Facing a hyper-competitive academic market, young educators must publish, secure grants, teach under tight deadlines to avoid dismissal
2-MIN READ2-MIN ListenFran Luin BeijingPublished: 6:30pm, 18 Sep 2026A Chinese professor has ignited controversy after asserting at a university conference that her extreme commitment to research involved sleeping less than two hours a day for a decade, investing two million yuan (US$300,000) of her own money, and completely sacrificing her personal and family life for over 20 years.
The public health professor, Lu Chan, from the Xiangya School of Medicine at Central South University in Hunan province, sparked widespread debate after presenting these extraordinary claims to her research group on September 10.
Lu, who became a professor immediately after earning her PhD in 2018, reportedly shared her remarkable undertakings during the China National Teachers’ Day Commendation Conference held at her university.
