Zhen-Ling Sun

Shandong University of Technology, China
Exchange to Australian National University, Australia

At the end of 2004 I went to the Australian National University as a school visitor with my wife. Shortly after we arrived in Canberra, I was informed that my application for Endeavour Award was successful. My wife and I spent a wonderful period of time in Canberra and that left us indelible golden memories.

My host institution was the Australian National University which is located in the capital of Australia, Canberra. Canberra is a quiet, picturesque city. That was the first time for us to visit Australia. We realized how wonderful a place it is at the moment we stepped on the land of Australia. It is really out of a separate creation. We have been enjoying our life very much in Canberra. We like its clean atmosphere, fresh food, and above all, its friendly people.

These feelings were once partially expressed in one of mypoems of Chinese traditional style. It was published on the website of Australia Chinese Culture Association in Canberra [http://www.aucca.com/routao2.htm] and goes as follows.

My wife, Mrs Rosa Tao Sun, will remember forever one of her unique experiences during our stay in Canberra. On a Sunday afternoon, she took a wrong bus from the city centre and was taken northwards to Spence while we lived in Lyons, a southern suburb of Canberra. It is a long way between the two places. That was the last service and no other return bus was available. How could she return home? What made the situation even worse was that her English was extremely limited. She did not know what to do. Coincidently and thankfully, a lady bus driver of another route noticed her and knew what happened. She called her company (ACTION Buses) and the company sent a car to carry Rosa home. The driver did not check Rosa’s ticket although she had one in her pocket. On the way home, the driver offered his mobile phone to let Rosa call home to report her safety although we did not have telephone at our house. This is not a very moving story but I think it does shed a gleam of light at how well we had been served and supported by an excellent social system during our stay in Australia.

The year 2005 was fruitful for me and my wife. We visited Canberra and after that we came to England. I am now studying at the University of Sheffield. My supervisor here not only provided me a PhD position but also helped me secure a prestigious studentship named in honour of the Nobel Laureate in 1964, Dr Dorothy Hodgkin. My Endeavour Award experience must have added much to my academic merit in the application.

The last but not the least, I could not finish this brief account without expressing my sincere gratitude for my supervisors in Canberra, Dr Barry Pogson and Dr Fred (Wah Soon) Chow, and other scientists in the lab, Dr Bart Rossel, Professor Jan Mary Anderson and Dr Tom Wydrzynski. Their help cannot be overestimated and their devotion to scientific research is exemplary in my future work.

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