving him the confidence to pursue research in the field. Their influence helped shape his subsequent career.

Yet when asked about passing this academic mantle to his students, Wang does not describe his role as preserving a particular school of thought. "I don't think I have a particular mantle that needs to be passed on," he said. "I would prefer my students do something that is different from what I did — they should surpass their teachers and pursue innovations of their own."

This philosophy is increasingly relevant as artificial intelligence changes how students learn. AI has made accessing information and explanations considerably easier, and Wang sees this as a positive development. Students can now use AI to explore areas beyond the classroom and obtain knowledge that otherwise would require far more time and resources.

However, easier access to knowledge also raises a more fundamental question about what universities should teach. Wang believes education should move beyond the traditional transmission of knowledge. Universities should instead place greater emphasis on helping students follow their dreams and cultivate the ability to innovate.



As students may sometimes adapt to emerging technologies faster than their teachers, Wang believes understanding students’ perspectives has become increasingly important. This makes education a two-way process. Teachers need to continue learning, while students need opportunities to question and contribute rather than simply receive information.

Wang encourages his students to think and work without AI, since access to the technology is not always guaranteed. Ultimately, he hopes students can understand four things in sequence: China, the world, themselves, and finally science. This will provide the foundation for students to determine what they want to pursue and how they can contribute.

His view of education is closely tied to his view of scientific research. Fundamental research, he argues, may not always have an immediate application. He recalled the example of a student who studied honeycomb structures simply out of interest. Although its practical value was initially unclear, subsequent research found that such structures possessed distinctive mechanical properties and could inspire new models for high-performance materials.

The goal of mentorship is not to give students all the answers, but to help them become capable of finding questions worth exploring. As new technologies reshape how knowledge is produced and accessed, he sees the teacher’s role transcending transmission of information to guiding students in their own quests.

After 28 years of teaching, Wang continues to see the classroom as a place where students learn not only what is known — but, more importantly, how to think about what remains unknown.

Interviewed and written by: Wong Jun Heng
Edited by: Chen Shizhuo
Photo credit: Liu Yan and courtesy of the interviewee