On August 26th, another tragic news hit the education sector in mainland China. An informant revealed that Dong Sijia, a Ph.D. supervisor at Nanjing University, took his own life at the young age of 33.
According to a netizen’s disclosure on August 26th, Dong Sijia, the Ph.D. supervisor at Nanjing University, passed away. As of now, the university has not released an official obituary.
However, according to a publication by the entertainment creator “180 Perspective,” it was mentioned that following Dong Sijia’s passing, one of his sub-journals was recently launched. The article concluded by saying, “As we write this manuscript, we have lost our friend and colleague Dong Sijia. At this moment of publication, we dedicate this article to her and hope that her spirit can continue to inspire others as it did before.”
Informants revealed that Dong Sijia passed away in the first half of this year.
Dong Sijia was born in 1992 in Xuzhou, Jiangsu Province. After graduating with a bachelor’s degree from Nanjing University, he obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Southern California in 2019. Following this, he worked for three years as a postdoctoral researcher at the California Institute of Technology and founded a startup focusing on carbon sequestration technology.
In 2023, Dong Sijia returned to Nanjing University to work. He first served as an associate researcher at the School of Geography and Ocean Science and later as an assistant professor and Ph.D. supervisor at the School of Energy and Resources. His expertise was in the field of Earth Sciences, particularly involving marine carbon sequestration and inorganic carbon cycling. He had led prestigious projects such as the National Natural Science Foundation’s Youth Fund and the Provincial Natural Science Foundation’s Youth Fund.
It came as a sudden shock that Dong Sijia’s life ended after only two years of work. As for the reason behind Dong Sijia’s passing, informants suggested it was suspected to be a suicide at his residence. A colleague posted that they had meetings together as recently as last winter. Moreover, Dong Sijia’s name appeared in the school’s recruitment notices in February this year.
Prior to this, on August 12th, Huang Kai, a 41-year-old associate professor at Guangdong Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, died by jumping off a building. He had just gotten married at the end of July. It was rumored online that Huang Kai took such an extreme step because he was overwhelmed.
The news of Dong Sijia’s passing once again sparked attention online. Many netizens expressed sadness, with comments like, “Why did you come back? Unless you understand fan culture.” “She was my junior, such a pity. Just a few days ago, I went to Nanjing University to attend a 30-year alumni reunion and learned that our counselor from that time also passed away a few years ago due to depression. Life is so unpredictable!”
“Those who have left us in recent years are all under 50. Those in their 70s and 80s are living well.” “Just look at the academia information to see how many researchers have passed away. Nowadays, universities are like talent factories, exploiting people for their own rankings.” “Our descendants have left before us! Same age as my daughter, wishing you a peaceful journey!”