人物專訪•EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW 澳大新語•2020 UMAGAZINE 22 53 the Institute of Chemistry of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (ICCAS). ‘My research and training were both completed at ICCAS. Prof Chen Guangming of ICCAS played a very important guiding role in my research,’ says Prof Sun. He did not let down his mentors who had great expectations for him. In just two years, he published three papers in journals indexed in Science Citation Index and one paper in a core journal. Sun’s education journey was anything but smooth sailing. In 2009, when he graduated from his master’s programme, he missed the deadline for applying for a government-sponsored PhD programme overseas, so he found a job in an education group as a chemistry teacher and became a ‘star teacher’ in only six months. This experience honed his teaching skills, but his eyes were set on bigger goals. During the one year when he worked as a teacher, Sun wrote more than 200 application letters for PhD programmes. Eventually, he received offers from four universities, including Delft University of Technology, one of the four major technology universities in Europe, and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). He finally chose HKUST. Finding Space for Innovation in an Interdisciplinary Field Sun’s first doctoral supervisor was Prof Chan Chi Ming in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering at HKUST. ‘The focus of my doctoral research at that time was the study of traditional polymer crystallisation theory. ‘My supervisor didn’t think I was right for this direction, much less likely to achieve any breakthroughs, so he advised me to withdraw from the programme, saying that otherwise I may not be able to graduate,’ recalls Sun. Feeling utterly demoralised, Sun quit the programme. A few days later, he sent an email to Prof Li Zongjin in the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, in which he explained his situation and sought Prof Li’s advice and help. Prof Li did not want to see Sun’s three years of studies end in vain, so he asked Sun to join his research group so he could finish his PhD degree. ‘Civil engineering opened up a new world for me. It was like “discovering a new continent”,’ says Sun. ‘Prof Li’s guidance shaped my philosophy of scientific research and management.’ 運。」考上碩士不久，孫國星因出色的 研究被導師劉正平教授推薦到中國科學 院的化學研究所聯合培養，「我的研究 和訓練都是在中科院完成，中科院的陳 光明教授對我的科研指導非常重要。」 結果孫國星不負寄望，兩年內完成了三 篇SCI期刊論文和一篇核心期刊論文。 孫國星的求學路一波三折。2009年碩 士畢業時他因錯過了公派留學博士的 申請，於是去到一間教育集團任化學 老師，半年就被擢升為星級老師，這 段經歷磨練了他的教學技巧。矢志走 研究路的孫國星，在教書的一年間寫 了200多封博士學位申請信，「很幸 運，我最後拿到四個offers，包括歐洲 四大理工大學之一的代爾夫特理工大 學和香港科技大學。」孫國星最後選 了香港科技大學。 在交叉點上找到創新點 孫國星的首位博士導師是香港科技 大學化學及生物工程學系的陳志明教 授，「我當時的博士研究是傳統高分子 結晶理論的深入推導，導師覺得我不太 適合在這個方向繼續，難有突破，便勸 我退學，否則也可能畢不了業。」 被勸退幾天後，大受打擊的孫國星發了 一封電郵給土木及環境工程學系的李宗 津教授，「李教授不忍心我白白浪費三 年時光，便給我機會在他的課題組繼續 孫國星教授與博士導師李宗津教授合照 A group photo of Prof Sun Guoxing and his doctoral advisor Prof Li Zongjin
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