Return Twelve Assignments to be Undertaken under the Knowledge Innovation Project
The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) has declared that before the end of this year, the following twelve assignments will be initiated under the Pilot Program of the Knowledge Innovation Project:
10 ¨C 12. The Dalian Institute of Chemical Physics, the Institute of Theoretical Physics and the Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology will undertake the pilot program by upgrading the budget and allocation system, enlarging their own decision-making power, quickening transformation of operating mechanisms, and adopting the modern organization of research institutes.
Major Reform Conducted in Institute of Computing Technology
As an assignment to implement the Pilot Program of the Knowledge Innovation Project, the CAS Institute of Computing Technology (CAS/ICP) is to undergo major restructuring: its staff of some 1,000 will downsize to a compact team of around 100, with the rest being transferred to the Legend Group, its subsidiaries or other firms.
CAS/ICP, established forty-two years ago, has been nicknamed as a cradle of China's endeavor to develop the computing technology, but its present set-up and operational mechanisms can no longer meet the needs of the socialist market economy. The Legend Group originated from the Institute. Through fourteen years of development, the enterprise now has the biggest share of China's PC market, and is the fourth largest motherboard supplier in the world. Its further development needs greater knowledge and technology innovation capabilities. Both the Institute and the firm are faced with stringent challenges, and the reform measures to be taken will provide them with fresh opportunities.
The new Institute sets itself the task of developing into a world ranking institution of computer science and technology in five years time. Its research areas cover computer architecture, networking technology, computing intelligence, numerical technology, software technology and CAD. It will devote 20% of its resources to basic frontier research, 30% to high-tech research of strategic and forward-looking significance which is necessary to meet the major needs of the State, and 50% to research of new products and technologies catering to the information industry and market. Besides elite scientists chosen from the former staff, the new Institute will enroll high level researchers from inside and outside China through public invitation. The new Institute will be governed by a Board of Trustees, while in the Legend Group a technology innovation committee is to be set up to guarantee technological coordination between the Institute and the Group, and continuity of the chain from research to products.
The restructuring constitutes a major step taken by the Academy to reform its science management system and operational mechanisms, and to integrate technology with the economy.
Road to Knowledge Innovation Blazed by Reforms
While covering the news of the reform measures taken in the Institute of Computing Technology (ICP), China Science News carries commentaries which point out that the Chinese Academy of Sciences is initiating the Pilot Program of the Knowledge Innovation Project and is promoting development by taking bold reform measures. In the streamlining of ICP, one can see that knowledge innovation comprehends the whole process of the production, transfer and materialization of the value of knowledge; it is closely linked with technology innovation and is geared to the market. The reform also breaks a road for staff members in research institutes to join enterprises. Comrade Deng Xiaoping said back in 1985:
"Reforms of the economic system and of the science and technology management system both aim to emancipate the productive forces. The new economic system should be conducive to technological progress. The new science and technological management system should be conducive to economic development. With reforms being carried out in both systems, the dislocation between science and technology on the one hand and the economy on the other may be relatively well solved. "
The commentaries hail the restructuring as a breakthrough in the reform of China's science and technology management system in conformity with Deng's instructions.
CAS and Shanghai Join Hands in Conducting Knowledge Innovation Project
As a part of the Pilot Program of the Knowledge Innovation Project, CAS will build in Shanghai two R&D bases: the R&D Base of the Life Sciences and the R&D Base of High Technology. The Project is of great importance to the development of both China's basic research and high technology, and to the cultivation of knowledge economy. Shanghai will provide great support and get actively involved. The bases aim to enhance the nation's long-term goals of economic and social development. The R&D Base of Life Sciences will carry out research in such areas as super-high yielding quality crops, vital diseases and population control, molecular developmental neurobiology, biological macromolecular structures & properties, and human genomes. The R&D Base of High Technology will focus on the areas of chemistry, new materials and applied physics, seeking breakthroughs. Meanwhile, the two bases will conduct interdisciplinary research in areas including DNA chips and ultra-fast phenomena in living processes.
It has been reported that cooperation between CAS and Shanghai in promoting industrialization of high technology and training & recruiting of talents has yielded good results. High-tech enterprises initiated jointly by CAS institutes and companies and institutions of higher education in Shanghai have contributed a total of over 100 million yuan to the local revenue, with a total export value of more than 40 million USD. In recent years, the CAS institutes in Shanghai have introduced or trained nearly one thousand senior professionals for local firms or agencies. Currently, R&D of the synchrotron radiation facility which CAS and Shanghai will construct across the century is already in progress.
Prof. Lu Yongxiang, CAS President, remarked that the Shanghai Branch Academy is strong in life sciences, information technology and new materials. It's expected that CAS-Shanghai cooperation will accumulate more experience in carrying out the Knowledge Innovation Project, and that CAS will devote more resources to promoting economic construction and development of high technology in Shanghai
Green Chemistry Leading to Zero Discharge
The First Senior International Symposium on Green Chemistry, held on the campus of the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC), attracted participants from home and abroad, who exchanged and discussed their latest research achievements and the development trends in the field of green chemistry. Green chemistry is different from traditional chemistry in that it prevents pollutants at their source by implementing an overall control and purified production technology throughout the chemical reaction and technical process so as to achieve the effect of "zero discharge".
Taking advantage of its superiority in information and talents, USTC set up in 1996 an inter-department and interdisciplinary center -- the Research & Development Center for Green Technology, which consists of dozens of professors. They have since been engaged in research of areas such as the control and prevention of atmospheric pollutants, the application of biotechnology in green technology, the influence of degradable polymer materials, eco-environmental materials and bionics chemistry, and their effects on reducing environmental pollution. Their research has yielded remarkable achievements.
Prof. Zhu Qingshi, CAS Member, and a group of young and middle-aged outstanding scholars have been carrying out research on the chemical and physical structures of plant fibers by means of scanning probe microscopy and other advanced technologies, to provide a basis for developing cleaner paper, biological energy and new food resources technologies.
New Strain of Spring Wheat Obtained
A new strain of spring wheat has been successfully developed by Prof. Jiang Deheng from the Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, located in Xining, Qinghai Province, after fifteen years of research and experiment.
The strain is characterized by its big and plump seeds, dark purple seed tegument and endosperm, high content of protein and abundant nutritious trace elements. It is therefore named "dark purple nutritious wheat". Compared with traditional strains of wheat, the new strain contains 40.9% more protein and additional trace elements, among which are Manganese (+12.7% ), Magnesium (+14.0%), Calcium (+41.9%) and Phosphorus(+9.9%). It is really a fine source of nutrient food. Test cropping in Qinghai and neighboring areas has shown that the yield of the wheat can reach up to 350~400 kgs per mu (one mu is a fifteenth of a hectare).
Achievements in Radio Multi-Media Technologies by USTC
The study of radio multi-media service cut-in technology, supported by the National 863 Project and carried out by the research group led by Prof. Zhu Jinkang from the Department of Electronic Engineering and Information Science of USTC, recently passed the appraisal of specialists in the 863 communications division. This project will meet the demands of the third-generation movable communication technology and wide-band radio communication technology, aiming at the study of multi-media service cut-in W-CDMA communication methods and technology.
This research group adopted the frequency-amplification communication method of forward channel bi-orthogonal codes and backward channel M-ary group, achieving a bandwidth of 5 MHz and a maximal data transfer rate for single codes of 76.8 kbps and for multi-channels of 144 kbps or 384 kbps. Good communication ability and spectral efficiency can be realized. The methods of channel gain and signal power balance and adjustment take into account both information rate and quality, which ensures that different users can reach their demands for communication quality at different channel gains and information transfer rates.
It was through this project that W-CDMA technology was first developed in China, followed by the successful realization of CDMA wide-band communication. Some of the technological ideas have been demonstrated in third-generation movable communication systems. The fulfillment of this project is important for the study and development of the third-generation movable communications technology.
New Generation of Management Information System Introduced
CAS has established a new generation of management information system that will support multi-platform network applications, office applications, transactions and information resources application and development. The system has digital, linguistic, dynamic and static image communication capabilities as well as the ability to connect with outside networks. To initiate the modern system, the Academy has especially promulgated "The General Program of CAS Management Information System for 1998-2000," which stipulates eight requirements and objectives such as perfection of the supporting environment of the network, establishment of standards of the information system, and training of high-level talents.
CAS has altogether invested some 100 million yuan for infrastructure construction of information technology. The NCFC project which started in 1990 is one of the earliest networks established in China. The Hundred Institutes Networking Project in 1996 has connected more than 100 institutes. In 1996 and 1997, a pilot program covering 19 institutes was conducted for the new generation of management information systems. For three consecutive years from 1996 ¨C 1998, a conference networking system has been used for the annual working conference of the Academy.
CAS Branches to Join Forces to Contribute to Yangtze River Development
The reaches of the Yangtze River, with its advantages of extensive area, rich natural resources, unique regional characteristics and dense population, occupy a very important position in the economic and social development of China. In recent years, however, due to economic development acceleration and intensified human activities, the area has been suffering from severe soil and water erosion, leading to increasingly frequent mountain disasters and floods. Problems such as sharp decrease of farm land, severe degradation of soil quality and deterioration of water environment, as well as the unbalanced development of the upper, middle and lower reaches and increasing gradients of their differences, are yet to be solved. The solution can only be found with the intellectual support of scientific innovation so as to achieve the goal of sustainable development characterized by harmony between man and nature.
Down the Yangtze River valley three branches of CAS, the Chengdu, Wuhan and Nanjing Branches are situated at consecutive intervals. Enjoying the advantage of decades of experience and accumulated knowledge, and with the possible support of relevant institutions of higher learning and other social forces, the Branches are capable of solving the major eco-environmental problems in the region. Leaders from the three Branches and institutes concerned recently met in Wuhan (Hubei Province) to discuss ways of joining their efforts in conducting theoretical research and innovative activities in such areas as natural resources, ecology, the environment, agriculture, disaster prevention and regional geography, to make contributions to the economic & social development of the Yangtze River valley.
"Task Force" Set up to Subdue Desertification
According to Prof. Chen Yiyu, Member and Vice President of CAS, the Academy is organizing eight affiliated research institutes in an effort to search for a solution to the increasing deterioration and desertification of land. These institutes are the Lanzhou Institute of Glaciology and Cryopedology, Lanzhou Institute of Desert Research, Institute of Atmospheric Physics, Institute of Geology, Northwest Institute of Soil and Water Conservation, Laboratory of the Yellow River and Quaternary Geology, Xining Northwest Institute of Plateau Biology, and Qinghai Institute of Saline Lakes. These research institutes will make the most of their respective disciplinary superiority and their combined research force. With Northwest China as the theater, efforts will be made to fully understand the underlying problems, and proposals will be put forward to study and control land desertification, soil salinization and grassland degradation, and to make rational use of the climate, water, soil and biological resources.
CAS and CAE Members Diagnose Problems of Steel Giant
CAS and CAE organized its Members to carry out diagnosis in the Anshan Iron and Steel Complex to help the company overcome its current difficulties. The 23 Members inspected and inquired about the current conditions and plans of technological renovation at the blast furnaces of the iron works, the newly-built converters of the 2nd steel works, the mat continuous casting workshop of the 3rd steel works, the construction site of the hot-rolled band steelworks and the continuous casting engineering site of the 1st steel works. They held 4 seminars. Based on their research and experience accumulated over long years in engineering technology, and taking into consideration the development of China's national economy and current conditions of the Complex, the scientists and technologists made comparisons between China and the world, and put forward important suggestions on information management, computer application, metallurgical chemical engineering, thermal engineering and other related areas.
Technicians and managers working in the Complex came up with some 30 thorny technical problems. The CAS/CAE Members and the technicians held panel discussions and reached agreements of intent on the solution of a number of technical problems.
Xinjiang Branch Actively Serves Local Economy
In recent years, the CAS Xinjiang Branch has organized its scientists to take an active part in the local economic construction, which has brought the Branch the honorary title of "Advanced Unit of Moral Building in Xinjiang Autonomous Region" for six successive years.
The Branch carries out structural reform in an active and steady way, helps its institutes and stations carefully analyze their own disciplinary structure and advantages, and encourages them to engage in cooperative projects and other key projects with the local governments of Ili, Aksu and Altay prefectures. The Branch has assisted the Agricultural Project Office of CAS in the coordination and review of the Academy's key project -- the integrated demonstration project of comprehensive technology for continuous high quality and high yield of cotton in Xinjiang. It has also participated in the organizational work of other important projects of the locality, e.g. the project of "Rebuilding the Beautiful Northwest Region". These cooperative efforts have in turn promoted research in its institutes.
Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry Cultivates Young Talents
CAS Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry has been attaching great importance to the cultivation of young talents. After many years of endeavor, mid- and high-ranking researchers below the age of 45 account for 45% of the total staff now and have formed a high-level and competitive group in research. The Institute has taken measures to attract overseas students and researchers. Seventy percent of the 80 scientists who came back from abroad are playing leading roles in the Institute.
The Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry has set up funds and prizes to encourage young people to take on heavy responsibilities. About one third of the research group leaders are young people. Research papers written and published by these young people account for half of the total number in the Institute. The average age of directors and deputy directors of research departments is 41.7. Thirty-four year old Wang Lixiang, who has been selected into the "Hundred Talents Program" of CAS, was promoted as tutor for doctoral students, and in 1997 he was appointed director of the Laboratory of Polymer Chemistry.
Certificate of Foreign Membership Presented to British Scientist
At a ceremony held at the Chinese Embassy in Britain, Prof. Zienkiewicz, a prominent scientist from the University of Wales and well acknowledged founder of computational mechanics, was presented the certificate of Foreign Membership of CAS by Prof. Chen Yiyu, Vice President of CAS. Prof. Zienkiewicz is the third British scientist to be elected as Foreign Member of the Academy. Prof. Chen highly lauded Prof. Zienkiewicz for his great contributions to the development of science and education in China. Prof. Chen expected that, at the threshold of the 21st century, the cooperation of scientists as well as academic communities between the two countries will be further enhanced.
Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences is the highest academic title in science and technology in China. Since 1994, thirty-four Foreign Members of the Academy have been elected. All of them enjoy worldwide reputation in their academic fields, and at the same time have made significant contributions to the development of science and technology in China.
Sino-British Seminar Aims at Cleaner Air
The Sino-British Seminar on Cleaner Coal, co-sponsored by the British PSWG, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) of Britain, the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), the China State Power Corporation and the State Coal Administration, was held in the China World Hotel, Beijing, in October, 1998. Present were some 200 participants from government agencies of the two countries, the British embassy, the British Chamber of Commerce, firms including BP, Alstom, Shell and National Power, and Chinese research and developmental institutions. Eight presentations were made covering broad fields of cleaner coal research and development. Sound discussions on future cooperation between government agencies and companies were carried out during and after the seminar. A memo between the British DTI and the Ministry of Foreign Trade and Economy of China on cooperation on cleaner coal was signed as the basis for closer collaboration in all relevant fields. Mr. Tony Blair, the British Prime Minister, attended the seminar and spoke highly of the effective cooperation between the two countries to control coal-related pollution.
Second CoDoCA Conference Held at Urumqi
The Conference on Strategic Consideration on the Development of Central Asia was held in Urumqi in September 1998. The event was sponsored by the Council for Sustainable Development of Central Asia (CoDoCA) and organized by the Xinjiang Institute of Ecology and Geography (XIEG), with an attendance of 154 scientists from 22 countries and regions. Mr. S.Tiderman, Chairman of CoDoCA and Prof. Song Yudong, Director of XIEG, addressed the opening ceremony.
During the conference, participants discussed a wide range of important issues affecting the ecology of the region, such as water resources, land management, nature protection and biodiversity conservation, sustainable grazing, economic policy and planning, financing of development, culture and eco-tourism, renewable energy, and the role of NGOs.
Cooperation Boosted between CAS and Conglomerate
Nearly a hundred officials from departments of the central government listened to the speech titled "The Converged Network and Knowledge Economy" given by Mr. Eric Benhamou, information technology advisor of the US president. He is the first speaker at the Senior Forum of Network Technology and Knowledge Economy held at CAS. Mr. Eric Benhamou is CEO of 3Com Corporation and chairman of the education committee of the 18 western states of the US. In his speech, Mr. Eric Benhamou demonstrated, with the help of charts, the development of the converged network, how networks change people's life and their influence on society and the economy. He noticed that information technology is developing at a tremendous speed in China, with its more than 1 million Internet users. China has greatly narrowed the gap between herself and the world in the application of information technology. Many latest information products and technologies are marketed in China almost as soon as they are developed.
In order to promote knowledge innovation, CAS and 3Com Corp have signed the Agreement on Cooperation in Information Technology Innovation. The two sides will make joint efforts to set up a research center to explore new methods of information technology innovation and to strengthen the technology exchanges between China and the US. The two sides will also train high level skilled personnel to promote China's knowledge innovation program.
Nobel Prize Laureate Visits CAS Institute
Prof. Steven Chu, the famous Chinese-American scientist and Nobel Prize winner of physics for 1997, recently visited the CAS Shanghai Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics. Prof. Xu Zhizhan, CAS Member and Director of the Institute, warmly welcomed him and conferred on him the title of honorary professor of the Institute. Prof. Chu happily accepted the certificate of the honorary title and delivered an ebullient speech, saying: "I have been looking forward to visiting this famous institute for a long time to exchange opinions and discuss problems about laser science and technology with my counterparts. I will treasure the meaningful title of an honorary professor."
Prof. Chu visited with great interest the high-power laser physics laboratory, the intense laser optics laboratory, the quantum optics laboratory, the free-electron laser laboratory and the high-power CO2 laser laboratory. He spoke highly of the large scale and high level of research being conducted, saying that the large number of staff and the large scale are not necessarily a burden, but may be an embodiment of research power and standard. Stanford University, which is also very large, attracts a great number of outstanding talents and has made remarkable achievements. He extended congratulations for the achievements made by the quantum optics laboratory, praised the physical ideas put forward by the young scientists, and volunteered many valuable suggestions on specific experimental techniques.
Japanese Prince and Princess Visit CAS
At the invitation of CAS President Lu Yongxing, Prince and Princess Akishinomiya of Japan and their entourage of some 20 people visited CAS and met with Prof. and Mrs. Lu in Beijing. They then flew to Yunnan Province to carry out academic surveys and exchanges on the red jungle fowl. In Kunming, Prince Akishinomiya first visited the Kunming Institute of Zoology. The Prince and his entourage also paid a visit to the Xishuangbanna Tropical Botanical Garden and planted a tree in the garden -- a Banna Santalum album.