A few days ago, the dean of a college invited me to communicate with young teachers on the topic of academic growth. I think that improving the academic research ability of young teachers and comprehensively improving the teaching and scientific research level of the college is the embodiment of this Dean's theme learning activity of "never forget the original intention and remember the mission", which I should strongly support. Last year, the Dean invited me to exchange scientific research topics with their young teachers. The academic growth of young teachers is a big topic. Facing this topic, I think of the arduous academic road I have gone through for decades. In an article entitled "gratitude to the predecessors on the academic road", I introduced a number of teachers and academic predecessors who have impressed me so far. Some of them are my university basic course teachers. I have not only learned knowledge from them, but also been infected by their teaching style and scientific spirit. There are also several scientific celebrities who have played an important role in my academic growth directly and indirectly. Decades have passed, and several of them are immortal. Their academic achievements have been remembered in my mind for a long time. Therefore, I decided to take the topic of "learning from famous professors and improving my scientific quality" and the academic growth stories of three young and middle-aged professors who have cooperated with me in scientific research for a long time as clues to explain this topic to them. Two of the three famous professors belong to the post-60s and one to the Post-70s. They are all my friends who forget their age and make friends. I can tell them some far-reaching past events in their academic growth.

The first well-known professor was admitted to university at the age of 15, and was admitted to master's degree after graduation at the age of 19. After graduation, he stayed in the university to teach, and at the same time, he studied for a doctor's degree. He graduated from the University in 1989. Up to now, I still keep a 15 page detailed abstract of his doctoral thesis given to all the people who attended the meeting when he defended his doctoral thesis. Since then, I have learned from his practice and prepared such a paper abstract for each of the people attending the defense meeting when my doctoral candidates reply, so that they can master the content of the respondent's report. I have cooperated with him in scientific research for nearly 30 years, participated in a number of scientific research projects he presided over, including the national fund for Distinguished Youth Project, and published 20 academic papers. The professor is introverted, usually few words, devoted to his own scientific research. Taking advantage of China's abundant geological resources, he made a pioneering scientific research on the chemical structure of the solid earth crust and achieved fruitful results. At the age of 28, he was promoted to associate professor. Then, he made persistent efforts to be promoted to a professor, and at the age of 49, he went to a higher level and put on a national academic honor hat with more weight. In my report, I publicized his scientific quality to young teachers: the scientific spirit of hard struggle. This professor's doctoral dissertation was based on the scientific data of more than 10000 samples from more than 900 sampling points in the field. Based on these data analysis and research results, he produced his landmark scientific research results. International vision of scientific research style. He attaches great importance to the internationalization of scientific research. Based on the scientific attribute of "uncertainty" of solid earth science, he needs a large-scale comparative study of global geological phenomena in order to get the research results close to the real image. His cooperation with professors from European and American universities has been published in mainstream international journals including nature, and has been highly praised by international peers. Modest and prudent scientific attitude. When we write and revise papers together, he often suggests not to mention "the first time". Because whether the results should be the first time for scientific colleagues has the final say. The number of academic papers published by him is not large. In his opinion, the publication of academic papers should be cautious and never overuse them. Rational treatment of "uncomfortable" experience. In my memory, he didn't get the support of his unit when he applied for the post of distinguished professor of Changjiang Scholar of the Ministry of education. Even so, his enthusiasm for scientific research is still "surging".

The second post-60s professor is two years younger than the above-mentioned professor. We have cooperated for more than 20 years and still continue to publish 12 papers. After graduating from his master's degree, he stayed in the university to teach and graduated as a doctor. He is similar to the above-mentioned professor in character, unsociable, and belongs to the kind of person who "can only bury his head in pulling the car, but will not look up at the road". As far as I know, his doctoral supervisor has not held any administrative position in the school, but is just an ordinary professor. Therefore, he is not reliable. When he applied for the first National Natural Science Foundation project, he was successful after several failures. It is said that when he later put on several national academic hats, the person in charge of related disciplines of NSFC expressed surprise at his hard experience in applying for the project. Of course, this professor has gone through a lot of difficulties and now his scientific research is going smoothly. Many of his students are professors in key universities. This professor's growing experience is a successful example of "doing your own scientific research". I take this opportunity to warn young teachers that they have big trees to enjoy the cool, but what if they don't have big trees? As nature published, in the growth experience of statistical scientists, those who rely on big trees grow much faster. But I think, for most people, you can't rely on big trees. Therefore, relying on their own efforts to grow up tenaciously is the last word for most scholars. As the netizen said: "there are not many thighs, it's difficult to hold thighs" (quoted from "it's better to do research than to report thighs?" , author: Zhang Daji et al., big data digest, November 27, 2019).

The third is a Post-70s turtle professor with balanced development of IQ and EQ and high patriotic enthusiasm. We published 7 papers together. After completing his bachelor's degree and doctor's degree in China, he went to a research institution of a university in the United States to study for a doctor's degree again. This research institute has a world leading scientific research platform for its research direction. During his doctoral program, he systematically received the cultivation concepts and values of American advanced doctoral students, namely "academic research ability, independent judgment ability, academic rigor and academic integrity", and achieved remarkable results. Then he completed a round of postdoctoral research in a research university and taught in a university in the UK. After nearly 10 years of overseas scientific research and training, he responded to the call of the motherland and returned to China to serve. A few years ago, he was employed to teach in a new university in the south from the graduate school, and took on the burden of teaching and educating people. Although his scientific research achievements are outstanding, he also wears many national academic hats. However, he is also very enthusiastic and serious about university teaching and serving students, giving nearly 100 class hours to undergraduates on average every year. The year before last, when I learned about my activities in the city where his university was located, I specially invited me to give a "I talk about university life" report to the undergraduates of his college. In the report, I warned the students: "college life is the most important experience and process in life. We should taste it carefully and make college life meaningful. Professional study in university is only a part of undergraduate study. To be a person with balanced development of generalists and professionals is the whole of university study. This year, the well-known Post-70s Professor won the title of national model teacher.