ZJU Stages 2016 Postgraduate Graduation Ceremony

On the afternoon of June 29, Zhejiang University held the 2016 Postgraduate Graduation Ceremony and the Degree Conferral Ceremony. A total of 2,966 postgraduates (including 963 Ph.D. students and 147 overseas students) embarked on their new journey and headed for their next destination.

President Wu Zhaohui extended his best wishes on behalf of the university. “Whatever job you take, innovation is ubiquitous in virtually every field: science and technology, culture, management and commerce. Innovative capabilities and thinking will act as a watershed in your career and play a vital role in guiding you towards transcendence,” said Wu, “While striving for excellence and pursuing innovation, you need to keep your feet firmly on the ground, learn to be persistent, cross conventional boundaries, focus on cutting-edge disciplines, aspire to resolve key problems in human history, and equip yourself with patriotism, humanity and virtue.”

Yu Chao, a Ph.D. student from the College  of Life Sciences who published 6 top-notch articles in Science and Nature, etc., delivered a speech. “As Zhou Enlai put it, everyone should harbor an ambition to become a hero and pioneer new trails in their life. Sure enough, not everyone can become leading luminaries in the world, but we will definitely be able to play a positive role in our small world,” said Yu.

Prof. Wang Ke from the College of Environment & Resource Science expressed his hope on behalf of all supervisors. He said that “Knowledge acquisition is a tough process with many twists and turns, but you will become more confident, perseverant and exceptional. The Qiushi eagle is emblematic of this kind of spirit. I hope that you will soar into a greater height.”

Chen Zongnian, an alumnus majoring in management science and engineering, shared his unique insight into innovativeness with postgraduates. “Innovation can be likened to an equation. Its right-hand side is an independent variable—input—while its left-hand side is a dependent variable—output, representing the outcome of an innovation. An equation includes both variables and forms. Any factor contributing to changes in variable or form can be labeled as innovation. I hope that you will learn some knowledge concerning innovative management,” said Chen.