On the morning of August 4, 2026, at the invitation of the School of Mathematical Sciences, Nanjing Normal University, Professor Ping Lin, Chair Professor of Numerical Analysis at the University of Dundee, UK, delivered an academic report entitled "Phase-field models and structure-preserving methods for tumor growth systems" in Room 526 of Xingjian Building, Xianlin Campus. The report was chaired by Professor Wu Yifei, Dean of the School of Mathematical Sciences.

Professor Lin received his Bachelor's and Master's degrees from Nanjing University, and later obtained his PhD from the University of British Columbia, Canada. He conducted postdoctoral research at Stanford University and previously worked at the National University of Singapore. Since 2007, he has been a Chair Professor at the University of Dundee. He has achieved fruitful results in the fields of numerical analysis and scientific computing, multiphase flow, and biomedical modeling.

In his report, Professor Lin systematically introduced the construction method of thermodynamic uniform phase-field models and proposed a structure-preserving scheme based on scalar auxiliary variables (SAVs) for Cahn-Hilliard type reactive-diffusion systems involving nutrient consumption and chemotaxis coupling during tumor growth. This scheme combines decoupling, mass conservation, and unconditional energy stability, and its fully discrete finite element error estimation has been rigorously proven. Numerical examples vividly demonstrated complex biological phenomena such as multi-tumor aggregation and chemotactic-driven growth. Furthermore, Professor Lin extended the model to the transmembrane transport problem in retinal microaneurysm formation, showcasing the validation results of the corresponding energy-stable scheme.

Following the report, Professor Lin engaged in a lively discussion with the faculty and students present on phase-field modeling theory, numerical algorithm design, and biomedical application prospects. This report provided the faculty and students of our institute with a cutting-edge perspective and promoted academic exchange.