In situ with Ben Zhong Tang

Ben Zhong Tang is a professor of chemistry at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen. He helped to found the field of aggregation-induced emission, in which molecules emit light only after they come together as aggregates.

After high school, I was sent to the countryside to become a farmer. Life was harsh. In the poor countryside, you had to work hard, and, in some busy seasons, you had almost no time to sleep. I never imagined I would have the chance to receive a university education.

After the Cultural Revolution, universities in China resumed admitting students. I was in the first cohort, although neither the university I entered nor the major I studied was my choice.

My family was still in my hometown. I was born in Hubei Province, but I studied in Guangdong Province, roughly 700 miles away. At that time, transport was inconvenient, and travel was expensive relative to my income. So, I went to university on my own.

That experience trained my independence. I had no one to rely on. I had to figure everything out for myself.

My major was polymer chemistry. To be honest, I had no idea what polymer chemistry was. But the opportunity to attend university was so precious that I accepted the placement without asking questions. My philosophy is simple: if you have to do something, try to do it well.

Over time, I realised it was an important subject. Polymer materials underpin modern society. And there is still so much to explore in polymer chemistry – scientifically, it’s fascinating. Early in my career, I focused on developing new types of polymerisation reactions to make new polymers.

For the past few hundred years, scientific research has been guided by a reductionist philosophy: if a molecule doesn’t have the function you want, you discard it. But that isn’t always true. A molecule may not have the desired property on its own, yet its aggregate might.

It’s exciting, but most of the time it feels like there are hurdles in front of you

I believe many people have observed aggregation-induced emission. The phenomenon itself is not new. My contribution was recognising its importance. Experimentally, it’s straightforward – but if you think more deeply, there is a great deal to understand.

When I was young, I was very interested in literature. I loved writing poems and essays. I enjoyed reading and writing, and I also liked singing. People often separate students into social sciences and literature on one side, and natural sciences on the other. But you can’t truly separate them. You need to work hard in the laboratory, but you also need to communicate well, so you can explain why a major discovery matters.

Science has become highly interdisciplinary. Young researchers need to work hard, but they also need to work with others.

My advice to the next generation of scientists is this: love what you do. If you don’t like it, why bother? In my time, it was different. I had no choice – now you have many. In ancient China, people often married first and tried to love each other afterwards. My academic career was a bit like that. If you love what you’re doing, then it’s life – not work.

Scientific research is very much like playing a game. It’s exciting, but most of the time it feels like there are hurdles in front of you. Challenges are always there, but if you stay optimistic, you can usually find a solution.

Every day I run from my apartment to my office, and in the evening, I run back home. When you do research, you need a healthy body – otherwise your brain won’t function properly.

This article has been edited for clarity and brevity.