The director of the Macau University of Science and Technology’s (MUST) State Key Laboratory of Lunar and Planetary Sciences says that the research lab is on its way to becoming a top-ranking institute in Asia within the next three years, and worldwide within the next five years.
In conversation with the Times, lab director Professor Zhang Keke revealed the institution’s three-year and five-year ambitions earlier this week.
“In three years, we hope to rank among the top in the entire Asian continent and become a lab that everybody knows,” said Zhang. “In five years, we want to become a worldwide well-known State Key Lab so that people from all countries may learn about our achievements in the field.”
MUST’s Lunar and Planetary Sciences Laboratory is one of Macau’s four State Key Laboratories (SKLs), specialized institutions that receive funding and administrative support from the central government. MUST also jointly operates the State Key Laboratory for Quality Research in Chinese Medicine in partnership with the University of Macau.
MUST’s two SKLs have achieved global recognition and made major academic achievements since their establishment, according to the MUST State Key Laboratory director. According to Zhang, they are ready to step into a new level of world-class research, making progress in the fields of Chinese medicine, and lunar and planetary sciences.
Established on October 8, 2018, the MUST Laboratory of Lunar and Planetary Sciences is the first SKL in the field of astronomy and planetary sciences.
The establishment of the SKL marks an important step in developing deep-space exploration, improving the level of science and technology in Macau, and promoting scientific and technological innovation within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area.
There are currently around 100 researchers and postgraduate students at the lab, in addition to 40 researchers, including fellows of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and other prestigious international engineering and astronautics academies.
The major objectives of the SKL are to develop a research center for planetary sciences with international influence, build an international academic exchange and cooperation center with high standards, and participate in major Chinese deep space exploration projects.
These state-level research subjects mainly involve planetary physics, geology, chemistry and biology.
Along with China’s strategy for deep space exploration, the SKL has been carrying out research and is achieving significant results already.
Recently, the lab made a significant breakthrough regarding the accretion history of the Moon, offering new perspectives on the story of our solar system and the discriminated early accretion of the Earth and the Moon.
Aside from fulfilling its scientific research mission, the lab is also tasked with acting as a platform between China and Western countries.
“Macau connects China with Europe and America in regards to scientific communication and science cooperation, in such a way that events in China’s astronomic development can be organized smoothly,” said Zhang. “This is a mission the country has given to us.”
Speaking about the Macau government and the state’s support, Zhang said, “We are very lucky to be in Macau because we get enough support from the Macau government and also from the state due to the One Country Two Systems policy.”
Currently, the SKL has seen its financial support increase as well as its global influence.
As an international research lab, just 10% of the lab’s researchers are Macau, Hong Kong and Taiwan residents. The professor is confident that the lab can attract talented human resources from the city and around the world. “Regarding talented human resources, I don’t think there is any big issue. We are very positive,” said Zhang.
Meanwhile, to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the Macau handover, the SKL has prepared a myriad of public presentations about its research achievements.
The other SKL operated by the MUST is the State Key Laboratory of Quality Research in Chinese Medicine. This lab was approved by China’s Ministry of Science and Technology and formally established in January 2011. It is so far the only SKL working specifically in the field of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) across the country.
The establishment of this SKL was an important measure of the central government, as part of its commitment to promote the internationalization and development of TCM, promoting the growth of a diversified economy, and raising the level of science and technology in Macau as well.
Currently, there are more than 300 researchers and postgraduate students in the laboratory, 51 of whom hold positions as assistant professors or above, including Nobel laureates.
This SKL pays special attention to integrating and merging the most cutting-edge technology in multidisciplinary areas, focusing on two research directions.
With the support of the state and the Macau SAR government, it is equipped with advanced, high-end laboratory instruments and processing systems.
As of today, the lab has been granted a total of 169 patents, including 36 U.S. patents, 119 Australian innovation patents and 14 Chinese patents.
Since its establishment in 2011, the laboratory has already made some important scientific discoveries in the abovementioned key areas, including discovering several TCM ingredients with novel structures and significant treatment efficacy, and discovering new activities and mechanisms of various Chinese herbal ingredients.
The laboratory has also received multiple academic awards both inside and outside of China.
In recent years, the SKL has been actively conducting exchanges and cooperation events, and has established joint laboratories or research centers with 17 well- known teaching and research institutions.
Aside from research, the lab has also co-established a pharmaceutical company with the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and a number of mainland companies.
Professor Jiang Zhi-Hong, deputy director of the lab, told the Times that in 2017, the lab passed its inspection of its initial three-year phase. Another three-year inspection is around the corner. If it passes, the lab will make additional development plans.
According to information Jiang disclosed to the Times, “the lab hopes to establish a National Chinese Medicine/Biomedical Technology Innovation Center in order to push forward the modernization, industrialization, and globalization of Chinese medicines.”
The lab also hopes it can proactively participate in the development of the Greater Bay Area National Science Center. Additionally, in view of the difficulty of gathering experimental samples for Greater Bay Area science and technology, industry and research cooperation, the lab hopes that the SAR government will make new policies on specific measures to facilitate the improved movement and exchange of clinical and biological samples in the Greater Bay Area.
Professor Jiang Zhi-Hong
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