On November 24, 2022, the Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) held the establishment and inauguration ceremony for the Institute of Nanoscience and Applications (INA).

Guests attending the ceremony included Qikun XUE, President of SUSTech, Zhizhen YE, Professor of Zhejiang University, Hongxing XU, Professor of Wuhan University, Bo SHEN, Deputy Director of the Department of Science at Peking University, Hongqi XU, Chair Professor of Peking University, Qun YAN, Professor of Fuzhou University, Ulf Karlsson, Chairman of the Science and Technology Committee of the Institute of Advanced Science Facilities, Shenzhen (IASF), Dongbai SUN, President of IASF, and Ke XU, Professor of the Suzhou Institute of Nano-tech and Nano-bionics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (SINANO, CAS).

Tina Karlberg, Science and Innovation Counsellor of the Swedish Embassy in China, Dr. Erik Forsberg, Representative in China and Asia-Pacific of the Swedish Foundation for International Cooperation in Research and Higher Education, Feng LING, Vice President of Shenzhen KTC Technology Co., Ltd., and Joakim Diamant, Business Development Director of Scania China, were also in attendance at the unveiling ceremony.

Members of the University’s leadership, including Xueming YANG, Hongwei FANG, and Li JIN, as well as Qinghu MENG, Head of the Department of Electronic and Electrical Engineering (EEE), and Xiaowei SUN, Chair Professor of the Department of EEE, also participated in the event that was held in a combination of in-person and virtually.

At the ceremony, SUSTech President Qikun XUE delivered a speech and said that nanoscience and its applications are very challenging and important frontier fields in modern interdisciplinary scientific research.

The establishment of INA is a major step in the progress of SUSTech as a “Double First-Class” university, and would promote nanoscience and application research into a new stage of development and enhance the University’s influence in the global academic community.

He hopes the institute will conduct in-depth explorations in basic research and application transformation, and contribute to developing a high-level talent highland in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA).

Lars Samuelson, Chair Professor of the Department of EEE at SUSTech, said that the goal of INA is to become a leading international nanoscience research center, which will focus on key areas such as nanoscience and quantum science, and to achieve pioneering results in electronics, photonics, life sciences, and related industrial cooperation.

He added that INA would conduct in-depth research in related fields with open, enthusiastic, and pioneering concepts, and explore the unknown and profound scientific world with interest and a free spirit.

At the ceremony, Qikun XUE, Lars Samuelson, Xueming YANG, Hongwei FANG, Zhizhen YE, Dongbai SUN, Xiaowei SUN, and Ulf Karlsson jointly unveiled the INA.

Letters of appointment were also presented to Lars Samuelson and Xiaowei SUN by Qikun XUE at the event, who were announced as Dean and Executive Dean of INA, respectively.

INA will focus on basic sciences such as electronics, photonics, life science, materials science, and related industrial cooperation based on nanoscience and quantum science. It aims to provide a creative research environment for scientists, graduate students, and industry partners in China, and make advances in cutting-edge materials and physics research to become a leading international nanoscience research center.