Located in the east of the central region of China, Anhui is a part of the most dynamic Yangtze River Delta and rich in innovation resources. It boasts of 119 institutions of higher learning, including the University of Science and Technology of China (No 3 in mainland China in the Times Higher Education World University Ranking 2019) and CAS Hefei Institutes of Physical Science, over 5,300 scientific research institutes, and more than 2.2 million professional and technical personnel. Hefei, the capital of Anhui, is a city featuring the densest deployment of big science facilities only next to Beijing and Shanghai, an important scientific research and education base in China, and one of the top 3 cities in terms of basic scientific research strength in China.
On January 10, 2017, the National Development and Reform Commission and the Ministry of Science and Technology approved the Construction Plan of Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center, marking that Anhui has officially become an important force that can take part in global sci-tech cooperation on behalf of China.
Hefei National Comprehensive Science Center will focus on the following constructions:
First, five major research institutes: i.e. the CAS Institute of Quantum Information and Quantum Sci-tech Innovation, and the Institute for Energy Research, the Institute of Artificial Intelligence, the Institute of Big Health, and the Institute of Environmental Sciences in Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center.
Second, a world-class major sci-tech facility cluster: including the Comprehensive Research Facilities for Fusion Technology, Hefei Advanced Light Source, and the Atmospheric Environment Observation and Simulation Facility; the existing facilities include the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak, Hefei Synchrotron Radiation Lightsource Facility, and the Steady High Magnet Field Facility.
Third, a group of interdisciplinary frontier research platforms and industrial innovation and transformation platforms: including Hefei National Laboratory for Physical Sciences at Microscale, Hefei National Clinical Trial Hospital, Hefei Ion Medical Center, and Hefei Advanced Computing Center. Based on the facilities, scientific research will be carried out on information, energy, health, environment, and other technologies.
Hefei National Comprehensive Science Center has maintained a leading position in the fields of quantum communication and nuclear fusion research in the world and has made fruitful achievements in brain-inspired intelligence, life science, environmental science, chemistry, new materials, and many other fields.
In 2019, 12 major original research outcomes from Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center were successively published in three top academic journals in the world, namely, Cell, Nature, and Science.
Hefei National Comprehensive Science Center will be active in creating a good and comfortable environment for sci-tech innovation and scientific researchers. In building Binhu Science Town, it will make a beautiful, livable eco-environment that is also good for business, and in building Hefei Binhu International Science Exchange Center, it will set up a world-class science exchange platform. It has introduced a number of preferential policies to attract and introduce high-level talent from both home and abroad to work and start businesses in Hefei.
Hefei National Comprehensive Science Center is now integrating itself into the world’s science and technology innovation system with an open mind and active in the activities of the Global Cooperation Alliance of Science Centers (GCASC) . We sincerely invite friends at home and abroad to carry out cooperation and exchanges with us and participate in the construction of the center. We will make every effort to optimize the environment and provide desirable service.
