CAS and the Max Planck Society (MPS) for the Advancement of Science have established two more partner groups in China. On August 3, CAS President LU Yongxiang and MPS President Peter Gruss attended the launching ceremony of the groups in Shanghai.

First set up in the late 1990s, CAS/MPS Partner Groups are designed to promote network building between Chinese scientists and German research institutes. All the group leaders are young scientists who have returned to China after working at an MPS institute as a fellowship holder. Within a fixed period of up to five years, they will be supported to continue and develop research partnership with their corresponding partners at MPG institutes.

One of the new groups, headed by Dr. Zhao Jingtai from the CAS Shanghai Institute of Ceramics, will focus its research on the molecular design of novel Functional Compounds. The other group is to carry out research into fluid numerical simulations and galaxy formation under the leadership of Dr. Yang Xiaohu from the CAS Shanghai Astronomical Observatory.