Young researchers of the National Defense Science and Technology Innovation Research Institute of the Academy of Military Sciences work in the laboratory. Photographed by Si Yuqi

On October 26, young researchers from the National Defense Science and Technology Innovation Institute of the Academy of Military Sciences discussed scientific research topics. Photographed by Li Yichen

The Military Museum of the Chinese People's Revolution saw an endless stream of visitors. Among the comings and goings of the audience, a young figure stood for a long time in front of the display board.

Cao Lu, a researcher of the National Defense Science and Technology Innovation Research Institute of the Academy of Military Sciences, was full of pride when he watched the picture of a certain satellite on the exhibition board of the "New Era National Defense and Military Construction Achievement Exhibition". Looking at the familiar smiling faces in the photos, Cao Lu remembered the time when she developed satellites——

They used to sit in front of the computer in the middle of the night with unkempt hair and dirty face, tapping code, and also used to look for interference factors everywhere... The bitter in the memory, the more the taste, the sweeter the feeling.

"The times call on us, and the people expect us. Only by unswerving and unswerving, can we live up to the times and the people." At this moment, Cao Lu felt more deeply after reading the sentence in the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China again. "Fortunately, our generation of young scientists and researchers has caught up with a good era! I am very proud to forge ahead in the journey of building a strong military through science and technology."

The power of youth, the cause of innovation. At the National Defense Science and Technology Innovation Research Institute of the Academy of Military Sciences, many young researchers like Cao Lu are brave to innovate and willing to bear hardships on the stage of building a strong military through science and technology, constantly improving the contribution rate of scientific research achievements to the growth of combat effectiveness, and accelerating the transformation of science and technology into combat effectiveness.

"Deeply studying, publicizing and implementing the spirit of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC), specifically speaking, for our young researchers, is to join the tide of the era of national defense technology innovation, take root in the front line of scientific research, and be good young people in the new era who have ideals, dare to take responsibility, can bear hardships, and are willing to struggle." Cao Lu said.

A broad stage, opening the curtain in front of this group of young people

"The people's army has a new system, a new structure, a new pattern, and a new look." Zhang Yongjun, president of the National Defense Science and Technology Innovation Institute of the Academy of Military Sciences, was particularly impressed by the in-depth study of the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China——

The National Defense Science and Technology Innovation Institute is a newly established unit after reform and adjustment. In the past five years, following the joint growth of the Institute, Zhang Yongjun has personally experienced changes in the system, structure, pattern and outlook brought about by the reform.

In January 2018, a group of young people with an average age of over 30 gathered from all directions to enter this scientific research institution, which has been officially established for only three months. Among them are doctors who have returned from abroad, military school teachers who teach and educate people, and scientific researchers who have taken root in the front line for a long time.

A broad stage is opened in front of the young people. However, a new stage means a new challenge.

For the first party congress after the founding of the Academy, they added a special content - collective organization to watch the movie "Born in the Sky".

Silent desert, the sound of counting seconds sounds gently - 5, 4, 3, 2, 1, detonate! The huge mushroom cloud rose, and the sun like brightness lit up the whole Lop Nor. A group of scientific researchers cheered and rushed down from the hillside

This is a shocking picture in the movie Born in the Sky. "Get the atomic bomb and straighten your waist." General Zhang Aiping once said that the atomic bomb is not a weapon, but a spirit. The victory epic of developing the atomic bomb many years ago still has endless enlightenment for today's scientific researchers.

Since then, it has become a tradition for the officers and soldiers of the Academy to watch The Birth in the Sky. Wang Xintian, the deputy political commissar of the Academy, said with emotion that every time he saw it, he would get different feelings.

"People who are born in the sky will be born in the sky." Each researcher of the Institute has his own understanding of this sentence.

"My application for the first project was completed in the dormitory temporarily borrowed at that time," recalled young researcher Qiang Xiaogang.

In the middle of the night, Qiang Xiaogang seems to see himself lying on the dormitory table and staying up late: an old table, a buzzing computer, a crisp keyboard sound, and pages of reference materials

At that time, Qiang Xiaogang was single. Over the past few years, from one person to a group of people, the ideas put forward in the project application gradually become reality.

Only by daring to innovate can we have the joy of realizing our dreams. In 2021, China ushered in another major breakthrough in the quantum field. According to Xinhua News Agency, researchers have developed the first programmable optical quantum chip for solving graph theory problems, which is an important step towards realizing practical optical quantum computers. Relevant papers were published in the journal Progress of Science, and Qiang Xiaogang was "born in the sky" as the first author. Now, we have entered the laboratory of Qiang Xiaogang's team again, and more results are waiting for further testing.

Back in 2009, Qiang Xiaogang stood at another important crossroads in his life: did graduate students choose the direction of electronic information when they were undergraduates, or the direction of cutting-edge but unfamiliar quantum information? After some thinking, he chose a "more long-term direction, though full of difficulties".

Brilliant dreams originate from individuals and transcend individuals, originate from reality and transcend reality. From his student days to the present, Qiang Xiaogang has encountered many difficulties on the road of studying quantum technology, both academic and non research, but he never flinched.

At the beginning of the founding of the Institute, the leaders of the Institute said at a meeting: "To gather you here is not to find a basket to load your past achievements and continue to work on your own stall, but to set a common goal and do something important together..."

"What is a major event?" Qiang Xiaogang kept the question in his mind. Until October 2020, he saw a news: the Political Bureau of the CPC Central Committee held the 24th collective learning on the prospects of quantum technology research and application. President Xi stressed that "we should fully understand the importance and urgency of promoting the development of quantum science and technology, strengthen the strategic planning and systematic layout of quantum science and technology development, grasp the general trend, and play a good first hand."

Qiang Xiaogang's heart swelled with heat. The optical quantum chip technology he studied is the frontier direction of quantum technology. He was always calm, but now he was not calm: "No matter how hard you spell it, it's worth it!"

"What I am doing now is what I want to do. When personal ideals and national interests are combined, no matter how hard it is, I will never feel bitter," said Qiang Xiaogang.

In the opinion of researcher Cao Lu, ideals are born naturally on the road of common struggle. "I hope that the work of my colleagues can be perfectly concentrated on one satellite to meet the needs of the country to the greatest extent."

After studying the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Cao Lu became more and more clear about the future direction. "President Xi proposed that, guided by the national strategic needs, we should gather strength to carry out original and leading scientific and technological breakthroughs, and resolutely win the battle against key core technologies. Our mission is incumbent on us."

"Innovation must be young, and this era especially needs you young people"

In the office building of the Research Institute, the blue light belt on the wall extends all the way forward, leading people to the "two bombs and one star" spiritual and cultural museum at the end of the corridor.

"The gene of an army determines the future of an army." Lu Zhou, the political commissar of the academy, said that they chose to use the spirit of "two bombs and one star" to build a solid spiritual foundation for this new army.

Red and blue are the two main colors of the pavilion.

Red is a reflection of loyalty. From the "two bombs and one star" heroes to the younger generation of scientific researchers, we can see from them what is "one generation has a mission, one generation has a responsibility".

Blue is the symbol of technology. In the past five years, a large number of major scientific research achievements focused on preparing for war and aiming at intelligent technology poured out, demonstrating the era responsibility of this new strategic scientific and technological force.

In that year, researcher Yao Wen and several other research backbones visited academician Sun Jiadong, the "two bombs and one star" veteran. Academician Sun Jiadong said to them, "Innovation requires youth, and this era especially needs young people like you."

The first generation of entrepreneurs in the Institute have the same feelings for Sun Lao's entrustment and expectations. "What is the founder? The half buried in the soil," said Yin Erwei, an associate researcher.

"If there are people, there will be things. If there are no talents, we will absorb talents." India Erwei and his colleagues boldly tried to form a team quickly by jointly cultivating graduate students. In this way, they have grown from five or six people at the beginning to become the only established team in this field in the whole military. Their research achievements have won the first prize and other awards in the first "Innovation Cup" National Defense Science and Technology Innovation Competition held by the Science and Technology Commission of the Military Commission.

In the opinion of India Erwei, the rapid development of the team cannot be separated from the strong support of the institute leaders. The Party Committee of the Academy has a slogan: "We should take the initiative to shoulder the responsibility for the young people who work for us."

Among the numerous subjects of the Institute, there are some technical problems that cannot be solved in books. At this time, we must make a choice if we dare to explore boldly and innovate.

"If one day our National Defense Science and Technology Innovation Institute dare not innovate, it will be our biggest dereliction of duty." A sentence at the plenary meeting of the Party Committee set off a "brainstorm" for everyone.

The leaders of the research institute took the lead in entering the front line of scientific research, raising scientific research funds from various sources, building laboratories and purchasing experimental equipment; For some key projects with high risks, leading cadres and project leaders shall take the lead in signing and undertake on-site responsibilities; It is necessary to coordinate major activities of external resources, and the leading cadres come out in person to "boost" the scientific research personnel.

At that time, in order to apply for scientific research projects, India Erwei led his team for many brightly lit nights.

As he led his team farther and farther, India Erwei gradually realized that "happiness is actually the passion and belief of the director for entrepreneurship."

Guo Pengyu, an associate researcher, spent nearly two-thirds of the year on business trips, and his wife alone with two children and two elderly people to support the home; Zhang Fei, an assistant researcher, gave up his research field after years of hard work in order to achieve the overall goal of the team. He is regarded by his colleagues as a "no job" person.

"Being in an unprecedented era, we need to strengthen our responsibilities, work hard, forge ahead, and seize the commanding heights of future military science and technology competition." India Erwei said confidently, "Under the guidance of the spirit of the 20th CPC National Congress, my comrades in arms and I will integrate our youth wisdom into military scientific research and innovation."

"Screws should not only bear the loneliness of time, but also the sense of urgency of tightening sometimes"

At midnight, everything is quiet. In the corridor of the office building of the National Institute of Defense Technology Innovation, several beams of light came out from the closed door of the office.

Inside, there is another world. The sound of keyboard tapping is heard all the time. A group of young people sit quietly in front of the computer, immersed in the world of "0" and "1" created by themselves.

Such scenes are normal for this group of young researchers. Perhaps, in the eyes of others, working overtime day and night is very hard. However, for Chen Renzhi, an assistant researcher, physical suffering cannot be called suffering.

Chen Renzhi was deeply impressed by the words of a philosopher: "People are dominated by desires. If they are not satisfied with their desires, they will suffer. If they are satisfied, they will be bored. Life is like a pendulum swinging between pain and boredom."

In the field of Chen Renzhi's research, it often takes a long time to see the results. "Before breaking the ground, no one knows how they are doing," said Chen Renzhi.

The answer will be announced when the finished product is verified. Successful verification is success; If not, months of hard work will go to waste. However, this field must move forward without stopping, and there will never be a day when we can stop. As a result, Chen Renzhi fell into an infinite cycle of "striving for months, being happy for two days, and continuing to struggle".

"The most depressing thing is that no one knows what you are doing, even the colleagues next door do not know what you are busy with. Sometimes, if you want to share your achievements with others, no one understands, you can only touch your nose and go back to work," said Chen Renzhi.

In this huge project, each researcher is just a screw. "Screws should not only bear the loneliness of time, but also the sense of urgency to tighten them sometimes."

At first, Chen Renzhi did not understand the meaning behind this sentence. With the deepening of research in this field, Chen Renzhi is becoming more and more aware that this sense of urgency is becoming the driving force for him and his comrades in arms to speed up.

"We are making progress, and our opponents have not stopped. Our advantage is to keep going in the right direction of Chinese style modernization." After in-depth study of the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, Chen Renzhi is more confident about the next step of tackling key problems, "The report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China has outlined a grand blueprint for us. We should aim at independent innovation in the frontier field of military science and technology, and contribute our own strength to achieve self-reliance and self-improvement in high-level science and technology."

Although the battle positions are different, our goals are the same

From the university campus to the army, Zuo Yuan, an assistant researcher, often uses the word "landing" in scientific research. "To use the words in the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) is to accelerate the transformation of science and technology into combat effectiveness," he said.

At the beginning of work, every time a military officer asked Zuo Yuan, "How do you use the new equipment you developed?" Zuo Yuan always replied simply, "You will know after using it."

Gradually, Zuo Yuan found that there was a long distance between "theoretically usable", "practically usable" and "battlefield usable" when he used new equipment on the ground.

When talking about his original childishness, the dark faced young man smiled sheepishly.

Go to the plateau, go to the island, break through the dense forest, and step on the Gobi...... Over the years, Zuoyuan has always been on the front line of the army. "When we do scientific research, we must go to the army!" Zuoyuan was deeply impressed by the experience of several trips to the army

The achievements of military scientific research must serve the practice of training. In July this year, Zuo Yuan followed his team to the plateau to participate in the live drill. If he did not come to the front line of the army, he would never have thought that the first thing to adjust was not the new equipment itself, but the control of equipment. The exchange and collision with front-line officers and soldiers gave researchers new directions and ideas for the research and development of new equipment in the future.

On the plateau, Zuo Yuan once helped medical researchers collect blood oxygen data of officers and soldiers. "Do you know what the hands of the officers and soldiers on the plateau look like?" Zuo Yuan stretched out his hands and compared them with those of his comrades on the plateau. "The root of his nails was sunken, the nail surface was straight without any radian, and his fingers were rough as if they had been planted for decades."

At that moment, Zuo Yuan realized that when he was sitting in the clean office everyday and tapping code, there was such a group of young comrades in arms, breathing thin oxygen, exposed to strong ultraviolet light with their hands and guns, and built a living boundary stone with flesh and blood.

Holding the hand of the frontier defense comrades tightly, Zuo Yuan has a responsibility of "thinking more about what to do for them".

"Although our positions are different, our goals are the same. We hope to solve more practical problems for them through our efforts in scientific research." This move and responsibility has become the motivation to support young researchers to overcome difficulties.

In order to focus on the concept of scientific research for war and serving the army from "the first kilometer" to "the last kilometer", the Institute organizes strength normalization to go deep into the front-line research of combat troops, so that military scientific research achievements can truly move to the training ground and practice.

Since we have been in the front line of the army for a long time, "others joked that we are a group of 'anti migratory birds' - to do experiments, we run north in winter and south in summer." Associate researcher Nie Yiming said.

Last Mid Autumn Festival, Nie Yiming and his team were doing experiments in remote desert. The leaders of the research institute came to express their condolences, but the conditions were limited, so they had to buy a few kilograms of steamed buns in the nearest county seat to take them there.

"After the success of the experiment, we sat around, ate steamed stuffed buns, and watched the bright moon on the Gobi Desert. The moon was very round that night." Nie Yiming thought of that scene, and had a lot of aftertaste.

"After studying the report of the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China, I deeply realized that only by going deep into the front line of the army, working hard, constantly learning and improving, capacity expansion and skill upgrading, can scientific research work make new achievements in the generation of new areas and new qualities." This is Nie Yiming's voice, and also the consensus and direction of efforts of many young researchers in the Institute. (He Yishu, Shao Longfei, Ren Fei, Zhang Zhihua)

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