Fudan held an opening ceremony to welcome the new cohort of students on the large lawn in front of the Guanghua Building on September 1, which was the first time in nearly 20 years that the university had held the opening ceremony outdoors, bringing together undergraduate and graduate students. Over 16,000 new students from more than 80 countries and regions gathered to attend this vibrant event.
Qiu Xin, chair of Fudan University Council, presented the university badge and a pamphlet listing upcoming events on campus to the student representitves.
With the continuous rainfall in Shanghai for the past days, many teachers and students were concerned about whether the outdoor ceremony could proceed as planned.
“‘Fu Xi’ says it won’t rain in Shanghai today,” said Jin Li, president of Fudan University, at the ceremony. His remarks received applause and laughters from the audience.
Thanks to the precise weather forecasting provided by AI4S(AI for Science), the opening ceremony was finally held as planned. Jin introduced the students to “Fu Xi”, a meteorological model with 4.5 billion parameters. The model is developed by Fudan’s Artificial Intelligence Innovation and Industrial Research Institute and Department of Atmospheric and Oceanic Sciences, using Fudan’s cloud-based AI computing platform - CFFF (Computing for the Future at Fudan).
It’s said that this model can predict global weather for the incoming 15 days, with each prediction taking less than 3 seconds. Jin used this case of interdisciplinarity as an example to encourage students to break disciplinary boundaries, emphasizing that “the main forces for integrated innovation are not only the departments, disciplines, and teachers, but also the students present here.”
Based on the continuous predictions made by the “Fu Xi” model, the organizers of the ceremony had a clearer idea that the opening ceremony could proceed in good weather.
The development of such a meteorological model at Fudan University is mainly attributed to the university’s exploration in AI4S. At the end of this June, Fudan launched the largest cloud-based AI computing platform by a Chinese university CFFF, which includes “Qiewen No.1” in Ulanqab, Inner Mongolia, and “Jinsi No.1” at Fudan University’s Jiangwan campus. Although thousands of miles apart, they work together and can meet the scientific intelligence research and application needs in different scenarios.
With this research “supercomputer”, in the areas where it was impossible to make statistical computations, Fudan researchers are likely to create new research paradigms in the future.
Xu Zheng, vice president of Fudan University, presided over the opening ceremony.
Wang Yuanyuan, vice president of Fudan University, announced the list of college mentors for the new undergraduate students.
Vice President Xu Lei of Fudan University and Vice Dean Wu Fan of Shanghai Medical College of Fudan University presented the college flags to the representatives of the new 2023 cohort of students.
Zhang Renhe, vice president of Fudan University, announced the list of mentors for “Zhuobo Program”.
“In high school you've learned a lot of certainties, but now you are university students, please understand that the world is three-dimensional, and everything is multi-faceted. Sometimes, ‘right’ and ‘wrong’ are relative to individuals’ preferences. Forget what you thought was certain. This is a new start,” said Chen Shangjun, Senior Professor of Liberal Arts, dean of Renzhong College and professor of Chinese Language and Literature. He hopes that students dare to forge ahead, and experience the world with humanistic spirit.
Yin Dongmei, deputy chair of the Fudan University Council, announced the list of student counsellors for the 2023 cohort of students.
On behalf of undergraduates, Wen Jiazhe, a freshman of medical student at the School of Basic Medical Sciences, said that his parents were both doctors, and it was his dream to follow in their footsteps and become a doctor. During his high school years, he learned the significance of medical research to the progress of humankind, and he also saw for himself patients’ strong will to live as a volunteer in hospitals. These experiences made him determined to pursue a career in medicine.
Ye Junjie, a representative of new graduate students, grew up in the mountainous region, and had little idea about computer before college. From being unable to keep up with the teacher’s lectures to becoming a doctoral student at the School of Computer Science through Fudan’s “Zhuobo Program”, what is behind the stunning progress is his love for his profession.
During his four years of undergraduate study in computer science, he often stayed up late to study, believing that scientific research is “beautiful”, and the joy of success and pride is irreplaceable. He will continue to immerse himself in the love of his profession and study the cutting-edge direction of big data modelling artificial intelligence. The launch of the CFFF platform, which promotes the idea of AI4S and creates an innovation ecosystem, has made him eager to continue his future research in Fudan.
Rita Peignien, who comes from the south of France, is a double-degree student at the School of International Relations and Public Affairs in cooperation with Sciences Po. As a representative of the international students, she delivered a speech at the ceremony with fluent Chinese. Rita said, she heard her teachers mention China from time to time, which made her wanted to know more about China. “Chinese is a language with a long history behind and it is very interesting,” she said, hoping to learn about Chinese culture and history, make friends worldwide, and contribute to Sino-French exchanges and friendships in the future.
The ceremony was also filled with excitement as a pre-show performance took the stage. At the venue, a large screen showed a graduation commemoration video for the Class of 2023. The journey the incoming freshmen are about to embark on will only be more exciting than that of the Class of 2023.
Wish you all the best
as you embark on this new chapter in life at Fudan.
May you cherish youth and
pursue passions with firm determination.
Presented by Fudan University Media Center
Writer: Mao Xiaojun, Wang Mengqi
Editor: Li Yijie
