CAS PIFI: Journey to academic road

Doosoo Yoon, Shanghai Astronomical Observatory

As a first step on my professional career, I decided to begin at Shanghai Astronomical Observatory (SHAO) in November 2015. I cannot say that it was an easy decision because, at the moment, I had two kids, one of who was just born two months earlier. Since my wife has her own career in the USA, I couldn’t help but leave all my family behind, and start to live apart at Shanghai. As I recall the period of the last two years, our family went through a very challenging situation due to the long distance, but it turns out that the choice we made at the moment has gone well so far.

The early moments of living in Shanghai were challenging for me even though I am Asian. Although I already used to live in the similar culture and similar food, the differences were not negligible. However, the kindness of the people in SHAO helped me to sort out any problems, and made me settle down smoothly.

There are several aspects that have impressed me about the working environment in SHAO. At first, I was impressed with and liked the enthusiastic and collaborative work among our group members. Our group leader, Prof. Feng Yuan, has encouraged members to discuss the science questions of interest to the group members, and many times, I was stimulated by the discussions. Secondly, I liked being with a large international group in SHAO. Those working outside of one’s home country is prone to feel alone. However, in SHAO, we have many international people who come from diverse countries, so I could spend time with them in which I could learn about diverse cultural things from around the world. Thirdly, I was happy for the support from the Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) on my research. I have won several grants, including a PIFI fellowship and an NSFC research fund. This strong support has enabled me to keep focusing on my research and make progress. As of now, working with Prof. Feng Yuan, I am leading the project on study of AGN feedback successfully under the grant. Fourthly, I was impressed that CAS has invited many world renowned scientists to SHAO. I was extremely happy and thrilled to meet and chat with those people. These also were a big step for me in my academic growth.

In conclusion, I have had a great time in SHAO under the support of CAS, and I will not forget my time in Shanghai. In my future academic career, the time in Shanghai will be spiritual nourishment for sure.