Recently, the Conference on strategic development of Jiangsu Province Physical Science Research Center was held in Nanjing. Tan Zheming, President of Nanjing University and Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), and Xu Guanghui, Director of the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Science and Technology, attended the conference and delivered speeches. Fifteen academicians from the CAS and over thirty renowned experts and scholars participated, jointly discussing the center's development.
In his opening speech, Tan Zheming stated that NJU's Physics discipline, with a century of accumulation, has always resonated with the nation's major strategic needs. As the first "Applied Basic Research Special Zone" pilot unit in the province, the Jiangsu Province Physical Science Research Center, relying on NJU's profound academic foundation, focuses on the international frontier of topological physics. Since its establishment over a year ago, it has achieved several breakthrough results. Tan Zheming hopes the attending experts will provide insights and guidance for the center's future development, helping to build a globally influential hub for physical science research.
Xu Guanghui emphasized that Jiangsu is currently accelerating the construction of a high-level technological powerhouse. The Provincial Department of Science and Technology will continue to support the center's development, hoping it will benchmark against world-class standards, face the forefront of global science and technology, and rapidly build an open, innovative, internationally influential base for fundamental science and talent aggregation. He invites academicians and experts to offer advice and recommend outstanding young physicists from home and abroad to join the center, contributing China's technological self-reliance and strength.
Chief Scientist of the center, Academician Ma Yuqiang, presented a report on the center's work. He pointed out that since the center's construction began in 2023, it has focused on topological physics, planning research across the entire chain of "theory-materials-devices," achieving internationally leading results in fractional quantum Hall effect, topological frontier interdisciplinary research, and topological acoustics and optics technology. Young scholars Du Lingjie, Chen Wei, Lei Qunli, Sun Jian, Nie Yuefeng, and Zhang Zhiwang shared several original research achievements. Their research findings received praise from the attending experts.
Academician Xing Dingyu chaired the strategic consultation session. The meeting concluded that the Jiangsu Province Physical Science Research Center will focus on three strategic directions: "rooted in topological physics, expanding scope of impact, and deepening international exchange," injecting new momentum into high-quality regional basic research development.
In December 2023, as a significant initiative to build a globally influential industrial technology innovation center, Jiangsu launched the construction of the Provincial Physical Science Research Center. In May 2024, the center was approved as the first batch pilot unit of the province's "Applied Basic Research Special Zone," exploring reforms in the basic research system, becoming a "testing ground" for physical basic research. The center strives to become a world-class physical science research center with Chinese characteristics, focusing on topological physics to produce major original research outcomes, and building a world-class talent team, forming a talent hub for topological physics research.
The meeting was chaired by Wang Bogen, Executive Director of the Jiangsu Province Physical Science Research Center and Dean of the School of Physics at NJU. More than 50 people, including leaders from the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Science and Technology and relevant departments of NJU, as well as key researchers from the center, attended the meeting.
