CAS spearheads R＆D program for research facilities

China＇s capacity for indigenous S＆T innovation is believed to have been hampered by its lack of homegrown research facilities. To address the problem, a pilot program for the research and development of major S＆T facilities has been launched at CAS. The kick-off meeting was held on 28 March in the CAS Technical Institute of Physics and Chemistry in Beijing.     

Quaternary glaciations and environmental changes in China

The era of Quaternary glaciations actually refers to the current ice age. It directly affects the entire environment where we human beings live, and its studies have a significant meaning. Over the past 40 years, a research team led by Prof. SHI Yafeng from the CAS Cold and Arid Regions Environmental and Engineering Research Institute has conducted pioneering studies on glacial and interglacial cycles and related environmental cbanges in China, especially on the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau. Their findings added a glorious record to the development of China＇s Quaternary science and received a 2nd prize of the National Natural Science Awards in 2007.     

Establishing a Marine Research Base in South China

The CAS will continue to pro-mote the development of anoceanological research basein South China, said CAS Vice-Presi-dent Chen Yiyu during an inspec-tion tour of the CAS GuangzhouInstitute of Geochemistry(GIG).CAS decided to establish the re-search base as a major strategic ini-tiative in 2001, with the objectiveof encouraging scientists from boththe CAS South China Sea Instituteof Oceanology and GIG to carry outcutting-edge studies on marginal seasin the light of demands of geol…     

CAS and John Innes Center to Set Up a Joint Center for Plant Research in China

To address food sustainability, CAS and the UK’s John Innes Center (JIC) plans to establish a center of excellence for plant and microbial research in China. The center will strive to improve the performance and yield of cereals,     

CAS Action Plan for the Development of Western China Progressing Smoothly

Since CAS is charged with the key task of carrying out strategic, fundamental and forward-looking studies for this country, it is incumbent upon CAS scientists to take an active part in the National Program for the Development of Western China. This is also an important part of the national Knowledge Innovation Program (KIP) spearheaded by CAS. Over the past two years, CAS has made a series of remarkable advances in Western China with regard to the development of research bases, exploration of crucial scientific problems, the training of talented people, and providing consultation services for decision makers.With the furtherance of the national drive to develop the country's western region, CAS will step up its efforts and increase its funding, to make more and greater contributions to the overall development of the region.     

China＇s Remote Sensing from a Global View--An Interview with CAS Member Prof. GUO Huadong

＂While implementing the high-resolution Earth observation program, China will further launch new resource satellites for environmental, meteorological, and oceanic observations; meanwhile it will also launch a number of geoscience satellites and small satellites for different purposes,＂ CAS Member Prof. GUO Huadong, Chair of the 35th International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment （ISRSE35） and also head of the CAS Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth （RADI）, the host of the Symposium, shared with BCAS readership the latest progress and future roadmap of China＇s remote sensing in an interview with reporter SONG Jianlan. He also outlined China＇s contributions to international efforts to address global environmental change.     

Key projects to be enforced during the 11th Five-year Plan

Addressing major S＆T issues of strategic importance to China＇s socioeconomic growth, national security and development sustainability, the key projects of CAS during the period of the 11th Five-year Plan （2006-2010） are large-scale research initiatives with an expectation to give rise to S＆T breakthroughs. In accordance with the national mid- and long-term planning for S＆T development, they are designed in a top-down approach to make full use of CAS advantages in disciplinary studies by widely pooling resources across the country. So far the first batch of 13 such projects has been initiated. The following is a brief introduction to some of them.     

Ecological restoration for sustainable development in ChinaOA

Facing the need for transdisciplinary research to promote ecological restoration that achieves both social and ecological benefits,research on past restoration efforts that have directly or indirectly contributed to regional or national sustainable development warrants reassessment.Using China as an example,in this review,we address three basic research questions that can be summarized as follows:ecological restoration—of what,for whom and to what purpose?Accordingly,a landscape pattern—ecosyste...     

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.     

UV Raman Spectroscopic Studies on Catalytic Materials

Due to their excellent work on UV Raman spectroscopic studies on catalytic materials, a team of scientists led by CAS Member Prof. LICan at the Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics （DICP）, CAS were awarded with a Second-Prize from the 2011 State natural Science Award. The team has long devoted themselves to the research on catalytic materials, and has helped solve some long-standing difficulties in this field, including the characterization of catalyst activity and studies into synthesis mechanisms of catalytic materials.