＂It＇s a Beautiful Chancc to Work in China＂--An Interview with Prof,Miguel Esteban

As a research professor at the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health (GIBH), Chinese Academy of Sciences, Miguel Esteban is the first non-Chinese scientist to chair a major scientific research program in China. Born and educated in Spain and the UK, he worked in Madrid and London as a scholar and physician before joining GIBH in January 2008. Just two years after his arrival, in 2010, Professor Esteban was named by the Chinese Ministry of Science and Technology as the chief scientist of a five-year major research program on stem cell study with a grant up to 28 million yuan (about 4.4 million US dollars). The following is a brief interview between BCAS reporter XIN Ling and the Professor about his work and life in China.     

Largest ever photonic ＂Schrodinger cat＂ created

CAS researchers have been successful in their experimental entanglement of six photons in graph states: a "Schr(o)dinger cat" state, and a "cluster" state. By creating two important examples of such states, according to experts, the studies have paved the way for the research into the fundamental issues in quantum computing, quantum error correction and quantum mechanics.     

Reconstruct climate history using records on ＂plum rains＂ since 1736

To have a better understanding of current global climate change, some researchers turn to historical records to reconstruct climate history over past centuries. A research team headed by Prof. GE Quansheng with the CAS institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research has made encouraging progress in this regard by using historical documents of the Qing Dynasty （1644-1911）.     

A new direction in search of ＂missing＂ carbon sinks

The sink-source imbalance in the global carbon cycle is a ＂hot spot＂ for scholars on the subject in the present-day world. So far, the CO2 sink＇s location, size, variation and the mechanism underlying its ever-changing trend are all controversial topics. Currently, the mainstream research in this aspect is concentrated mainly on the organic carbon＇s cycle while little, if not, attention is paid to the current status of the inorganic carbon sink.     

＂China is an Exciting Place to Work＂： An Interview with Prof. Richard Corlett

In the last 30 years, Prof. Richard Corlett has carried out investigations in South and East Asian tropics and was actively engaged in biodiversity conservation in these regions. From July, 2012, he will start to work as director of a new integrative conservation center and head of biodiversity conservation research     

Statement of Principles and Actions for Shaping the Future:Supporting the Next Generation of Researchers

<正>Preamble The entire spectrum of research forms a complex system where cultivating talent,increasing knowledge and promoting innovation are intertwined across all disciplines.Increasingly,the research community is linked to a much larger global framework involving the circulation of talent,results and discoveries among the various spheres of society.Within the global research system,the actions of GRC participants are crucial in promoting the attractiveness of research careers for new talents,as well as opportunities for professional career development for researchers in universities and research performing organisations.GRC     

MPS／CAS Partner Group on the Development of Mechanical Knowledge in China

China's long and continuous cultural tradition offers scholars the special opportunity for cross-cultural studies in the long-term development of science. The Partner Group focuses on an exemplary case of such long-term development, the development of mechanical knowledge in China from antiquity to the early modern period. Research within the Partner Group is guided by a number of specific research questions, in particular the question of the interaction between practical and theoretical knowledge and the interaction between domestic and external knowledge traditions over a period of more than a millennium. In order to establish a cross-cultural perspective on the emergence and development of experiential science, the research is being coordinated with the current research project on the history of mechanical thinking at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science.     

A Decade of Hard Work Leads to the Fourth Generation of Catalysts

After a decade-long arduouswork, CAS scientists suc-ceeded in developing thefourth generation of high-perfor-mance catalysts.The research breakthroughwas achieved by a research teamheaded by Prof. Liu Hanfan withthe CAS Institute of Chemistry. Thiswork includes a new method con-cerning the preparation of a nano-metallic colloid protected by poly-mers and demystification of the se-cret to raise the working efficacy ofmetal nanoclusters used as a catalyst.The success lays down a solid foun-d…     

Research Progress in the CAS Action Plan for the Development of Western China

To speed up the regional development in central and western China is a strategic decision made by the Chinese government at the turn of the century. For CAS research professionals, active participation into the campaign is a solemn historic commitment and a major task of the CAS-piloted national Knowledge Innovation Program. In early 2000, the CAS leadership formulated an Action Plan for Western China Development and initiated a research program aiming at the environmental evolution,ecological restoration and the sustainable exploitation of the local resources in the region.     

Studies launched on integrated water resources management in Heihe

As a component of the CAS Action Plan for the Development of China's West, a research project on integrated management of water     

Basic Research Objectives Reaffirmed

As a national institution for scientific research and a component of the national innovation system, CAS should and must make key contributions to the great national rejuvenation of the country. Keeping this in mind, CAS has developed four developmental targets for its basic research. This was revealed at a CAS conference on basic research held June 11-12 in Beijing.     

79 new cyclopeptides discovered from 28 plants

A key innovative research result has been achieved in systematic chemistry of plant cyclopeptides (PCPs), a group of important plant metabolites, by a research team with the CAS Kunming Institute of Botany (KIB)in the capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province. According to a recent announcement released by the Institute, its chemists have brought to light 79 new PCPs.     

Successful test flight of an airship

Researchers with the Balloon Aircraft Research Center (BARC) of the Academy of Opto-electronics, CAS, succeeded in their first test flight of an aeroboat with a flight altitude up to 1,000 meters and an effective payload of 20 kilograms in Shandong on 25 December, 2007. Named as KF-15, the airship is an intermediate achievement scored by a CAS research project to address key technology for building a stratospheric platform. Scientists say the feat marks that their research has entered the stage of practi...     

Research on Alien Fish Species in Plateau Lakes Making Progress

As a part of a major CASproject on the ecologicaleffects of biological inva-sion and its management technology,a research team headed by Prof.Chen Yifeng of the CAS Institute ofHydrobiology in Wuhan, centralChinas Hubei Province, has carriedout studies on alien fish species inplateau lakes since July 2002. A yearlater, the project has progressed well,Chen reports.Chens research, to be com-pleted by June 2007, is composedof four components: structuralchanges of a lacustrine ecosystemon t…     

UCAS School of Public Policy & Management Kicks Off

<正>On June 18 an unveiling ceremony marks the inauguration of the School of Public Policy and Management(SPPM)under the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences(UCAS).Integrating the resources for research and education in the field of public policy and management at CAS,this new entity aims to develop into an internationally leading school excellent in research as well as a renowned think tank,and is anticipated to culture a Chinese school of public management with international influence.     

Research undertaken by CAS scientists with support of ＂973 Program＂

The National Basic Research Program (dubbed as the "973 Program") is China's on-going national keystone basic research program, which was approved by the Chinese government in June 1 997 and is organized and implemented by the Ministry of Science and Technology.     

Social monitoring research for predicting mass incidents

Based on surveys of resident attitude, a social monitoring research team with the CAS Institute of Psychology has established a predicting model on the possibility of mass incidents, that is, collective conflicts against the administration.     

Self-fabrication of 3D Patterns on Aligned Carbon Nanotubes Films

Because of its outstanding performance, an aligned nanotube film with micropatterns has been a research focus in the field of nano-science and technology. Although quite a number of researchers have been successful in constructing such patterns, the precondition for the success, until recently, is to obtain the patterned substrates in advance.A research group at the CAS Institute of Chemistry (ICCAS) has succeeded in self-assembly of threedimensional (3-D) micropatterns on aligned carbon nanotube films.     

One Big Step Forward Towards Understanding Photosynthesis

<正>On May 29,2015,a research team led by SHEN Jianren and KUANG Tingyun from the Institute of Botany,Chinese Academy of Sciences published their latest research results on the crystal structure of higher plant PSI-LHCI super-complex at a resolution of 2.8angstroms in the distinguished journal Science.Their article,entitled"Structural basis for energy transfer pathways in the plant PSI-LHCI super-complex",revealed the first atomic     

CAS Geneticists Win US Fund in Fight Against Mental Retardation

A research team headed by Dr. Zhang Yongqing (Yong Q. Zhang) at the CAS Institute of Genetics & Developmental Biology recently received a financial grant from FRAXA, a US foundation supporting top-notch research of Fragile X Syndrome, a special hereditary disease of mental retardation.