Published on: 2026-05-11
Source: People’s Republic of China in Russian –
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He is the deputy director (acting director) of the Institute of Nuclear Physics at the China Institute of Atomic Energy (CIAE), laureate of the State Scientific Support Fund for Outstanding Young Scientists, the Yan Zhengnin Prize, and the Hu Tszimin Prize in the field of education and science. He is a young researcher, always smiling, and easygoing and friendly in communication. At 35 years old, Chen Yanpin, who is engaged in “a matter of state importance,” strives to attain the boundless Universe — this is the goal of his life.
The boy who looked at the stars
Chen Yanping’s homeland is the city of Changzhi in Shanxi province. In his childhood, he often lay in the yard and looked at the starry sky: why do the Sun and stars shine? Where did chemical elements in the Universe come from? Why do stars evolve into different forms? This was his first real dialogue with the boundless cosmos. At that time, he did not yet know that in the future he would continue to ask these questions already in the microcosm of nuclear physics.
During his undergraduate studies, he completed an internship at the Qinshan Nuclear Power Plant, at the Southwest Institute of Physics, and other institutions where, being in front of large nuclear and thermonuclear installations, he truly felt the tension between “advanced” and “heavy equipment” in this field. After completing his undergraduate degree, he enrolled in the master’s and doctoral programs at CIAE. Under the guidance of his scientific supervisor — academician Liu Weipin of the Chinese Academy of Sciences — and the deputy head — deputy director of CIAE Go Bin, he became involved in work measuring the reaction — the “Holy Grail” of nuclear astrophysics: 12C(α, γ)16O.
Dream in the depths of Mount Czinpin
Mount Jinping rises with steep green slopes in the valley of the Yalong River, located in Sichuan province. At a depth of 2400 meters in a tunnel under the mountain is the China Jinping Underground Laboratory, which is also the deepest underground scientific experimental facility in the world. In September 2020, the team of the deep underground nuclear astrophysics experiment project JUNA began assembling and adjusting equipment. Chen Yanping, as a key team member, arrived here to carry out the task — directly measuring the “Holy Grail” reaction and continuing the study of element production in the Universe.
After several months of persistent work, the team of researchers obtained key experimental data, conducted the first direct measurement of this reaction under deep underground conditions, achieving unprecedented accuracy. This provided the most important experimental basis for understanding stellar evolution, element synthesis, and even the origin of life.
Dedicated to the country and creating great equipment
In June 2024, CIAE officially established the Chen Yanping Youth Innovation Workshop. In this workshop, he often discusses specific scientific questions and experimental tasks with young colleagues and graduate students, makes plans, and promotes research.
In his opinion, the meaning of fundamental science is, above all, to answer the most important scientific questions and to increase the ability for original innovations. Being able to spend many years doing what you truly love, while at the same time combining personal interests with state needs, is a great happiness, says Chen Yanpin. “Personal satisfaction does not come from rewards themselves, but from the realization that you have really advanced ahead of some important problem.””The scientific path is not easy, but when you understand that your work is simultaneously an understanding of the laws of nature and the accumulation of potential for the country, a strong sense of responsibility and mission appears,” says Chen Yanpin.
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