He built a bridge from the classroom to the cutting - edge of scientific research for students with a laboratory and an interest group; He adopted the scientific research training mode of "old bringing new and experienced bringing freshmen", which stimulated undergraduates' interest in and potential for scientific research; He led students to cooperate with top domestic and international institutions, and regularly invited well - known domestic experts to conduct academic exchanges, publishing dozens of scientific research papers in high - level journals such as Physical Review B. He is Liu Min, a lecturer and master's supervisor at the School of Nuclear Science and Technology, University of South China.
In 2019, Liu Min established the "Mössbauer Spectroscopy" interest group to focus on cultivating undergraduates' research abilities. Liu Min built a low-temperature Mössbauer spectroscopy experimental platform and offered innovative open experimental courses. From experimental operation to innovative thinking training, she gradually inspired students' research enthusiasm and confidence, guiding them into the world of scientific research. Now, the group has developed from an initial research team with only a few students into a research team with 25 members.
The Team’s Group photo
"To enable students to view the world from the cutting edge of their disciplines," this is the concept Liu Min has always adhered to. To this end, he has taken the initiative to act as a bridge, promoting cooperation between interest groups and more than 20 universities and research institutions including Wuhan University, Southern University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, giving students the opportunity to "go out" for exchanges and learning. At the same time, he has actively "invited them in," inviting more than 10 experts and scholars such as Professor Fu Dejun, the person in charge of the Accelerator Laboratory of Wuhan University, and Professor Zhang Yuanzhu of Southern University of Science and Technology, to conduct more than 10 online academic reports, bringing students the most cutting-edge academic developments in their disciplines.
Every year, when new students enroll, interest groups attract them to join through presentations, reports, and other forms. Meanwhile, the interest groups adopt a free entry and exit mechanism, allowing students to independently decide whether to stay in the team based on their own interests, abilities, and energy. This model not only provides students with room for trial and error but also allows the team to gradually gather peers who truly love scientific research, have outstanding potential, and are well-matched with the research direction.
As soon as the students joined the group, Liu Min set out to build a systematic scientific research training system. He guided the students in conducting literature retrieval and study, tracking the latest scientific research achievements at home and abroad; he taught the students to operate basic scientific research software such as Jade, Origin, and Mosswinn, allowing them to fully engage in scientific research from tool usage to research logic. In his view, the improvement of research ability is inseparable from "practice + inheritance", so the "senior guiding junior, experienced guiding novice" model came into being: senior students can consolidate their own knowledge and discover thinking gaps while guiding freshmen; freshmen can quickly adapt to the research rhythm and build confidence through mutual help.
To the left is Yang Jiangbo, and to the right is Teacher Liu Min.
Yang Jiangbo, a student of the 2022 cohort, has a deep understanding of this. In his freshman year, he joined an interest group. With the help of seniors and sisters, he gradually moved from a novice who knew nothing to the path of scientific research, and planted a seed for scientific research. He brought the scientific research thinking he developed in the research group into the competition, developed the "Mössbauer Spectrum Plotting Software", and successfully won the third prize at the national level in the 10th National College Students "Nuclear + X" Innovation Competition.
Liu Min encourages team members to learn from each other and complement each other's strengths and weaknesses. When team members face critical decisions, he will provide them with advice based on the actual situation. Wu Yiren, a student in the 2023 cohort, was very frustrated and wanted to give up during a scientific research project because he couldn't get results. Instead of urging him to persevere, Liu Min encouraged him to change his "battlefield". "It's okay. If you find it difficult to do theoretical work, you can start with experiments," Liu Min said. Wu Yiren decided to accept the teacher's professional advice. "Looking back now, that sentence directly changed my life," Wu Yiren said.
Teacher Liu Min took a group photo with students including Li Zheng and Wu Yiren.
When Yang Jiangbo first started his experiment, he encountered difficulties in using experimental equipment and data analysis, which made him feel a bit at a loss. Fortunately, Li Zheng, a senior from the 2021 class, taught him how to correctly use the drying oven and muffle furnace step by step, and demonstrated in detail the calculation process of sample preparation ratios, helping him overcome these difficulties and enabling him to carry out his experimental work smoothly. In terms of academic direction, Li Zheng needed to respond to the professional questions raised by reviewers regarding the principles of Mössbauer spectroscopy. Yang Jiangbo, with his solid foundation in Mössbauer spectroscopy simulation that he had learned before, carefully reviewed the relevant knowledge and prepared detailed response materials. Through his help, Li Zheng not only successfully responded to the reviewers' questions but also gained a deeper understanding of the principles of Mössbauer spectroscopy, ultimately completing a response that satisfied the reviewers.
In addition, to better integrate the resources within the group, Yang Jiangbo proactively built a one-stop website named "Mossbauer". This website provides group members with a convenient paper retrieval function, making it easy for everyone to quickly find the required literature resources. In addition, the website integrates various AI tools and services, which can assist group members in programming and code learning, further enhancing the overall scientific research ability and collaboration efficiency of the team. His innovative initiative has significantly improved work efficiency and has been unanimously praised by all group members. Yang Jiangbo and Li Zheng are not only master and disciple but also each other's "mentors" and more like "comrades-in-arms" fighting side by side. Under the careful guidance of Teacher Liu Min, Yang Jiangbo and Li Zheng have supported each other, collaborated sincerely, and jointly promoted the group's scientific research work. Teacher Liu Min not only pointed out the direction for their research but also continuously encouraged and helped them overcome difficulties together, providing them with valuable support and advice.
By 2025, more than 40 students from this interest group have won awards in various science and technology competitions. The Mössbauer spectrum fitting software and magnetic software independently developed by the students have also obtained relevant patents. Batch after batch of students start from here and enter first-class universities for further studies, bringing the scientific research spirit and abilities they gained in Nanhuayuan to a broader academic platform.
