NewsLetter

The Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS),China’s top science agency and national think-tank, held a press conference on August 19, announcing the launch of a new action plan called the Pioneer Initiative (PI), which sets four strategic goals for the academy’s reform and development by 2030.

The program depicts a roadmap for overall reform and development of the CAS for the next 15 years, with 25 major actions in five aspects:

Deepening reform of CAS-affiliated research institutes based on their categories

In order to avoid duplication and homogenization-based competition, the CAS will restructure its subordinate research institutes into four main categories: innovative research institutes; centers of excellence for innovation; mega-science research centers; and research institutes with their own characteristics. A modern governance system will be established to suit the needs of China’s development and accelerate the production of highimpact research outcomes.

Optimizing the priorities of research

The priorities of research will be more focused on areas that address China’s strategic needs and the frontiers of science and technology.

Prof. Bai Chunli

THE STRATEGIC
GOALS OF
THE PIONEER
INITIATIVE ARE:

to lead China in achieving leapfrog development in science and technology

to lead China in building a national pool of highly innovative talent

to lead China in building a highlevel scientific think-tank

to lead China in forging a global first-class scientific academy

Foreign researchers will account for three percent of all CAS researchers, up from 1 percent curently, until 2020.

Bai Chunli paid a visit to the UK, Colombia and

Peru July 9 to 17 at the invitation of the UK Royal Society, the Colombia Botanical Gardens and Peru’s National University of San Marcos.

Two CAS research groups have simultaneously come up with three homoeoalleles of the MLO gene found in hexaploid wheat as an example of the possible use of genome technology for wheat used for flour.

The CAS sent a host of teams to Ludian County,

Southwest China’s Yunnan Province which was hit by a magnitude 6.5 earthquake on August 3.

The cosmology research group at the Institute of High Energy Physics has tackled various problems in early universe research.

CAS Newsletter–Bimonthly–Editorial Board: 52, Sanlihe Road, Beijing, 100864, China

Contact: Prof Hu Zhenou Email: zohu@cashq.ac.cn http://www.conference.ac.cn/newsletter.html http://www.casbic.ac.cn