Nothing wrong with young profs

The news of 28-year-old Deng Hexiang being appointed a professor at Wuhan University in Hubei province has surprised many, and sparked a heated discussion among netizens. But people in the know-how will agree that a candidate's research achievements and teaching abilities -rather than age - should determine whether he/she could teach in a school, says an article in People's Daily. Excerpts:

A review of Deng's resume shows his extraordinary achievements in academics. Fudan University chose him for the first prize of a national chemistry contest while he was still in high school. After getting a doctoral degree from the University of California, Los Angeles, and completing his post-doctoral research at UCLA and University of California, Berkley, he was part of three major projects of the US Department of Energy.

Given such achievements, he deserves a professor's position in a Chinese university. Of course, in a seniority-based system, it would have taken him years to be promoted as a professor.

Whether a university is excellent or not depends on not only its alumni, but also the quality of its faculty. In fact, in the early years, Chinese universities gave priority to talents and focused on scholars' achievements in research rather than their age and seniority.

Promoting scholars to the post of a professor without overly stressing their seniority does not run contrary to the needs of scientific research. Studies show that outstanding scientists between the ages of 25 to 45 are more likely to make great contributions to research, because young talents are the most passionate and innovative group in the academia.

It is becoming a universal trend to have younger teachers in universities. But some local universities still stick to the old-fashioned system of promoting teachers without realizing that helping develop young talents is the right way to add energy and vitality to scientific research.

(China Daily 05/28/2013 page10)