The 2024 Tsinghua-Princeton-Combustion Institute Summer School on Combustion was successfully held on July 7-13 on the campus of Tsinghua University. This year, renowned professors in the field of combustion, such as Chung K. Law from Princeton University, Henry Curran from University of Galway, Professor Andreas Dreizler from TU Darmstadt and Professor Tianfeng Lu from University of Connecticut, were invited to give lectures. Their presentations covered the fundamentals of flame physics and combustion chemistry as well as advanced laser diagnostics and simplification of reaction kinetic models and analysis methods for turbulent combustion. The event was attended by 220 participants from 13 countries, including undergraduates, graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, university faculty, and engineers in related fields. In addition to the week-long combustion science course, students participated in a variety of activities including campus tours, art museum visits, academic salons, poster session, career panel, and laboratory tours. With the long-term support of the Combustion Institute and all the students, the Summer School will continue to provide international cutting-edge courses for combustion researchers, promote international education and networking, and support the development of advanced combustion science and technology.
On registration day, Sunday, July 7, Tsinghua University graduate stude nt volunteers set up a registration desk at the northeast gate of Lee Shau Kee Building to guide domestic and international students to pick up handbooks and items, and to provide comprehensive advice on food, lodging, and transportation to help students prepare for the next five days of campus life at Tsinghua University.


On the evening of July 7, the welcome reception was held and Professor Peixue Jiang, Vice President of Tsinghua University, gave a speech. Prof. Jiang first thanked four top international scholars for coming to Tsinghua University to give lectures and support the Summer School to promote international exchange and cooperation in combustion research. Professor Kaihong Luo, Director of the Center for Combustion Energy of Tsinghua University, expressed his gratitude to the previous leaders of Tsinghua University and Prof. Jiang for more than 10 years of unwavering support, and warmly praised the organizers of the Summer School, Profs. Chung K. Law, Qiang Yao and Yu Cheng Liu, as well as the secretaries and volunteers of the Center for Combustion Energy for their hard work in organizing the event. He hoped that this year's participants would cherish this opportunity to learn well and lay a solid foundation for future research and innovation in the field of combustion and energy.


Professor Chung K. Law of Princeton University and founding director of the Center for Combustion Energy, who is also a lecturer of this summer school, expressed his great expectation to pass on the knowledge and torch of combustion research to the students. Professors Henry Curran and Andreas Dreizler said that they have participated in the Summer School many times, and each time they share the latest progress in the field of research with the students, and look forward to communicating with the students in various activities of this year's Summer School. Professor Tianfeng Lu, an alumnus of the Department of Mechanics at Tsinghua University, expressed his joy and excitement to return to his alma mater to teach, and hoped to interact with the students in the next five days of the course. In the middle of the reception, students from the Tsinghua University Chinese Orchestra were invited to perform on the guzheng, erhu and cello, providing more opportunities for cultural exchange between faculty and students.


This year's summer school classes were held in Jianhua Building, and each day included two parallel classes in the morning and two in the afternoon. Each class meets for three hours a day, and students are required to complete five days of course activities. Below are selected photos of the four classes.









To promote communication between faculty and students, the summer school organized activities such as academic salons and a career panel. The academic salons provided an opportunity for students to have in-depth discussions on the progress of combustion research by having lunch and dinner with the faculty. In this year's career panel, participants raised difficulties and questions in the research process or career development path, and the professors in turn discussed these issues. Topics included how to choose a company or research institute after graduation, how to successfully apply for a postdoctoral fellowship, how to improve communication with supervisors, and how to view the relationship between quantity and quality of publications.



The poster session of the Summer School provided an opportunity to present recent research in combustion science and other interdisciplinary disciplines. Poster authors were required to stand and give an oral presentation to the students within a specified time.




In addition to the classes, campus and laboratory tours were arranged for the participants to further explore the campus and research environment at Tsinghua University. Through the volunteers' explanations, the rich cultural heritage of the Tsinghua campus and the historical development of representative buildings provided a unique on-site experience for our summer school. The lab tour was the last event of the Summer School and was scheduled for the morning of July 13. This year, the Center for Combustion Energy provided eight labs for the summer school students to visit, and each lab arranged for graduate students to give lectures in English and answer questions from the students.




Here's anonymous feedback from Summer School participants about the courses and activities:
"I learned a lot, not only the professional knowledge, but also the enthusiasm of the professors and their attitude towards science."
"A different understanding of the mechanism of combustion and chemical reactions"
"Broadened my horizons and got in touch with famous teachers"
"Understanding the cutting-edge technology and gaining a deep understanding of combustion science"
"Revisited the basics of combustion and gained a broad understanding of some of the techniques of laser diagnostics"
"This is my first time to attend summer school. I hope the summer school will get better and better. I hope to meet all the teachers and students, thanks to all the volunteers and students, volunteers, again!"
“Learned the different ways to measure the speed and heat of a flame”
"It was my first time, and I learned a lot, and more importantly, I had the opportunity to meet new people."
"Very very much motivated."
"The courses were very informative and professional."
Provided by: Local Organizing Committee of the Summer School
Approved by: Yu Cheng Liu, Xiaoqing You