On the afternoon of the 27th July, Chris Godwin, director of the Research Councils UK (RCUK) Office in China and Ms. Cai Jing, the Event Executive, visited the Lanzhou Institute of Chemical Physics, Chinese Academy of Sciences (LICP).

Director Chris Godwin and Ms. Cai Jing visited the exhibition room and State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication accompanied by Prof. Xue Qunji, member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and director of the Academic Committee of LICP. Prof. Xue introduced the history, development, scientific research platforms, building of the contingent, S&T achievements of LICP, etc. to the visitors. Then both sides had a deep discussion.

During the discussion, the visitors were acquainted with the cooperation between LICP and the University of Southampton, UK, in the fields of tribology and surface engineering, especially the 2009 UK-Sino Symposium and Summer School on Tribology and Surface Engineering coorganized by the State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication of LICP and the National Center for Advanced Tribology at the University of Southampton, by Doc. Zhang Guangan of the State Key Laboratory of Solid Lubrication. Then Director Chris Godwin and Ms. Cai Jing introduced the basic situations of RCUK and the RCUK Office in China and the Sino-UK cooperation in academic research and in the training of postgraduates.

Prof. Xue said that, the successful holding of the 2009 UK-Sino Symposium and Summer School on Tribology and Surface Engineering provided a good platform of scientific and cultural communication and exchange for the research personnel of both sides. He pointed out that, Britain and China has kept the good tradition of cooperation and exchange in the areas of tribology and surface engineering and great achievements have already been made. He hoped that both sides could push the transformation of the research in these fields from basic research to new applied research and the RCUK Office in China could provide more fund and support for the cooperation between LICP and scientific research institutions in UK to enhance the mutual progress in S&T development and cultural undertaking.

The visitors thanked Prof. Xue for accompanying them given the fact that he’s busily scheduled. They said that the RCUK Office in China and the relevant Chinese organizations were striving to remove the barriers in the scientific research cooperation between both sides and would spare no effort to create more opportunities for joint projects.

There are 7 research councils in UK, all of which are independent legal public organizations and provide funds for academic research and the training of postgraduates. The public fund they receive is about 2.8 billion each year. The RCUK Office in China is jointly funded by the 7 research councils and operates in the name of RCUK. The Office cooperates closely with Chinese scientific research institutions, provides convenience for the outstanding scientific personnel of both sides and carries out joint projects to raise the academic level of both sides