The Finest Revolutionary Soldiers of the New Era | Academy of Military Sciences Researcher Chang Chao: Boldly Venturing into the "No-Man's Land" of Scientific Research

Night has fallen, the lights burn low. In a laboratory of the Defense Science and Technology Innovation Research Institute under the Academy of Military Sciences, researcher Chang Chao is bent over his equipment making adjustments, his eyes fixed on the oscillating curves of an oscilloscope. He occasionally raises his head to think, then buries himself in the work again, as if engaged in a silent contest with some problem in physics.

In 2018, Chang Chao was transferred to the newly established Defense Science and Technology Innovation Research Institute. At that time, his research direction shifted from high-power microwave—a field he had cultivated for many years—to terahertz science, which was still in its early stages, and he faced numerous difficulties. A colleague asked him: "Switching tracks and starting over from scratch—is it worth it?" His answer was resolute: "Seizing the commanding heights of terahertz technology concerns national security. Someone always has to be the one to blaze the trail."

During that period, after reporting to his superiors, he and his colleagues converted an idle room in the research institute into a stronghold for tackling key problems. He led several young researchers, setting up the space while simultaneously carrying out research. Six months later, the institute's first optical ultra-clean room laboratory began operations. Thereafter, Chang Chao and his team worked together to tackle major national research projects; their findings were published in top international journals and earned recognition from the field. These "pioneers" fought day and night, overcame multiple difficult problems, and blazed a new path through this "no-man's land."

"One must pursue first-rate endeavors and be the backbone of China." At a critical crossroads in his life, Chang Chao chose to dedicate himself to his country.

When he completed his postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University in 2013, a well-compensated faculty position was laid before him. He left behind the words "wherever the motherland needs me is the finest stage for one's life," and resolutely returned to China to take up a post at a research institute at a base in the western region.

In 2018, having already made a name for himself in his original research field, he voluntarily "reset to zero" and moved into the field of terahertz science research. Colleagues jokingly called him "Chang Chao—truly superhuman (非常超人)." He waved it off: "There's nothing superhuman about it. I'm simply willing to sit on the 'cold bench' (冷板凳)."

Being willing to sit on the "cold bench" (冷板凳) had long since become the norm for Chang Chao in his studies and research. When pursuing his doctorate at Tsinghua University, classrooms and laboratories occupied nearly his entire life; during his daily commute, the bus became his "mobile thinking pod"; even at rest, he never stopped thinking—whenever inspiration struck, he would immediately write it down. Many important ideas published in certain research journals were born in precisely these moments of "flashing inspiration."

On the bookshelf in Chang Chao's office, a stack of cutting-edge terahertz literature stands in a row. To outsiders, he is an expert, a regular presence in top-tier journals. But to Chang Chao himself, scientific research is simply day after day of bending over a desk, experimenting, and thinking. In the future, he will continue to work with quiet dedication, pressing forward without pause toward the high ground of independent innovation in defense science and technology.