News & Events

At a ceremony held in the library auditorium on the afternoon of September 5, Francis Martin, the Research Director Emeritus of the National Research Institute for Agriculture, Food and Environment (INRAE) in France, was officially appointed as a distinguished professor at the university. Duan Liusheng, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee and President, presented Francis Martin with his appointment letter at the ceremony. The ceremony was presided over by Zhong Congsheng, Deputy Secretary of the Party Committee.

Francis Martin is an INRAE member. He has long focused on the symbiotic biology and ecology of mycorrhizal fungi and trees in forest systems. His research has been published in top international scientific journals, including Science, Nature, Cell, Nature Genetics, PNAS, and New Phytologist. As a globally renowned fungi expert, Professor Martin has been named an ISI Highly Cited Author for over a decade. He also serves as the Senior Editor for New Phytologist and a senior editorial board member for several other prestigious, high-level international scientific journals, including Fungal, Biology & Genetics, Fungal Biology Reviews, and PLoS Genetics. He has collaborated on research for many years with faculty teams from BUA's horticulture, forestry, and plant protection disciplines. Professor Martin will be deeply involved in the development of the university's disciplines, including horticulture, forestry, and plant protection. He will also contribute to postgraduate student training, high-level talent development, social services, and international cooperation and exchange in related fields.

Following the appointment ceremony, Professor Francis Martin gave a lecture titled "A Journey Beneath the Roots: Personal Reflections on a Life in Symbiosis." He then discussed and exchanged ideas with the attending faculty and students on how to conduct scientific research and train scientific thinking.

The university's appointment of Francis Martin as a distinguished professor is a key measure in its efforts to fully implement the guiding principle of the Fourth Party Congress and accelerate the 'Talent-Powered Education' initiative. It also represents another important step in the university's exploration of new talent recruitment mechanisms. With the leadership of the Party Committee and based on the principle of "high-end leadership, key breakthroughs, and overall improvement," the university will deepen cooperation with top scholars worldwide, and continue to develop innovation teams with international competitiveness and high-quality, professional faculty teams, to build a strong talent pool for BUA's rise as a domestically first-class and internationally renowned high-level applied university with urban agriculture and forestry characteristics.