Former coal miner digs deep to earn a doctorate in engineering

A former coal miner who overcame adversity to earn a doctorate from Beijing University of Technology has captured widespread attention, with his dissertation acknowledgments moving many online and earning him praise as "a truly remarkable man".

In the widely shared acknowledgments, the student described his journey from working in a coal mine with his father at age 12 to graduating in June with a doctoral degree in engineering. He requested that his name not be disclosed as he did not wish to attract public attention, insisting that he only shared his acknowledgments publicly to encourage other students.

The university confirmed to China Daily that the author is a real student and said it respects his wish to remain anonymous. He was a full-time student at the university's College of Architecture and Civil Engineering from September 2020 to June 2025.

The university said his academic journey has shown many people the power of persistence.

"After high school, I didn't want to burden my parents much," he wrote, a statement underpinned by countless days and nights of hard work.

In his acknowledgments, he detailed his origins in a small mountain village, leaving home at age 9 to practice martial arts and digging for coal with his father by the time he was 12.

And it was only after he took the national college entrance exam for the second time that he was able to enroll in a vocational college at age 19 with a score of more than 500.

His postgraduate studies included conducting research in coal mines for more than a year. For his PhD, he spent a year doing fieldwork in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, experiencing the changing seasons in Altay. He was often "slower" than others, getting his first computer later than his peers, applying five times before joining the Communist Party of China, and needing two attempts to gain PhD admission.

While many of his peers enjoyed their time off during holiday periods, he spent vacations working on assembly lines at an electronics factory in Shanghai, besides scaffolding at construction sites in Jiaozuo, Henan province, laying asphalt on highways in Handan, Hebei province, and in blasting zones at coal mines in Jincheng, Shanxi province.

He credited his doctoral supervisor with transforming his academic path, accepting him at his most desperate, tolerating his stubbornness, providing guidance, offering financial help when he was penniless, and teaching essential skills, from geological sketching on site in Xinjiang to meticulously editing his English papers.

His supervisor instilled rigorous research ethics, logical thinking, discipline and practical wisdom, including: "Face problems head on, don't procrastinate, build good connections, be a friend of time."

He also thanked his research group members, other supportive professors and senior engineers, fellow students, and specific individuals, including an undergraduate roommate who gave him his first phone and whose pants he still wears, and his girlfriend, whom he described as a "sweet first love" that began at 27, offering mutual support and growth. He also thanked her parents for their affection.

He described his father as a lifelong fighter and thanked his gentle, resilient mother who sacrificed everything for the family and provided a warm foundation.

The university said the graduate's journey is not a distant legend but a reflection of the life and perseverance of many hardworking people.

Speaking to Haibao News, the student said he does not want to use "hardship" to describe his journey, adding that the manual labor he endured was not worth mentioning as it helped him develop perseverance.

He said he remains optimistic even during difficult times.

"Anxiety and puzzlement are useless, while action is the most important," he said. "Eat when it's time to eat and sleep when it's time to sleep. Do things decisively, resolutely and strategically. Do not be afraid."