The opening ceremony of the 2016 EAPSI in China Program was held in Beijing on June 14, 2016. The program was jointly sponsored by the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the National Natural Science Foundation of China and the U.S. National Science Foundation, and organized by China Science and Technology Exchange Centre.

Cai Jianing, Associate Counsel from the Department of International Cooperation at China‘s Ministry of Science and Technology, Dr. Nancy Sung, Director of the U.S. National Science Foundation’s (NSF) China Office, as well as representatives from the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the National Natural Science Foundation of China were present at the opening ceremony. Representatives from both sides spoke highly of the achievements the program has made since its inception 12 years ago, introduced bilateral cooperation in science and technology and encouraged young Chinese and American scientists to expand academic exchange and cooperation, enrich friendship and work together to confront the challenges faced by the human society. 39 outstanding U.S. young researchers in biology, mathematics, physics, engineering, chemistry, energy science, astronomy and marine science from prestigious universities including Harvard University, Carnegie Mellon University, University of Florida and Georgia Institute of Technology attended the opening ceremony.

After the opening ceremony, the American students received a week-long orientation training in Beijing, and learned about China’s political system, culture, history and language through lectures, discussions and visits. After that, they will go to Peking University, Zhejiang University, Nanjing University as well as research institutes of the Chinese Academy of Sciences to carry out cooperative research under the instructions of Chinese mentors for 7 weeks.