Nobel laureate—Prof. Klaus von Klitzing, together with the other 23 staff of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina (simplified as Leopoldina) visited the Institute of Physics, Chinese Academy of Science (IOP CAS) on the morning of Sep. 11th. Prof. Fang Zhong, Director of IOP, and other 16 researchers attended the meeting.

At the beginning of the event hosted by IOP Prof. Li Yongqing, Mr. Fang Zhong first extended a warm welcome, on behalf of IOP, to the guests, and spoke highly of the long history of partnership between IOP and German research institutions. Then Professor Katharina KOHSE-HÖINGHAUS from Bielefeld University delivered the speech on Leopoldina's behalf, with the hope of promoting basic research together and improving communications and collaborations between young scientists of China and Germany.

Prof. Li Yongqing gave a detailed introduction of IOP, such as its basic information, research highlights, international cooperation and that with Germany, as well as the future plan of One Village and Three Lakes.

Then scientists from both sides engaged in discussions and exchanges on specific scientific issues, including clean energy, materials genome, quantum information, nanoscale physics, surface physics, optical physics, biophysics, large-scale scientific facilities and other related fields. Such communications enhanced mutual understanding, and laid a solid ground for potential cooperation in the future.

After the meeting, the delegation visited the National Lab for Superconductivity and briefly exchanged ideas with local researchers.

The German delegation consists of senior scientists and youth scholars from Max Planck Institute for Solid State Research, University of Goettingen, Max Planck Institute for Terrestrial Microbiology, Bielefeld University, Leibniz Institute of Photonic Technology, Leibniz-Institute for Interactive Materials, as well as the Leopoldina headquarters. Participants from IOP include researchers from labs for theoretical physics, solid state quantum, nanoscale physics & devices, superconductivity, advanced materials, surface physics, physics under extreme conditions, magnetism, optical physics and biophysics.

This visit was a part of a series of exchange events between CAS and Leopoldina. On September 9, CAS and Leopoldina co-organized the first bilateral conference at the Yanqi lake Campus of the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS). At the opening ceremony, President Bai Chunli of UCAS and President Jorg Hacker of Leopoldina signed and issued "Beijing Declaration", jointly proposing to work together on basic research and nurturing of youth talents.