Norwich, United Kingdom
June 16, 2011
The John Innes Centre (JIC) has launched a major collaborative venture with Institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). This builds on the strong associations between JIC and China that began more than three decades ago. There are over 100 JIC alumni with academic positions in China, and many of these alumni are in senior positions, including three who are Academicians at CAS.
Dale Sanders, Director, John Innes Centre and Lu Yonglong,Director General of International Cooperation, CAS sign the Memorandum of Understanding.
In attendance are, L-R Tim Willis (BBSRC), Alan Giles (JIC Business Development), Sebastian Wood (UK Ambassador to China), David Willetts MP, Hong-wei Xue (Director, CAS), Yongbiao Xue (Director, Institute of Genetics & Developmental Biology, CAS), Haichun Jing (Professor Institute of Botany, CAS), Chun-Ming Liu (Director Institute of Botany, CAS)
The collaborative venture was launched at the Chinese Academy of Sciences on June 7 2011 with the signing in Beijing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) by Professor Lu Yonglong, Director General of International Cooperation for CAS and by Professor Dale Sanders, Director of the JIC. The MoU envisages a program of mutually beneficial academic exchanges during the next two years, and, once established, the subsequent development of a CAS-JIC Institute.
The signing ceremony was witnessed by the UK Minister for Universities and Science, Mr David Willetts, the Vice President of CAS, Jiayang Li and by the UK Ambassador to China, Mr Sebastian Wood.
Commenting on the signing, Professor Dale Sanders said:
“This event is tremendously exciting for JIC. Plant and microbial science research in China complements ongoing activities in the UK. There are exciting possibilities, building on traditional goodwill between JIC and Chinese colleagues, for collaboration for the public good between JIC and CAS institutes, especially in the areas of food security, sustainable agriculture and healthy living.”
Professor Lu Yonglong said:
“This is an exciting moment for CAS. Plant science and biotechnology are CAS priority research areas, which complement ongoing activities in JIC. We are looking forward to fruitful cooperative results achieved through this platform.”
David Willetts, UK Minister for Universities and Science said,
“China is a rapidly growing research nation and to make the most of this we need to look for opportunities to share knowledge and expertise. This agreement puts in place an even greater commitment to working together on areas including food security, one of the biggest challenges facing the world today.”
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