Cooperation & Team Updates

Every journey has a starting point and an ending point

Another graduation season has arrived

Congratulations to three outstanding doctoral graduates from the CEADs research group

May you carry your dreams forward and stay true to your original aspirations

We wish you bright futures and every success ahead

CEADs Outstanding Doctoral Graduate Cheng Danyang

Cheng Danyang, a 2019 doctoral student supervised by Professor Guan Dabo, focuses on the economics of global change. Her dissertation is titled "Assessing Sustainable Development Progress and Exploring Green Transition Pathways in Chinese Cities". During her doctoral studies, she published first-author papers in Nature Communications and Global Environmental Change. After graduation, she joined Nature Climate Change as an editor.

My time at Tsinghua has been richly rewarding and without regret. On campus, I encountered extraordinary role models, built friendships with mentors and companions who understood and supported me, and witnessed the clouds part after long persistence. I firmly believe that every hardship and disappointment, every act of perseverance and effort, will eventually become a source of courage, helping me become independent, resilient, and tolerant. The road may be long and difficult, but with action we will arrive; follow the direction of the heart, without asking east or west.

I sincerely thank my advisor, Professor Guan Dabo, for generously sharing academic knowledge and research skills, for support in life, and for encouragement in spirit. Through his words and actions, Professor Guan urged me to keep the original aspiration of seeking knowledge, a grounded sense of responsibility, and the perseverance to continue moving forward in my studies. These qualities will remain the foundation of my future work.

I thank the teachers and students of the CEADs team for giving me the most direct and timely help in research. Together we explored and advanced in research, and cared for one another in life. Working with like-minded people on a cause we all love has become a beautiful memory.

- Cheng Danyang

CEADs Outstanding Doctoral Graduate Qian Yukun

Qian Yukun, a 2017 doctoral student supervised by Professor Guan Dabo, focuses on the economics of climate change. His dissertation is titled "Development and Application of a Methodology for Accounting Consumption-Based Urban Carbon Emission Inventories in Developing Countries". During his doctoral studies, he published several papers in journals including Resources, Conservation and Recycling. He received awards including First Prize in the National Undergraduate Energy Economics Academic Creativity Competition, Beijing Outstanding Student Cadre, the Tsinghua University December 9 Counselor Award, Tsinghua University Outstanding Student Cadre, and Tsinghua University Outstanding Communist Youth League Member.

On my path of study, I am grateful to Professor Guan Dabo for his careful guidance. He provided me with an excellent platform for learning, research, and personal growth, taught me scientific research methods, and enabled me to achieve innovative results in my research. With broad and deep knowledge, a spirit of exploration, and refined academic taste, Professor Guan has always been a role model for me.

I thank the students in the CEADs research group. Exchanges with everyone often inspired new research ideas and became a valuable asset on my academic journey.

With gratitude to Tsinghua, where the beauty of Shuimu gathers and loyal hearts are united.

- Qian Yukun

CEADs Outstanding Doctoral Graduate Lei Tianyang

Lei Tianyang is a 2024 doctoral graduate in ecology from the Department of Earth System Science at Tsinghua University. Supervised by Professor Guan Dabo, his research focuses on fine-scale carbon emission accounting and decarbonization pathway assessment for global energy-intensive industrial facilities. During his doctoral studies, he published three academic papers as first author or co-first author in Nature, One Earth, and The Innovation. His research has received strong attention and detailed investigation from the Energy Administration of the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and several leading international institutions in energy economics. He received honors including Tsinghua University Outstanding Graduate, Tsinghua University Outstanding Graduate Dissertation, Tsinghua University Graduate Special Scholarship, and the National Scholarship for Doctoral Students. He also participated in the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis Young Scientists Summer Program as one of five doctoral representatives from China. He has now joined University College London for postdoctoral research.

Graduation Reflections

Every difficult pass can be crossed, one after another. My doctoral journey has taught me that confusion and uncertainty are normal on the road of life, but every moment of confusion contains the possibility of new discovery and breakthrough. Whether it is sweat shed while striving forward or tears shed while releasing emotion, each will become a shining crystal along the path of life.

Here, I would like to express my sincerest thanks to my advisor, Professor Guan Dabo. Over five years, faced with missing data for tens of thousands of units and slow progress, I thought about giving up several times. Yet Professor Guan’s guidance, encouragement, and recognition helped me persist. He told me to calmly build my core research product, keep cultivating it, and the results would reveal themselves. Those words became the motivation that kept me moving forward. Professor Guan’s incisive academic thinking, rigorous and diligent scholarship, and open and optimistic attitude toward life will benefit me for a lifetime.

I also sincerely thank Professor Meng Jing from the research group for her patient guidance and constant encouragement. Professor Meng’s rigorous, meticulous, diligent, and persistent work attitude has had a deep influence on me. She has been not only a guide on my research path, but also a model who inspires me to pursue excellence and climb higher.

In addition, I sincerely thank Professor Qiao Xiaocui from the research group and Professor Zeng Xiaomu from the Tsinghua University Library for their support and help. Your quiet work behind the scenes, with attentive care and support, enabled me to move forward on my academic path with greater steadiness and confidence.

I thank the Department of Earth System Science at Tsinghua University and all teachers of the CEADs team for their deep care and valuable instruction. I also extend heartfelt thanks to senior colleagues Wang Daoping, Cui Can, Ma Shijun, Qian Yukun, Wang Zhenyu, Li Shuping, and every partner in the research group. During my doctoral studies, you gave me invaluable help and encouragement, allowing me to feel the warmth and strength of the team.

Special thanks go to my academic companion Zhu Jianxing, and to my close friends Liao Cuijuan, Xu Huiying, Jin Huili, Wang Liu, Han Jiajun, and Li Zhaoheng. Your companionship and encouragement along the way gave me the motivation and courage to keep moving forward when facing difficulties and challenges. I also thank Gesang Yangji, Xie Wei, Zhang Zixuan, Shi Zhimin, and Zhang Shu for their continued support and companionship. The friendships I gained are the most precious gifts of my doctoral years, and I look forward to meeting you again at future summits.

Finally, I sincerely thank my parents. You are the strongest support in my life. Your endless support and encouragement enabled me to move forward bravely to this day and become a stronger and more courageous version of myself.

I am grateful for every day when the reading lamp was blown out and moonlight covered everything. I will remember the steadiness and fulfillment brought by hard work and transform them into motivation for the road ahead. A new journey has begun. I will always uphold the Tsinghua spirit of shouldering mission and pursuing excellence, ride the waves in the wider world, write my own brilliant chapter, and let life bloom with a unique light.

- Lei Tianyang

Dr. Lei Tianyang delivered remarks as an outstanding graduate representative of the Class of 2024 at the commencement ceremony

Dear teachers, fellow students, family members, and friends:

Good morning.

I am Lei Tianyang, a doctoral graduate of the 2019 cohort in the Department of Earth System Science. Today, I am deeply honored to stand here and speak as a graduate representative of the department.

First, on behalf of all 2024 graduate students of the Department of Earth System Science, please allow me to express our sincerest gratitude to Tsinghua University, to the department, to our teachers, and to the family members and friends who have accompanied us all the way.

Since the summer of 2018, when I joined the summer camp for outstanding undergraduates and first stepped into Tsinghua, arriving at the Mong Man Wai Science and Technology Building, six years have passed like a dream. Another midsummer has arrived. From the early unease over whether I could join the department to the deep attachment and reluctance I feel today, we have spent so many unforgettable moments here and left behind countless precious memories. We once walked with close friends through the laughter of the anniversary carnival, feeling the struggle and growth of generations of Tsinghua people. During Mid-Autumn Festival, we gathered with classmates in the dining hall, excitedly collecting mooncakes printed with the word Tsinghua and sharing the warmth and sweetness of reunion.

We once ran freely in the Rainbow Run, releasing the colors of youth. We also worked side by side through nights under academic pressure, searching together for answers. Those brightly lit nights witnessed our resilience and hard work. In the past, whenever I passed by a commencement ceremony, I looked with envy at the smiles of senior students who were graduating smoothly. Today, we have finally reached our own graduation moment.

As we prepare to set out, I have sorted through my thoughts and found that my expectations for myself have continued to change. At enrollment, I wanted only to work harder and harder. In the middle of the doctoral program, I wanted to make more and more progress. Now, what I value more is emotional stability and inner abundance. What kind of life gifts, then, has Tsinghua given us over these years?

I believe Tsinghua has given us the steel will of "concentrated dedication, with achievements naturally revealed". My research direction is facility-level carbon emission accounting and decarbonization pathway assessment for global energy-intensive industries. This is an important topic related to global climate governance and carbon neutrality goals of China. Under the guidance of Professor Guan Dabo and with support from the department, I began with the steel industry, a globally recognized hard-to-abate sector, and explored how steel is made, where carbon emissions come from, and how emissions can be reduced. Over five years, faced with missing data for tens of thousands of units and slow progress, I thought about giving up several times, but encouragement from Professor Guan and support from the team helped me persist. Professor Guan told me to calmly build my core research product, keep cultivating it, and the results would reveal themselves. Those words became the motivation that kept me moving forward. In the end, after countless rounds of exploration and refinement, I successfully built a set of fine-scale facility-level carbon emission accounting methods and developed detailed carbon emission inventories for thousands of steel plants worldwide. The related results received close attention and in-depth investigation from the Energy Administration of the National Development and Reform Commission, the Ministry of Science and Technology, and several leading international institutions in energy economics. My experience is the best proof of the phrase "concentrated dedication, with achievements naturally revealed", and I believe it is also a reflection of countless Tsinghua students who pursue academic inquiry with persistence.

I also believe Tsinghua has given us the deep insight of "being there in person and realizing true knowledge". I believe the six-week required social practice for doctoral students is an unforgettable experience for every Tsinghua student. In the summer of 2021, my social practice trip to Shizuishan, Ningxia, let me step out of the campus ivory tower for the first time and see reality beyond the written page. Standing in workshops with high temperatures and pungent smells, facing heavy industrial machinery far larger than any image could convey, I deeply realized that understanding the source of emissions is the most basic research capability that I, as a doctoral student focused on low-carbon transition in energy-intensive industries, should have. This capability cannot be learned from literature alone. At the same time, this experience made me realize that on the path of transition and development, there are still many gaps between research results and industry implementation that require careful thinking. I need to invest more time and energy in field exploration, reading, and reflection on how my research can better serve national development needs. Beyond daily literature reading and academic conferences, having such a comprehensive opportunity to go beyond the usual circle and engage deeply with reality is extremely valuable. I believe these reflections are also shared by many Tsinghua graduate students entering research for the first time. This practice experience, together with other practice resources provided by the university, has become a starting point for us to deeply understand the far-reaching meaning behind the call to write our papers on the land of the motherland.

I further believe Tsinghua has given us the broad vision of "holding the nation in our hearts and looking to the world". The university upholds the principle of being rooted in China while facing the world. With this education, in 2022 I was selected for the Young Scientists Summer Program jointly supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis. As one of five doctoral representatives from Chinese universities, I went to Austria to communicate and collaborate with young scholars from around the world on a top platform for doctoral students in earth science and energy. During that period, I personally experienced Austria as a pioneer in global zero-carbon development, including its leading progress in industrial production, ecological protection, and public communication. I also witnessed the European energy crisis in the winter of 2022 and felt a series of chain reactions such as soaring heating prices and social unease. These experiences made me more convinced that, amid profound global changes unseen in a century, low-carbon transition is not only an academic issue, but also a major topic closely related to the interests of every person. I am also clear that the results of my current work are only a beginning. As climate risks and energy risks intensify, energy-intensive industries are facing unprecedented challenges. The university education has guided me to maintain a global vision and a Chinese commitment. Therefore, after graduation, I chose to go to the United Kingdom to continue my research journey, exploring global solutions for green, low-carbon, and climate-adaptive transitions in energy-intensive industries, contributing to the development of the motherland, and hoping to return after completing my studies.

At this moment, looking back on our years in the Department of Earth System Science, I believe each of us is filled with the steadiness and fulfillment brought by hard work, as well as deep gratitude to the department. The academic feasts of Zijingshan Forum after forum showed us the depth and breadth of earth science. Party organization activities time after time guided the leap of our thinking. Of course, what we will remember most deeply must be the many defenses, from the doctoral qualification exam, proposal defense, and midterm review to the final academic report. On stage, we were always anxious, while the teachers below always offered great patience and encouraging eyes, accompanying and guiding us from morning to dusk. Their sharp insight always identified problems in time and guided us to ride the waves in the ocean of scholarship.

We sincerely thank all teachers. Your rigorous attitude toward research and your careful guidance not only illuminated our academic path, but also pointed the direction for our future lives. We sincerely thank the administrative teachers and research assistants of the department. Your quiet work behind the scenes, with attentive care and support, enabled us to move forward on our academic path with greater steadiness and confidence. And of course, we must not forget the classmates who struggled alongside us. Meeting and accompanying you is a precious gift from our years of study in the department.

We often say that every difficult pass can be crossed, one after another. The doctoral journey has taught us that confusion and uncertainty are normal on the road of life, but every moment of confusion contains the possibility of new discovery and breakthrough. Whether it is sweat shed while striving forward or tears shed while releasing emotion, each will become a shining crystal along the path of life. Fellow students, we are about to begin new journeys in life and pursue our own dreams in the wider world. May all of us raise the sails of our times, ride the waves, write brilliant chapters of our own, and let life bloom with unique light.

Finally, let us remember these unforgettable years as classmates, and say from the heart, thank you, to the teachers who enlightened our minds, to the classmates who shared storms and sunshine with us, and to the family members and friends who gave us unwavering support. At this moment, standing side by side with you is the honor of my life. Let us always remember the Tsinghua spirit of shouldering mission and pursuing excellence, move forward together, and create the future.