Chair's Welcome
Humanity shares the same sky, yet each person has their own universe.
From Yuquan Road to Yongding Road marked the limits of my expanding universe during childhood. Back then, places like Zhongguancun and Tsinghua University were no more than theoretical possibilities within my adolescent cosmology. Even within such a confined universe, there were already intricate phenomena and enigmatic existence. When I came across Kepler’s diary for the first time, I was profoundly touched. He had just formulated his three laws and suspected that such sacred and elegant insights have to take another hundred years to be widely accepted: “ten or a hundred years—time is inconsequential. I have discovered the laws of heaven.” This was the Kepler: who almost wasted a full lifetime trying to build a cosmology with regular polyhedrons. This was the Kepler who endured numerous financial hardships and the loss of loved ones. His laws are still in use today. Even more profoundly, his laws demonstrate that the sky follows rules—rules that can be discovered by individuals and understood by humanity.
We are far more fortunate than Kepler. We have the support of Tsinghua University. We have visionary and pragmatic pioneers, such as Li Tipei, Tao Jialin, and Mao Shude. We have the most outstanding students. And as of April 21, 2019, we have a home, the Department of Astronomy, for exploring the laws of heaven. Currently, the department has nearly 20 full-time faculties, focusing on four main areas: high-energy astrophysics, galaxies and cosmology, exoplanets, and radio astronomy. Such a scale is not prominent in the rapidly expanding field of astronomy in China. Tsinghua Astronomy has to emphasize systematic originality and interdisciplinary research. Exemplifying this vision, the Multiplexed Survey Telescope (MUST) and the Hot Universe Baryon Surveyor (HUBS) have been included in the《Tsinghua University 2030 Innovation Action Plan》and thus the key focal points for the department’s development.
“Study extensively, inquire earnestly, think carefully, discern clearly, and act resolutely.” Building on the foundation laid by our predecessors, the Department of Astronomy at Tsinghua University will carry forward the school’s strategy of intrinsic growth, will explore new horizons such as the dynamic universe’s “time frontier”, will strive to reveal the common laws of the sky as well as to extend the boundaries of every individual universe.
Di Li
January 17, 2025