参观普林斯顿大学艺术博物馆有感 黄安年文 黄安年的博客 /2011 年 9 月 29 日 ( 美东时间 ) 发布 8 月 25 日在普林斯顿大学走访中， 我们浏览了世界闻名的 普林斯顿大学艺术博物馆（ The Princeton University Art Museum ），博物馆收藏了从古到今约 7200 件艺术作品，含地中海地区、西欧、亚洲和美洲地区。博物馆创建于 1882 年 , 迄今已经有近 130 的历史。博物馆的内容十分丰富 , 如果有时间可以分几天仔细参观 , 一次一个重点。这里不仅是从事人文艺术师生经常光顾的地方 , 而且也是全校师生和外来参观者的必到之地，博物馆免费向所有来访者开放 , 实在是帮助参观者了解全球文化瑰宝之举。 我们重点参观了亚洲艺术品的收藏： Asian Art The collection of Asian art includes diverse materials from China, Japan, Korea, Southeast and Central Asia, and India dating from Neolithic to present times. The strengths of the collection are in Chinese and Japanese art ranging from Neolithic pottery and jade, ancient ritual bronze vessels, ceramics, lacquerware, metalware, and sculpture, to woodblock prints, painting, and calligraphy. In the arts of China, the collections of calligraphy and painting rank among the finest outside Asia. Calligraphic works range from Buddhist and Daoist scriptures of the Tang dynasty, to poems, records, and letters from the Song dynasty. Among the paintings are rare masterpieces from the Song and Yuan dynasties, as well as numerous examples by later masters. The collection also includes Shang dynasty oracle bones, ancient ritual bronze vessels, ceramic vessels and figurines, Buddhist sculpture, and a rare group of Liao or Jin dynasty painted wood tomb panels and coffin boards form the tenth to thirteenth centuries. The Museum has the nucleus of a fine collection of Japanese art with works ranging from Jōmon to modern period ceramics, Heian and Kamakura period sculpture, as well as painting, calligraphy, screens, and woodblock prints from the Heian to contemporary periods. Metal, stone, and terracotta sculptures from Southeast Asia, India, Gandhara, and other Central Asian regions make it possible for the visitor to trace Buddhist sculptural styles from early forms to later development in East Asia. Works from the collection are exhibited in the Asian galleries on a rotating basis throughout the year. Selections from the Princeton University Art Museum's Asian Art collection are presented as ongoing curatorial and scholarly research in the Asian Art Website . The arts of Asia are examined in a cultural and historical context. The Tōkaidō Road: 19th and 20th Century Journeys through Japanese Prints To link to the P.Y. and Kinmay W. Tang Center for East Asian, click here . 其中不乏对中国古代优秀文化遗产的保管。 照片 18 张是从博物馆提供的资料中转拍的。 *************************** About the Museum The Princeton University Art Museum is one of the nation's leading art museums, with collections of some 72,000 works of art ranging from ancient to contemporary, concentrating geographically on the Mediterranean regions, Western Europe, Asia, and the Americas. As one of few university museums of truly universal scope in its collecting practices, we are delighted to share with you our collections, exhibitions, educational activities, and social opportunities. Located at the heart of Princeton University in the charming smallcity setting of Princeton, New Jersey, but within easy reach of both New York and Philadelphia, the Museum is committed to advancing Princeton's teaching and research missions while serving as a gateway to the University for visitors from around the world. Intimate in scale yet expansive in scope, the Museum offers a respite from the rush of daily life, a revitalizing experience of extraordinary works of art, and opportunities to delve deeply into the study of art. The Museum was founded in 1882 on the belief that the study of great original works of art was essential to higher education and the development of an enlightened citizenry. Occupying the site of the first museum building erected in 1890, the Museum continues to share McCormick Hall with the University's Department of Art and Archaeology and Marquand Library, collectively forming one of the world's most important centers for the study of the fine arts. Arranged on two floors, highlights from the collections are installed along roughly chronological and cultural lines and are rotated regularly. In addition to its collections, the Museum mounts an ambitious program of a dozen special exhibitions each year, along with offering lectures, artist talks, scholarly symposia, concerts, film screenings, and family programs. The Art Museum's publications program is one of the richest among U.S. museums; featured publications are available for purchase in the Museum Store. The Museum's scope extends well beyond its walls; while visiting the Princeton campus, we hope you'll explore the John B. Putnam Jr., Memorial Collection of sculpture installed across the campus, including works by many of the greatest masters of 20th- and 21st-century art. http://artmuseum.princeton.edu/about/ History In 1882 President James McCosh, a Scottish educator who had come to Princeton in 1868 to modernize what was then known as the College of New Jersey, charged William C. Prime, Class of 1843, and General George McClellan (the former Civil War general and governor of New Jersey) to prepare a curriculum in the history of art. Prime, a New York journalist and founding trustee of the Metropolitan Museum of Art, worked with McClellan to envision a curriculum that would offer direct access to works of art in a museum. They argued, “A museum of art objects is so necessary to the system that without it we are of opinion it would be of small utility to introduce the proposed department.” This outlook positioned Princeton University at the cutting edge of scholarship in an era when the history of art was a new academic discipline, largely confined to the more advanced universities of Europe. Prime gave impetus to the establishment of a museum with the promise of his collection of pottery and porcelain upon the completion of a fireproof building. From the beginning, the Museum was meant to serve a dual purpose: to provide exposure to works of art and to teach the history of art through an encyclopedic collection of world art. In 1890 the Trumbull-Prime Collection, which also bore Prime's wife's name, was delivered to the Romanesque revival building designed by A. Page Brown, a building containing the museum, classrooms, and an art library. Allan Marquand, Class of 1874, professor of art history and, after 1905, chairman of the Department of Art and Archaeology, was appointed the Museum’s first director, a position he held until his retirement in 1922. Marquand was himself a distinguished collector of art, who made many generous benefactions to the museum whose early history he guided. In addition to Prime's collection of pottery and porcelain, the Museum of Historic Art, as it was known until 1947, housed casts of famous antiquities and architectural details and ornaments. McCormick Hall, 1923 Paintings slowly made their way into the collections, especially after Frank Jewett Mather Jr. joined the faculty in 1910 to teach Renaissance art. He became director of the Museum in 1922, the same year McCormick Hall, an addition in Venetian Gothic style after the plans of Ralph Adams Cram, was added to the south side of the A. Page Brown building. The first of many extensions to the Museum, McCormick Hall contained space for teaching art history and allowed the original museum building to be converted solely to museum functions. A former art critic for The Burlington Magazine , The New York Evening Post , and The Nation , Mather collected in the fields of medieval and Renaissance art, but also propelled the Museum into significant holdings in prints and drawings. In the 1930s, significant gifts of Chinese and Japanese art came to Princeton to support George Rowley’s courses, the first in that field offered in an American university. Princeton’s first courses in American art entered the curriculum during World War II. Mather’s connections in the art world made possible important exhibitions, including showings of work by Cézanne borrowed from Duncan Phillips, who had established the nation’s first museum of modern art in 1921, and of highlights from the Museum of Modern Art, whose founding director, Alfred H. Barr, was a Princeton man (Class of 1922). Mather retired as director of the Museum in 1946, to be succeeded by Ernest DeWald, Graduate School Class of 1946, who had served as one of the so-called “Monuments Men” who played such an important part in the salvaging of Europe’s artistic treasures at the end of World War II. A remarkable number of Princetonians—faculty and alumni—served in this way, in recognition for which Vienna’s Kunsthistorisches Museum lent Johannes Vermeer’s Artist in His Studio , the painting Adolf Hitler had considered to be the most important acquisition for the museum he had planned as a monument to himself and to Germanic culture. As museum director, DeWald led the Museum into a significant commitment to art conservation—although he is remembered as cleaning paintings himself in his office at the top of the old museum building, despite a complete lack of formal training in the field. The collections of Asian art grew during his directorship, under the guidance of Professor Wen C. Fong. Another Monuments Man, Patrick Kelleher, became director in 1960. During his tenure, the A. Page Brown building itself was razed in 1963, making way for an International Style building designed by Steinmann and Cain in a campaign that was completed in 1966. During this era, the Docent Association was established to provide museum guides and staff the Museum store, a volunteer effort that continues vitally to the present day. In these years the art of the ancient Americas became an important new focus, thanks to the prescient collecting of Gillett G. Griffin, lecturer in the Department of Art and Archaeology, faculty curator, and generous benefactor. Photography also came into focus during this time, with the gift in 1971 of the David Hunter McAlpin, Class of 1920, collection of photographs and the establishment of a fund enabling the purchase of photography. In 1972 Peter Bunnell, previously a curator at the Museum of Modern Art, came to Princeton to occupy the first endowed chair in the history of photography in the United States. Bunnell became director of the Museum in 1973, a position he held until 1978, during which time major exhibitions were mounted, including a landmark exhibition on the Arts and Crafts in America that precipitated the rebirth of interest in this important movement. In 1980 Allen Rosenbaum, who had served as associate director during the Bunnell years, was promoted to director. A specialist in old master painting, Rosenbaum had the vision to build up major holdings in Renaissance and Baroque painting, particularly works in the Mannerist tradition. In addition to developing major exhibitions of Maya art and celebrating the University’s 250th anniversary, Rosenbaum led a major campaign resulting in the renovation of the Museum’s interiors and in a 27,000-square-foot addition—the Mitchell Wolfson Jr., Class of 1963, Wing, designed by Mitchell/Giurgola and dedicated in 1989. This expansion provided new exhibition space, a spacious conservation studio, and new seminar and study storage rooms for all areas of the collection, facilitating the use of the collections for teaching. The first decade of the twenty-first century witnessed another period of growth, during which a new director, Susan M. Taylor, was able to establish the first endowed curatorships and other positions at the Museum, with the support of benefactors including Diane and James Burke, Preston Haskell, and the Peter Jay Sharp and Andrew W. Mellon foundations. Today the Museum, under the leadership of director James Steward, is one of the nation’s foremost art museums. The collections, in the areas established under the directorships of Marquand and Mather and those initiated later, have greatly exceeded those of a study collection. Numbering more than 72,000 objects, the collections range chronologically from ancient to contemporary art, and concentrate geographically on the Mediterranean regions, Western Europe, China, the United States, and Latin America. There is an outstanding collection of Greek and Roman antiquities, including ceramics, marbles, bronzes, and Roman mosaics from Princeton University's excavations in Antioch. Medieval Europe is represented by sculpture, metalwork, and stained glass. The collection of Western European paintings and sculpture includes important examples from the early Renaissance through the nineteenth century, and there is a growing collection of twentieth-century and contemporary art— with another particular emphasis in the twenty-first century. Among the greatest strengths in the Museum are the collections of Chinese art, with important holdings in bronzes, tomb figurines, painting, and calligraphy; and Pre-Columbian art, with remarkable examples of the art of the Maya. The Museum’s holdings in this area are considered to be among the finest in the world. The Museum has distinguished collections of old master prints and drawings and a comprehensive collection of over 27,000 original photographs. African art is represented, as well as Northwest Coast Indian art. Not housed in the Museum but under its auspices is the John B. Putnam Jr. Memorial Collection of twentieth- and twenty-first century sculpture, including works by such modern masters as Alexander Calder, Jacques Lipchitz, Henry Moore, and Pablo Picasso. The Museum also administers the University's Princeton Portraits Collection. Temporary exhibitions are organized throughout the year, many motivated by the collections and coordinated with the University curriculum, but presented for the benefit of a broad public. http://artmuseum.princeton.edu/about/history/ Collections Founded in 1882, the Princeton University Art Museum is one of the leading university art museums in the country. From a founding gift of a collection of porcelain and pottery, the collections have grown to over 72,000 works of art that range from ancient to contemporary art and concentrate geographically on the Mediterranean regions, Western Europe, China, the United States, and Latin America. This resource represents a portion of the Museum’s collection. Information about the artworks may change as the result of ongoing research. If you are planning to visit Princeton, please note that not all artworks are on view at all times. Study access to works of art not on public display is available to faculty, students, and qualified scholars by appointment. Please contact the appropriate curator to schedule a study appointment. African Art American Art Ancient and Islamic Art Art of the Ancient Americas Asian Art Campus Collections Contemporary Art European Art Modern Art Photography Prints and Drawings Recent Acquisitions http://artmuseum.princeton.edu/art/collections/
今天是三.八节，妇女运动100周年纪念日！祝福女同志们节日快乐！去年在MIT和哈佛大学访问，一件事情令我非常吃惊，这两所世界顶级大学的校长都是女校长---都是学校的首位女校长。另外普林斯顿大学和剑桥大学的校长也是女性。或许是女性的细心吧，她们把学校管理的井井有条，取得的成绩大大超过男性校长掌舵期间的业绩。下面简单介绍下这4位校长，女同学们要努力啊，掌管世界顶级大学校长都是女的----谁说女子不如男！ 2007年--美国哈佛大学任命首位女校长 为该校第28任校长（ http://president.harvard.edu/ ） 历史学家德鲁·吉尔平·福斯特（ Drew Faust）2007年为哈佛大学校长。福斯特成为哈佛大学的第２８任校长，也是该校３７１年历史里任命的第一位女校长。福斯特今年63岁，是哈佛大学拉德克利夫高等研究院的第一位终身院长。她曾在宾夕法尼亚大学教书２０余年，曾著书反映美国南北战争时期的南方妇女、南方联盟中的知识分子和意识形态，以及南卡罗莱纳州农场主詹姆斯·亨利·哈蒙德的传记。虽然福斯特本人缺乏在大型机构中担任领导职务的经验，但她的同事们形容她为“建立共识者”，善于人际交往。其前任劳伦斯·萨默斯因发表性别歧视的评论而于2006年２月黯然辞职。 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drew_Faust 德鲁·吉尔平·福斯特（ Drew Faust） 德鲁·吉尔平·福斯特在2010年哈佛大学毕业典礼上（中戴眼镜者） Susan Hockfield 是MIT（麻省理工学院） 第16任校长（2004-现在），是MIT建校150年来第一位女校长。她是美国艺术与科学院院士,一直致力于哺乳动物脑发展的研究，尤其在致命性的神经胶质瘤方面有所成就 。她首开在脑研究方面使用单克隆抗体技术的先河，发现了导致癌细胞在脑内扩散的蛋白质家族和基因。她是美国科学发展学会会员，美国神经生物学学会会员。2005获得国际学术成就金奖，2004年获得耶鲁大学Sheffied奖。链接： http://web.mit.edu/hockfield/ ； http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Susan_Hockfield 2009年9月我与MIT Susan Hockfield校长合影 艾莉森·理查德 教授 (Prof. Alison Richard , Vice-Chancellor of Cambridge University ) 2003年10月--2010年10月担任 剑桥大学 第344任（Vice-Chancellor ）副 校长（The Vice-Chancellor is the principal academic and administrative officer of the University）， 是剑桥大学自1209年建校以来首任女校长。（ Professor Sir Leszek Borysiewicz was installed as the 345th Vice-Chancellor on 1 October 2010.）。艾莉森·理查德本科毕业于剑桥大学人类学专业，后获 伦敦大学 生物学博士学位。1972年前往 耶鲁大学 ，并于1986年成为该校的人类学教授。1986年至1990年期间担任耶鲁大学人类学系主任，1991年至1994年期间为耶鲁大学 白喉带鹀 （Peabody）自然历史博物馆负责人，并在该博物馆募得2千万资金中发挥了重要作用。1994年至2002年间，她曾任耶鲁大学教务长，主管全校所有系科单位的教育政策和学术策略，包括耶鲁学院、研究生院、10个专业学院、研究中心等。理查德教授还曾是耶鲁大学的财政预算和远期财政规划方面的主要负责人。本资料引自百度网站 http://baike.baidu.com/view/273199.htm 和 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alison_Richard 和http://www.cam.ac.uk/ 剑桥大学副校长： 艾莉森·理查德 美国密苏里哥伦比亚大学的匿名读者补充了 普林斯顿大学的女校长：雪莉-蒂尔曼（Shirley M. Tilghman） 2001 年，分子遗传学专家雪莉-蒂尔曼（Shirley M. Tilghman）出任普林斯顿大学校长，成为该校257 年历史里第一位女校长。因为改善学校女教员的工作和生活等举措，蒂尔曼遭受争议，被批评用“母亲般”的政策改造校园生活。她还和哈佛前校长萨默斯打过笔仗，因为后者 “歧视女性”。普林斯顿大学校长信息链接： http://www.princeton.edu/president/ ； http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shirley_M._Tilghman 普林斯顿大学校长雪莉-蒂尔曼 H angzhou 3月9日评论说宾夕法尼亚大学还有2位女性校长，现介绍如下，欢迎大家继续补充！ Judith Rodin Judith Rodin 1994 年--2004年任宾夕法尼亚大学校长（Judith Rodin was the 7th president of the University of Pennsylvania）。2005年开始她任洛克菲勒基金会主席（ Rockefeller Foundation ）。 参考网址 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Judith_Rodin ； http://www.rockefellerfoundation.org/about-us/board-trustees/judith-rodin-phd Amy Gutmann 校长 2004-现在 Amy Gutmann 任宾夕法尼亚大学校长（Amy Gutmann is the 8th President of the University of Pennsylvania）。参考网址 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amy_Gutmann 欢迎大家继续补充！最好补充一下中国大学的女校长！ 说到中国的女校长，有一位给大家晒晒：中国石油大学（华东）山红红 山红红，女，汉族，1959年9月生，河南郑州人，中共党员，博士，教授，博士生导师。 1982年1月毕业于华东石油学院石油炼制系炼油工程专业，留校任教。1984年9月至1987年7月在华东化工学院能源化工系攻读硕士学位，毕业后回到华东石油学院工作。1991年破格晋升为副教授。1994年10月任石油炼制系副主任，1996年5月任石油炼制系主任。1997年晋升为教授。1999年赴加拿大阿尔伯塔大学（University of Alberta）化工系做访问教授。2004年6月获石油大学工学博士学位。2004年2月任石油大学（华东）党委常委、副校长。2005年7月任中国石油大学（华东）党委常委、校长。长期从事石油加工领域的教学和科研工作。先后主讲6门本科及研究生课程；独立指导硕士研究生20余名；公开出版《炼油工艺基础知识》、《石油加工概论》、《English Reading Course for Chemical Engineering and Petroleum Refining》等3部教材；主持的《石油化学工程人才培养方案及教学内容体系改革的研究与实践》教学改革项目获得山东省教学成果一等奖。（来源： http://www.upc.edu.cn/new_sec/xxld/shh.html ） 经（四川成都的评论人 ）调研西南石油大学 党委副书记、校长杜志敏也是女校长 1976 年 10 月加入中国共产党， 1978 年 7 月毕业于西南石油学院采油工程专业。 1985 年 5 月至 1988 年 9 月在德国克劳斯塔尔工业大学石油工程研究所进修， 1989 年起历任西南石油学院开发系副主任、科研处处长、石油工程系主任， 1999 年 10 月任西南石油学院副院长。 2005 年 9 月任西南石油大学党委副书记、校长。杜志敏同志是“油气藏地质及开发工程”国家重点实验室气田开发学科带头人和固定研究人 员，享受国务院政府特殊津贴专家，四川省学术和技术带头人 , 四川省有突出贡献的优秀专家，中石油集团公司跨世纪学术技术带头人，四川石油学会副理事 长，天然气标委会专家委员，美国石油工程师学会（ SPE ）会员 ， SPEJ 杂志稿件评审员， 《石油学报》编委、《天然气工业》杂志编委会副主任，《西南石油大学学报》主编，全国第五届高校设置评议委员会委员。 长期以来主要从事油气田开发工程、油气藏数值模拟及现代油藏经营管理方面的教学、基础理论及应用技术研究。主持包括“九五”和“十五”国家科技攻关以及国家自然科学基金等国家级项目 5 项，部省级科技攻关项目 10 余项，在高含硫气藏、凝析气藏和致密气藏等特殊气藏渗流理论和工程应用方面形成了研究特色。在国内外各种核心刊物和国际学术会议发表学术论文 130 余篇，其中被 EI 收录 60 多篇。出版专著和译著共 5 部。获国家科技进步二等奖 1 项，四川省科技进步一等奖 2 项，中国石油天然气总公司科技进步一等奖 2 项和中国石油化工集团公司科技进步一等奖 1 项。此外，获国家级教学成果一等奖 1 项、二等奖 1 项，中国石油天然气集团公司教改成果特等奖 1 项。（引自 http://www.swpi.edu.cn/page/jjdzm.shtml ） nfusux 评论到： 密歇根大学安娜堡分校（University of michigan ann arbor） 现任女性校长president Mary Sue Coleman 为第13任校长（2002--现在）。 密歇根大学安娜堡分校 成立于1817年。（引自http://www.umich.edu/pres/aboutmsc.php）。她在1995-2002年任 University of Iowa第18任校长 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mary_Sue_Coleman。 http://www.umich.edu/pres/pdf/mscbio.pdf 弗吉尼亚大学（英文：University of Virginia，UVa或UVA，又称Mr. Jefferson's University或The University）是由托马斯·杰斐逊于美国弗吉尼亚州的夏律第镇创建的一所公立研究型大学。 2010年8月1日就任的弗吉尼亚大学的校长 Dr. Teresa Ann Sullivan也是第一位女校长。（ Dr. Teresa Ann Sullivan (born July 9, 1949 ) is the current president of the University of Virginia . She was unanimously elected on January 11, 2010, and became the University's first female president on August 1, 2010. Previous to her time at the University of Virginia, she was the Provost and Executive Vice President for Academic Affairs at the University of Michigan , and has held administrative positions at the University of Texas . http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Teresa_Sullivan） http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/01/11/AR2010011102330.html 感谢nfusux的细心，博文才得以正确的更新。希望大家继续补充！
在普林斯顿大学做助理教授的日子 精选 【序：对每一位刚刚在清华大学生命科学学院或医学院建立独立实验室的年轻 PI（Principal Investigator），我都会不止一次地忠告：至少要在前三年，你们一定要把自己当成超级博士后，身先士卒、尽全力地在实验室做研究、做自己的课题，同时训练培养博士生、实验员和博士后。只要能够重复你们博士生和博士后阶段的辉煌，你们就不愁在清华拿不到tenure！】 普林斯顿的offer 1997年3月27日下午，在纽约市Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center的实验室里，我接到了来自普林斯顿大学分子生物学系教授Tom Silhavy的电话，“Yigong, I am calling to tell you a piece of good news. Our faculty voted unanimously to offer you a position, at the level of Assistant Professor.”我喜不自胜，“Great！” Tom接着说，“We will be happy to discuss with you about what you may need to set up your independent lab. We hope you will let us know whether you accept our offer by July 1st”我想也没想地就马上回复，“I am very happy to accept your offer.” Tom似乎很意外听到我直截了当的当场回复，竟不知如何反应；他迟疑了片刻，才提醒我，“Well, Yigong, please think it over. You may use this period to negotiate with us about your start-up package.”那天下午是我一生中最高兴的时刻之一！我把好消息与Nikola Pavletich（我的博士后导师）以及实验室的同事们分享。Nikola善意地告诫我，“If I were you, I would NOT tell them that I would accept their offer now. This is your time to cut a better deal!”Nikola故意在“NOT”上加重了语气。 其实，我何尝不知道拿到offer后争取更好待遇的重要性，但普林斯顿大学是我梦幻中的学术圣地，怎能在这种地方讨价还价呢？！这是我的性格。更何况，拿到这个offer实在是惊喜，因为这是我第一次正式的工作面试，事先是做好了失败准备的！ 普林斯顿大学分子生物学系1997年共有两个助理教授（Assistant Professor）的位置，但却有四百多名年轻的博士后科学家申请。经过层层筛选，确定了六个面试人。我作为六人中的一员在2月27日最后一个到普林斯顿面试。去世界著名的普林斯顿，心情既紧张又激动，26日一晚上基本没能睡着，脑子里一遍遍地全是精心准备的介绍我的科研进展的幻灯片。早晨6点起床，赶上了七点从纽约Penn Station开往南方的火车，七点五十抵达普林斯顿。九点整开始面试。 27日上午分别与四位教授举行一对一的每人45分钟面谈，其中一人是2001年成为普林斯顿大学校长的Shirley Tilghman。因为我已经对他们的科研事先有所了解，所以面谈还算顺利；但Shirley在认真讲述了她的科研进展后很意外地考了我一个相关问题，我极为紧张地思考后做了还算得体的回答，她点头称对，我才收了一身冷汗。中午与几位博士生一起午餐。下午一点半午餐后，又与三位教授进行面谈，其中第一位是时任系主任的Tom Shenk，第二位是前系主任、后曾任洛克菲勒大学校长的Arnold Levine。下午4点整，我在系报告厅LTL003给了50分钟的学术报告。我发挥得很好，效果出乎自己的意料，回答问题时已经完全自信。原定晚餐由 Tom Silhavy及另外两名教授参加；我的学术报告后Tom Shenk和Arnold Levine两位重量级教授临时决定共进晚餐，而且Shenk很有暗示意味地对我说，“I think you will become a superstar at Princeton.” 晚餐安排在普林斯顿小城著名的法国餐馆Lahiere’s Restaurant。 Levine介绍说这是爱因斯坦在普林斯顿22年中最喜欢的餐馆；Shenk则指着一张爱因斯坦挂像下面的桌子说，“In a few years, if I invite you to dine at that table, then you will soon receive tenure at Princeton.”。晚餐聊得很开心，根本不象是面试的一个环节。当天晚上我下榻Nassau Inn，由于白天面试的顺利进行，我激动得几乎彻夜难眠，直到凌晨4点多才入睡。第二天继续与8位教授的一对一面谈，包括后来接Shenk做系主任的 Lynn Enquist和1995年的诺贝尔奖得主Eric Wieschaus。由于连续两天没休息好，午餐后我已经筋疲力尽，居然在与Wieschaus面谈时差点打盹，害得我红着脸坦白没有休息好。面试直到 28日下午4点结束，也结束了持续整整两天的面试。老实说，第二天的感觉远不如第一天，心里也有点儿忐忑不安。还好，最终拿到了offer。 创业：做个超级博士后 尽管我可以在1997年的夏天开始普林斯顿的独立实验室，我选择推迟六个月，在1998年1月才正式报到，其中的主要原因是完成我博士后阶段的科研工作，也让自己做更充分的准备。尽管如此，我心里还是感觉诚惶诚恐，不知今后几年的学术生涯能否继续自己博士阶段和博士后训练的辉煌。 Shenk和Levine对我各说了一句让我终生难忘、至今想与每一位年轻PI分享的忠告。和每一位刚刚开始独立实验室的助理教授一样，我担心自己能否顺利申请到科研基金，尤其是NIH的项目经费；这种担心对英语非母语的外国人尤其真实和迫切。1998年1月，初到普林斯顿，我对Shenk表达了这种担心；Shenk回答道，“Yigong，please focus on your research and apply for NIH grants only when you have significant preliminary results. If you fail to obtain any external funding but are doing fantastic research, we will support you! Please don’t worry.”Shenk的这句话打消了我所有的疑虑！只要我的科研出色，即使拿不到外面的经费，系里也会支持我！ 不可否认，每一位助理教授都对能否拿到tenure耿耿于怀；我也一样，从在普林斯顿正式报到的第一天起，就常常想这个问题，而且常常想得很紧张。在 1991至1997的六年中，七位年轻的助理教授试图在分子生物学系拿到tenure；可惜，只有一位成功，其他六人都被迫离开普林斯顿、另谋它职。 Levine看透了我的担心，直截了当地告诉我，“Yigong, think about it: getting tenure is not so difficult. If you can reproduce your track record as a graduate student and a postdoc in the next 5 years, you will get your tenure at Princeton or any other top-notch university in the US.”如果说Shenk的表态打消了我对申请基金的担心，Levine的忠告则让我看清了为拿到tenure而需要努力的目标。Levine进一步提醒我，“The difference is that you were alone as a grad student or postdoc. But now you have a lab full of people to help you. That’s why it should not be difficult to get tenure.”这句话让我信心充足！是啊，我至少会有三、四个人的实验室，加上我，如果这么一批人在一起还不能重复我一个人做博士生和博士后期间的工作分量，我也太笨了，不值得普林斯顿的tenure！ Levine又对我做独立PI提出了具体建议，“Treat yourself as a super-postdoc in the lab during the first 3 years. You must work on your own projects at the bench and supervise your students. This way, you will get your research take off immediately.”我完全接受Levine的建议，不仅天天在实验台上做自己的课题、还尽全力指导博士生和博士后做研究，科研工作很快形成局面，仅用三年就顺利拿到了普林斯顿大学的终身教职。在庆祝我顺利tenure的party上，Levine又一次忠告我，“I know you’ve been working hard on the bench for 3 years. Now your lab is fully established, and you need to shift your focus from bench work to supervision. Some people believe, and I agree, that spending the vast majority of your time on the bench work after being a PI for 5 years won’t make you fantastically successful.” 当时对这条建议我从心里有点不认同，但回望过去十几年的科研经历，这个建议是很有道理的。 我对清华年轻PI的忠告 对每一位刚刚在清华大学生命科学学院或医学院建立独立实验室的年轻PI，我都会不止一次地忠告：至少要在前三年，你们一定要立足于自己是一个超级博士后，身先士卒、尽全力在实验室做研究、做自己的课题，同时帮助训练培养博士生、实验员和博士后。只要能够重复你们博士生和博士后阶段的辉煌，你们就不愁在清华拿不到tenure！当然，我也有信心自己可以像Shenk和Levine一样做好对年轻人的支持工作。只要你们做的研究工作出色，即使在外面拿不到经费，清华也会尽最大的努力支持你们！ 我还告诫这些优秀的年轻人：不要花时间去拉关系，尽全力做研究，以实力取胜！其实，一个人的尊严、学术地位、以及别人发自内心的尊敬，永远不可能靠拉关系获得，只能来源于自己真正的学术修养和贡献。那些天天热衷于拉关系的浮躁科学家，如果没有实实在在的学术成果，即使表面风光，事实上也会被同行（包括一些他拉过关系、关照过他的人）从心里看不起。在学术界，这永远是真理！在美国是，在中国是，在世界上任何国家都一样！
标签: 普林斯顿大学
