The Chinese Academy of Science (CAS) invested US$6.5 million over the next three years in five CAS-TWAS (The World Academy of Science) Centres of Excellence accommodated within institutes of CAS. The funding will support joint research projects to build scientific strength and drive innovation in the developing world.
The TWAS is the international science academy that aims to promote scientific excellence and capacity in the South for science-based sustainable development. CAS is hosting the TWAS Regional Office for East & Southeast Asia in Beijing and this year CAS-president Bai Chunli was elected as the new TWAS president, becoming the first Chinese national to take up this position.
The new centres will focus on five areas:
- climate
- water
- biotechnology
- green technology
- space technology for disaster mitigation
They were selected out of 22 CAS-TWAS Centres of Excellence based on peer review of their previous cooperation with TWAS and other developing countries, and their research capacity. Each centre will offer a range of educational and training opportunities for scientists and engineers from the developing world, with the goal of advancing research, exchanging knowledge and building global networks.
The CAS additional funding will also be used for organising workshops, training and PhD programmes through the existing wider network of CAS-TWAS Centres of Excellence and the TWAS-UNESCO Associateship Scheme at Centres of Excellence in the South. This will allow TWAS centres to go beyond their usual three-month exchanges of researchers. The first scientific workshops at the centres started in August and more are planned for September this year.
For further details, see the summary of the missions and work plans of the five CAS-TWAS Centres of Excellence.