In order to broaden the international horizons of graduate students, improve their writing skills, and enable them to understand more about the current research status and cutting-edge fields abroad, in the afternoon of September 3rd and the morning of September 5th 2024, Professor Elena Krivoshapkina from ITMO University in Russia gave four English lectures to the students at the Conference Room N209 of the Clean Energy Building. Professor Jingai Shao from School of Energy and Power Engineering in Huazhong University of Science and Technology hosted the seminars. The topics of the lectures were Energy Lab of ITMO University, Formal Writing and Manuscript Writing Lecture, Functional Fluorescent Hybrid Materials, and Sustainable Electrochemical. Professor Haiping Yang and more than 30 students attended the lectures.
The lectures were held over two days. In the afternoon of September 3rd, Professor Elena first introduced St. Petersburg, ITMO University, and the Energy Laboratory. By introducing the fields of study, educational models, and top-priority research fields of ITMO University, students had gained an understanding of the differences between domestic and foreign universities in various aspects, and had a comprehensive understanding of ITMO University. Afterwards, Professor Elena introduced her energy laboratory, elaborated on the main research directions of the laboratory, and explained in detail the mechanisms and application directions of various research results.
Then, based on her research and teaching experience, Professor Elena talked about how to write formal documents to the students. By explaining the writing purpose and requirements of emails, motivation letters, cover letters, and manuscripts, Professor Elena vividly explained the writing techniques and common problems of various writing documents, and deepened the impression of students by comparing wrong and right versions.
In the morning of September 5th, Professor Elena gave a presentation on their main research topics. She first introduced biopolymer/C-dot hybrids, which are new type of materials that are highly modifiable and active. By explaining the advantages and mechanisms of C-dot materials, and then introducing her own idea of combining C-dot materials with biopolymers, Professor Elena gradually demonstrated the process of determining research directions. This ability to explore one's own research direction through existing research is urgently needed by graduate students. On this basis, Professor Elena analyzed the experimental results obtained and introduced the application scenarios of these materials, fully explaining the entire process of scientific research.
Finally, Professor Elena introduced the role of electrochemical research in sustainable development. Starting from electrocatalysts, she introduced the characteristics and applications of electrochemical reactions, and provided several specific electrochemical application scenarios. On the one hand, she introduced the existing methods for treating and utilizing carbon dioxide from the perspective of greenhouse gas emissions, and highlighted the necessity of electrochemical methods in the field of carbon dioxide catalytic conversion. On the other hand, through several examples of using electrochemical methods to produce high value-added products, she elaborated on the importance of research in the field of electrochemistry and highlighted the prospects of research in this area.
These lectures have guiding significance for the research work of the students, and the attending students have benefited greatly and have been deeply inspired. The students have expanded their research ideas and international perspectives, improved their writing skills in both Chinese and English, gained an understanding of the cutting-edge fields of biomass applications, and honed their English proficiency through exchanges with foreign scholars. These lectures are of great help to the future development of graduate students.
Translated by Jianfeng Chen
