47-year-old professor suddenly passed away, his work schedule attracted attention

CHINA - After Professor Liu Yongfeng passed away at the age of 47, a post appeared on social media, believed to be from his wife, sharing the number of hours he worked and calling on people to pay more attention to the health of scientists.

The family of a top Chinese materials scientist recently called for more attention to the health of the research community after their loved one died at the age of 47 due to what was described as an "unbearable" workload.

Professor Liu Yongfeng, a leading expert at Zhejiang University, suffered a cerebral hemorrhage on January 21 while attending a conference in Xi’an, Shaanxi Province, China. According to an obituary posted on Chinese social media by the university’s School of Materials Science and Engineering, he passed away on March 5.

Materials scientist Liu Yongfeng, a professor at Zhejiang University and recipient of multiple national research grants, has died suddenly at the age of 47, adding to the list of Chinese researchers who have died prematurely. Photo: SCMP

"Professor Liu is a hard-working, dedicated and serious person. He has supervised more than 40 postdoctoral, doctoral and master's students, and has made important contributions to training talents in the field of new energy materials," the school's statement said.

"The tragic passing of Professor Liu is a great loss to the university as well as the materials science community. We are deeply saddened by the loss of a teacher and friend like him," the school said.

Last weekend, an open letter appeared on social media, said to be from Professor Liu's wife, detailing his "horrific" workload.

In the letter, the wife noted her husband's work schedule from March 2024 to January 20, 2025, based on information she found on the professor's personal computer. The numbers shocked many people: In a year, according to regulations, Professor Luu had 183 working days, but in reality he worked 319 days and went on business trips 135 days. On the days he was not on business trips, he worked late on 105 days, past 10 p.m. This scientist has maintained such a high-intensity work schedule for 18 years.

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