CAS President Paid a Successful Visit to Australia

At the invitation of relevant Australian academic institutions, CAS President Yongxiang Lu paid a successful visit to Australia from November 9 to 15.

Prof. Lu's tour covered Australian Department of Education, Science and Training, Australia Academy of Sciences, University of Melbourne, University of Adelaide, International Agricultural Research Center and the Parliament of the Commonwealth of Australia. At Melbourne, Prof. Lu received a honorable doctorate degree of laws (Honoris Causa) conferred by the University Melbourne, which made him the first Chinese recipient of the title. At Canberra, Prof. LU met with Mr. John Hogg, Deputy President and Chairman of Committees (Parliament House); Mr. Nelson, Minister of Science and Peter McGaura, Minister of Science, Education and training, and had fruitful discussions with them on various issues concerning Sino-Australia scientific and education cooperation respectively.

Sino-Germany Soil and Environment Joint Laboratory Established in Nanjing

Funded by Sino-Germany Science Center, the Sion-Germany Soil and Environment Joint Laboratory was established in Nanjing Institute of Soil Science of CAS on November 8, 2003. A symposium on Sino-Germany Soil and Environment Science followed the Lab's opening ceremony.

This laboratory will be dedicated as an open platform for international cooperation and exchanges, training of scientific personnel, jointly applying for international programs and thus establishing a research network between Chinese and German scientists in the related fields.

Sino-Japan Joint Monitoring on Dynamic Changes of Underground Water

Through the strong promotions from Prof. Changming Liu, CAS member, the Institute of Geographic Sciences and Natural Resources Research of CAS, and Prof. Watanabe from Japan National Institute of Environment, the program of joint monitoring on dynamic changes of underground water in the Yellow River Area has witnessed a smooth operation.

The Japanese National Institute of Environment has provided 40 sets of advanced underwater automatic monitoring equipments with a value of 35 million Japanese yen for the joint project.

Joint Laboratory Established Between IAC and Samsung Group

On October 25, 2003, the Institute of Automation of CAS (IAC) and Samsung Advanced Institute of Technology (SAIT) has completed the signing ceremony for establishing a joint laboratory. The newly established joint laboratory will be devoted to the research of advanced man-machine interface technology. SAIT will invest 1.5million RMB annually in the first stage of cooperation (2 years). This lab will be opened in the Institute of Automation soon.

KIB Intensified Scientific Cooperation with Vietnam

A6-member delegation led by Dr. Nguyen Duy Thuan, vice president of Institute of Materia Medica of Vietnam paid a visit to CAS Kunming Institute of Botany (KIB) on Oct. 15, 2003.

In recent years, through scientific visit and exchange and cooperative research, KIB intensified mutual understanding with Vietnam research organizations. The co-proposed project "Investigation and Research of the Ferns from Northern and Central Part of Vietnam" has been approved by National Geographic Society of America. The investigation has been carried out in Northern, Southern and Central part of Vietnam. The biodiversity in Vietnam and Yunnan Province of China has a lot in common, while each side has its own specialties at the same time, KIB has made great achievements in the research on botany, which was known to the whole world, we hope that we will keep the long-term exchange and cooperation with KIB, expressed the Vietnam guests.