Presentation Title: Brief Introduction on the Progress of Nanoscience and Technology in China

Abstract: The potential important of nanoscience and nanotechnology was recognized by the academia in China in late 1980s. The strong interests came from the vision that the advancement of nanoscience and nanotechnology will not only stimulate the exploration of new phenomenon and new theory, but it will also lead to industrial gains and, as a consequence, become a new driving force for the economic growth within conceivable time. The support to the activities of nanoscience and nanotechnologies come from many government agencies, especially from R & D related funding agencies, and more recently from private sectors. Continued progress in nanomaterials research in China has been evident in the past decade. With remarkable achievements, this field is in the leading position in China among the major topical areas of nanoscience and technology. The biological effect of nanostructures have received growing interest in nanoscience and technology research, given the foreseeable introduction of commercial products into markets. Among the strong demands for pharmaceutical applications, safety assessment of nanomaterials is being carefully considered. The toxicology studies have been performed in a number of institutions, including CAS, Peking University, Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences.

Nanoscience and nanotechnology have witnessed remarkable advances in China. With the focus of research has expanded from fundamental studies to include societal impact, industrialization. Collaborations among related disciplines have continued to stimulate new research topics. The knowledge transfer from the basic research area in nanoscience to industries in China may help generate more efficient and sustainable businesses.

Biography: Wang Chen is the Deputy Director of the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology of China. Prior to that, he was the Director of the Laboratory for Molecular Nanostructures and Nanotechnology at the Institute of Chemistry (CAS). Dr Chen received his BSc from the University of Science and Technology of China in 1986 and his PhD in Physics from the University of Virginia in 1992. He is an adjunct Professor at the Department of Chemistry in Beijing University, Jilin University, and Central China Normal University. In 2002-03, he was a Visiting Scholar at the University of California at Berkeley and Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory. Professor Wang has worked on the applications of scanning probe microscopy in surface characterizations and fabrications. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed papers in international journals. He recently co-authored a chapter with Bai Chunli on nanotechnology in China in "Innovation with Chinese Characteristics. High-tech research in China (L. Jakobson, ed., Palgrave, 2007)."