CAS President Lu Yongxiang attends the official unveiling for the center.
The nameplate for the National Center for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology was unveiled March 22 at the CAS Institute of Chemistry in Beijing. The center was recently approved by national authorities with 250 million yuan ($30 million) as its first-phase investment.
The center strives to cater to the strategic needs of the country and scale the heights of world science by bringing into play the superior resources at home and abroad and conducting interdisciplinary studies. It is designed as an open institution with coordinative function, and a national base for the nanoindustry.
The center' s major research undertakings for the near future will concentrate on four areas: nanoprocess and nanodevices, nanomaterials and nanostructure, the application of nanoscience and nanotechnology in the field of medicine and life sciences, and structural and performance characterization technology. A website and database will be set up as well.
The center was jointly initiated by CAS, Peking University and Tsinghua University. It is affiliated with CAS and has an independent legal person status. CAS president Lu Yongxiang currently doubles as chairman of its Council, and CAS vice president Bai Chunli its vice chairman. Under the leadership of the council, a director takes charges of the center' s operation. All staff members in the center will be employed through contracts, and each research field has a principal investigator.
