Shen Zhiqiang

Shen Zhiqiang ( Chinese  沈志强  /  沈志强 , Pinyin Shěn Zhìqiáng ), born March 1965 in Shanghai , is a Chinese astrophysicist and local politician of the Communist Party of China . Since January 1, 2018, he has been the director of the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory .

Live and act

Born in Shanghai in March 1965, Shen Zhiqiang first studied at the Department of Astronomy at Nanjing University , where he obtained the title of Bachelor (学士) in 1986. Then he moved to the University of Beijing , where he received his master's degree in astrophysics from the then geophysics department (地球物理 系 天体 物理 专业, since October 26, 2001 "Institute for Earth and Space Sciences" / 地球 与 空间 科学 学院) made.

Then returned Shen Zhiqiang in his hometown and began at the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory, an institute Chinese Academy of Sciences , a post-graduate studies . During this time he also worked with a Smithsonian Predoctoral Fellowship at the Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics in Cambridge, Massachusetts . Even then, not least because of his language skills, he was involved in international long-base interferometry projects, which is also abbreviated to "VLBI" in Chinese because of the English term Very Long Baseline Interferometry . For example, in November 1992 and May 1993 he was significantly involved in the recording of extragalactic radio sources as part of the Southern Hemisphere VLBI Experiment Program, SHEVE for short , where, in addition to four radio observatories in Australia and one in South Africa, the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory also belongs to 25 m telescope in Sheshan provided the observation data.

Shen Zhiqiang finally obtained his doctorate (理学 博士, i.e. Dr. rer. Nat.) In 1996 at the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory. In July 1998, he went to Japan, where he worked first at the State Observatory , then until September 2002 at the then Research Institute for Space Science of the Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology as a foreign visiting scholar, after which Shen Zhiqiang worked for another year as a visiting scientist at the Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics of Academia Sinica in Taipei , until he returned to Shanghai in September 2003 as part of the return program for geniuses working abroad (引进 国外 杰出人才, Pinyin Yǐnjìn Guówài Jiéchū Réncái ) of the Mainland Chinese Academy of Sciences and on local observatory took up a position as a science council (研究员) with the rank of professor.

Sagittarius A *

The academy's return program was not aimed at talented students who still had to find their place, but at established scientists who not only had professional qualifications but also the ability to lead people and who could immediately lead a working group with which they could conduct research at an international level had to operate. In the case of Shen Zhiqiang, this was the VLBI laboratory (VLBI 研究室, Pinyin VLBI Yánjiūshì ) of the observatory, which he took over. Shen Zhiqiang had been working on the radio source Sagittarius A * in the constellation Sagittarius since June 2003, when he was still in Taiwan . In Shanghai he continued these observations with great intensity and was able to present strong indications in the British journal Nature on November 3, 2005 that Sgr A * is actually a supermassive black hole . The detailed investigations continue to this day and, as is the case with long-base interferometry, are carried out by scientists from all over the world.

The article in Nature was commented extensively in the same issue by an astronomer from the University of Maryland , and in China itself the report was voted one of the top 10 basic research news items in 2005 by a commission of over 1900 scholars. This not only increased Shen Zhiqiang's personal profile, but also the reputation of the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory. In 2008, the Shanghai city government, together with the People's Republic of China's Lunar Program and the Academy of Sciences, approved funding for the construction of a 65-meter radio telescope in Tianma , not far from the existing 25-meter telescope in Sheshan . The scientific and administrative management of the project was held by Shen Zhiqiang and Hong Xiaoyu, then director of the Shanghai Observatory and at the Academy of Sciences for the expansion of the Chinese VLBI network (中国 VLBI 网, Pinyin Zhōngguó VLBI Wǎng ). After the new radio telescope was officially put into operation on October 28, 2012, Shen Zhiqiang - he was appointed Deputy Director of the observatory in July 2012 - headed the "Tianma Telescope Research Group" (天马 望远镜 研究 团组, Pinyin Tiānmǎ Wàngyuǎnjìng Yánjiū Tuánzǔ ). Since January 2016, his group has been conducting research on star formation and the interstellar medium there, initially until December 2020 . In the summer of 2017, they discovered a large amount of glycolaldehyde and ethylene glycol in the Sagittarius B2 molecular cloud .

Of course, a radio telescope costing more than 200 million yuan (in terms of purchasing power about 200 million euros) was not only used for basic research. The Chinese Space Agency's lunar probes require a series of complicated orbit correction maneuvers to reach their destination. For this, a precise determination of the respective position of the probes is essential, for which in addition to the 7 ground stations and 5 orbit tracking vessels of the space control network operated by the Xi'an satellite control center (中国 航天 测控 网, Pinyin Zhōnggúo Hángtiān Cèkòngwǎng ), the civilian VLBI network of the Academy of Sciences also used becomes. Starting with the Chang'e-3 mission in 2013, Tianma was involved in the joint VLBI orbital measurement system (VLBI 测 轨 系统, Pinyin VLBI Cèguǐ Xìtǒng ), and when the telescope was being built, it was planned to use it for future Mars missions .

On January 1, 2018, Shen Zhiqiang succeeded Hong Xiaoyu as director of the Shanghai Astronomical Observatory. In addition to his own research and administrative work, he still has to supervise doctoral students, in his case students of astrophysics with projects in the field of radio astronomy. He always performed the latter task in an exemplary manner; he was born on 17 July 2006 by the Graduate School of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (中国科学院研究生院, Pinyin Zhōngguó Kēxuéyuàn Yánjiūshēngyuàn , in June 2012 " University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences ") of the honorary title of "Outstanding Teacher" (优秀教师, Pinyin Yōuxiù Jiàoshī ) awarded.

Shen Zhiqiang is also involved with the CCP in Shanghai local politics. In the 2006/2011 legislative period, he was a member of the Chongming Commission of the Political Consultative Conference of the Chinese People (中国 人民 政治协商会议 上海市 崇明 县 委员会), head of the parliamentary group Public Welfare and Social Insurance, Ethnic Minorities and Religious Communities (社会 福利 和 社会 保障、 少数民族 、 宗教界 别 小组). In the local elections on December 27, 2017, he was elected as one of 43 MPs for the Changning District in the Shanghai City Council (上海市 人民 代表 大会). At the constituent meeting of the City Council on January 29, 2018, he was then appointed to the Committee on Education, Science, Culture and Hygiene (教育 科学 文化 卫生 委员会).

Web links

• English-language publications by Shen Zhiqiang

Individual evidence

1. ↑ 段 树 民 、 沈志强 获 上海市 第 十届 科技 精英 称号. In: http://www.shb.cas.cn . January 11, 2008, Retrieved February 25, 2019 (Chinese). 
2. ^ The Smithsonian Institution Fellowship Program (SIFP). In: https://www.smithsonianofi.com . November 1, 2018, accessed February 26, 2019 . 
3. ↑ Around 1990 there were still a few older scientists, mainly in engineering, who were able to speak Russian after studying in Moscow, but English was hardly widespread outside the narrow circle of English students at the time.
4. ^ DL Jauncey et al .: The Southern Hemisphere VLBI Experiment program, SHEVE. In: http://adsabs.harvard.edu . Accessed February 26, 2019 . 
5. ↑ Shen Zhiqiang et al .: A 5-GHz Southern Hemisphere VLBI Survey of Compact Radio Sources - I. In: https://arxiv.org . September 14, 1997, accessed February 26, 2019 .  Please note: Hong Xiaoyu (洪晓瑜, * 1961), 2005–2017 director of the Shanghai Observatory, main person in charge of VLBI orbital measurements for the Chang'e-1 and Chang'e-2 lunar missions and the Yinghuo-1, also participated in this project Mars mission, and one of the coordinators of the Chinese VLBI network .
6. ↑ Visiting Scholar. In: http://www.asiaa.sinica.edu.tw . Retrieved February 27, 2019 . 
7. ↑ 段 树 民 、 沈志强 获 上海市 第 十届 科技 精英 称号. In: http://www.shb.cas.cn . January 11, 2008, accessed February 27, 2019 (Chinese). 
8. ↑ 专家 人才 库 沈志强. In: http://sourcedb.shao.cas.cn . Retrieved February 25, 2019 (Chinese). 
9. ↑ 中国科学院 关于 引进 国外 杰出人才 的 管理 办法. In: http://www.cas.cn . February 28, 2012, Retrieved February 28, 2019 (Chinese). 
10. ↑ 沈志强: 科学 是 充满 魅力 的 “黑洞”. In: http://www.cas.cn . June 21, 2010, Retrieved February 28, 2019 (Chinese). 
11. ↑ To Tao et al .: The simultaneous VLA observations of Sgr A * from 90 to 0.7 cm. In: https://arxiv.org . December 30, 2004, accessed February 28, 2019 . 
12. ^ To Tao et al .: Simultaneous Multi-Wavelength Observations of Sgr A *. In: https://arxiv.org . October 12, 2005, accessed February 28, 2019 . 
13. ↑ Shen Zhiqiang et al .: A size of∼1 AU for the radio source Sgr A * at the center of the Milky Way. In: https://www.nature.com . November 3, 2005, accessed March 1, 2019 . 
14. ↑ Shen Zhiqiang et al .: A size of∼1 AU for the radio source Sgr A * at the center of the Milky Way. In: https://arxiv.org . December 26, 2005, accessed February 28, 2019 .  Full text of the article.
15. ^ Gisela N. Ortiz-León et al .: The Intrinsic Shape of Sagittarius A * at 3.5-mm Wavelength. In: https://arxiv.org . March 14, 2016, accessed February 28, 2019 . 
16. ↑ Christopher Reynolds: Light on a dark place. In: https://www.nature.com . November 3, 2005, accessed March 1, 2019 . 
17. ↑ Christopher Reynolds: Dr. Christopher S. Reynolds. In: https://www.astro.umd.edu . Retrieved March 1, 2019 . 
18. ↑ 李志强: 2005 年度 中国 基础 研究 十大 新闻 揭晓. In: http://news.lzu.edu.cn . February 27, 2006, Retrieved March 1, 2019 (Chinese). 
19. ↑ 邵 茵: 在 上海 的 留学 回国 人员. In: http://www.shtong.gov.cn . March 20, 2009, Retrieved March 1, 2019 (Chinese). 
20. ↑ Shen Zhiqiang: Tian Ma 65-m Radio Telescope. In: https://science.nrao.edu . May 19, 2014, accessed March 1, 2019 . 
21. ↑ 专家 人才 库 洪晓瑜. In: http://sourcedb.shao.cas.cn . Retrieved February 26, 2019 (Chinese). 
22. ↑ 上海 天文台 历任 领导. In: http://www.shao.cas.cn . Retrieved March 1, 2019 (Chinese). 
23. ↑ 沈志强: 个人 主页 沈志强. In: http://people.ucas.edu.cn . Retrieved March 1, 2019 (Chinese). 
24. ↑ 李娟 、 沈志强: 我 台 天马 望远镜 团组 发现 银 心 巨 分子 云 中 存在 大量 的 复杂 有机 分子. In: http://www.shao.ac.cn . October 13, 2017, accessed March 1, 2019 (Chinese). 
25. ^ Li Juan et al .: Widespread Presence of Glycolaldehyde and Ethylene Glycol Around Sagittarius B2. In: https://arxiv.org . September 29, 2017, accessed March 3, 2019 . 
26. ↑ Andrew Jones: Queqiao update: Chang'e-4 lunar relay satellite Establishing halo orbit after approaching Lagrange point. In: https://gbtimes.com . June 1, 2018, accessed March 2, 2019 . 
27. ↑ 杜 苗: 航拍 上海 65 米 射 电 天文 望远镜 工地 计划 2015 年 完工. In: http://tech.ifeng.com . April 6, 2012, Retrieved March 2, 2019 (Chinese). 
28. ↑ 沈志强: 个人 主页 沈志强. In: http://people.ucas.edu.cn . Retrieved March 2, 2019 (Chinese). 
29. ↑ 中科院 研究生 院 首次 评选 优秀 教师 和 优秀 教育 工作者. In: http://news.ucas.ac.cn . Retrieved March 2, 2019 (Chinese). 
30. ↑ 历史 沿革. In: http://www.ucas.edu.cn . Retrieved March 2, 2019 (Chinese). 
31. ↑ 上海 崇明 区 人民政府 今日 正式 挂牌. In: http://news.ifeng.com . January 13, 2017, Retrieved March 3, 2019 (Chinese). 
32. ↑ 关于 政协 崇明 县 第十二届 委员会 界别 召集人 任职 的 通知. In: http://zhengxie.shcm.gov.cn . March 12, 2007, Retrieved March 3, 2019 (Chinese). 
33. ↑ 上海市 第十五 届 人民 代表 大会 代表 名单 公布. In: http://www.spcsc.sh.cn . December 27, 2017, Retrieved March 3, 2019 (Chinese). 
34. ↑ 姜萍萍 、 常 雪梅: 上海市 人民 代表 大会 公告 第八 号. In: http://renshi.people.com.cn . January 30, 2018, Retrieved February 25, 2019 (Chinese). 

Note: This article places the family name before the person's first name. This is the usual order in Chinese. Shen is the family name here, Zhiqiang is the first name.