China’s ‘Goddess scientist’ who left for US Ivy League job is coming home to set up medical academy - to the delight of the nation
- Chinese netizens rejoice at academic’s ‘patriotic’ move amid bitter tech-war with US
- Weibo hashtag to mark her decision attracts more than 440 million views
World famous structural biologist Nieng Yan – dubbed China’s “goddess scientist” - who broke many hearts when she moved to a top US university five years ago, has thrilled the nation by announcing she is to return home.
Once described as “the youngest and prettiest professor” at Tsinghua University, Yan’s announcement on Tuesday that she would be leaving Princeton University – at a time of increased US-China competition and an exodus of social elites – has sparked tremendous excitement among the Chinese public.
A foreign associate of the National Academy of Sciences, the 45-year-old academic said she will resign from the Ivy League university and move to Shenzhen in the near future to establish a medical academy.
Speaking at the Shenzhen Global Innovation Talent Forum on Tuesday, Yan said: “After decades of work, I found myself confident enough to move on to the third stage of my career - to build a platform to support more excellent researchers... Shenzhen, at this very moment, offered me that chance. We reached an agreement almost immediately.’’
The news was shared by Shenzhen city government’s publicity department on WeChat soon after Yan announced her decision and attracted more than 100,000 views within minutes.
“Yan Ning, my goddess, welcome back to China!” one of the most popular comments read, calling her by her Chinese name.
It also became a hot topic on Weibo, with the hashtag - #Yan Ning Announced to Return from the US, attracting upwards of 440 million views by Wednesday afternoon.
After receiving her undergraduate degree at Tsinghua University in Beijing in 2000 and her PhD at Princeton in 2004, Yan worked as a professor at the former between 2007 and 2017, and was widely adored for her extraordinary achievements in molecular biology at such a young age.
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When she decided to take up professorship at Princeton in 2017, it struck a raw nerve in China, with many people questioning the country’s research environment and ability to retain talent.
Her return now was especially welcome as many saw it as an act of patriotism amid the US-China tech war.
Much of the praise was also grounded in the fact that many of China’s upper class have chosen to leave the country amid tightened ideological control and strict Covid measures.
Investment migration consultancy Henley & Partners estimated in July that 10,000 high-net-worth Chinese residents were seeking to emigrate this year, the second-largest predicted wealth and people outflow for a country after Russia, Bloomberg reported.
Dr Yuan Lan-Feng, an associate professor from University of Science and Technology of China, said wherever Yan is, she deserves applause as long as she’s contributing to the advancement of science.
“Many people regarded her choice to work at Princeton as a bad thing, and feel happy about her decision to return as they see it as a correction of that bad thing. But I think both her decisions are good things,” he said.
“This is a big world. Many opt for overseas while others may be planning to return. Our government made it clear previously that people are free to move, which is a correct policy,” he said, adding, “The ultimate solution to lure talent lies in an attractive environment, not moral coercion.”
Lu Hongzhou, a renowned infectious disease expert who heads the Third People’s Hospital of Shenzhen, said Yan’s return will bring the city a step closer to being one of the top sites internationally in terms of transitional research and health care.
“Shenzhen is a place where dreams come true, an attractive destination for talent, and an innovation hub,” he said.
