The CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology was evaluated by an international scientific advisory board on Sept 14 and 15, the fifth of its kind since the founding of the institute.

Zhang Jie, vice president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and Bill Hansson, vice president of the Max Planck Society, attended the evaluation meeting.

The evaluation conformed to the models and norms adopted by the Max Planck institutes. The international panel consisted of 10 renowned experts from the US, Germany and Austria who undertook a comprehensive review of all aspects of the institute’s development over the past three years.

The experts heard a report on the institute’s overall work delivered by its head Wang Zefeng, as well as 17 research team leaders’ reports on the latest developments in scientific research. They made field investigations into the research teams and talked to graduate students as well as post-doctoral fellows before providing feedback to Zhang, Hansson and the computational biology institute.

Zhang met with Hansson and his delegation on the sidelines of the evaluation meeting. The two sides discussed issues of common concern, including cooperation between CAS and the Max Planck Society and the computational biology institute’s future development.

Zhang reviewed the fruitful cooperation between the two sides’ institutes in the past four decades, and put forward new proposals regarding bilateral cooperation in key fields and cooperation models. He expected the evaluation process to give a vital boost to the institute’s growth.

Hansson thanked Zhang for making a special trip to Shanghai to attend the evaluation meeting. He agreed with Zhang’s cooperation proposals, saying the Max Planck Society would continue to participate in and provide support for the computational biology institute’s work in future.

The two sides also reached consensus on the challenges, solutions and development trends in computational biology.

Launched in October 2005, the CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology is an international research institute co-founded and co-managed by CAS and Germany’s Max Planck Society, with funding coming from both sides. The institute, which has about 200 staff members, is engaged in computational and experimental biology research.

The CAS-MPG Partner Institute for Computational Biology has passed its 5th international evaluation. (Image from CAS)

Source: International Bureau of Cooperation, CAS