MOE Project Advisory Meeting held for the Construction of Long-Term Seafloor Scientific Observatory System:
a Key National Science and Technology Infrastructure Construction Project
As Ocean Science researches have stepped into a higher level from short-term explorations to long-term continuous observation, from sea-surface down to its interior, the seafloor observatory network has gradually become a third platform for the observation of ocean and earth processes, and will play a main role as one of the observing patterns for the understanding and prediction of oceanic processes. In the Medium and Long-term (2012-2030) Plan on Infrastructure Construction at China's Major Science and Technology Projects issued by the State Council on Jan. 16th, 2013, the project of “National Long-term Seafloor Scientific Observatory System”, ranked first in 2011 by the expert panel, was again listed as the principle program among the 16 Key National Science and Technology Infrastructure Construction Programs in the country’s 12th Five-Year Plan.
In order to better examine the proposal, a Project Advisory Meeting was held in Tongji University on Jan. 19th, 2013 by the Science andTechnology Division of Chinese Ministry of Education (MOE) for the Construction of Long-Term Seafloor Scientific Observatory System. The meeting’s Advisory Expert Panel was composed of 14 experts, with Academician Jilan SU as the group leader, including Academician Pinxian WANG, Academician Yunshan QIN, Academician Yousheng HE, Academician Dunxin HU, Academician Delu PAN, Academician Jiancheng LI, Academician Nianzhi JIAO, State Counsellor Hongtao ZHANG, Deputy Director-General Hua WANG, Prof. Meng ZHOU, Prof. Peiyuan QIAN, Prof. Peifa JIA and Prof. Yongshun CHEN. The program’s co-operators from Tongji Univ., Xiamen Univ., Zhejiang Univ., Shanghai Jiaotong Univ., East Normal Univ., as well as leaders and experts from Science and Technology division of MOE, Shanghai Municipal Education Commission, High-Tech Industry Sector of Shanghai Municipal Development and Reform Commission and Social Development Sector of Shanghai Municipal Science and Technology Commission also attended the meeting.
The Expert Panel carefully reviewed reports of “The Project Proposal Draft of National Long-Term Seafloor Scientific Observatory System” from the Collaborative Innovation Center for the Scientific Project on Seafloor Observatory, examined related materials submitted, and generated the following opinions based on these works: substantial progresses have been made in the country in the accumulation of experiences and mastery of main technologies for seafloor observatory network construction through efforts on the implementation of the 11th Five-Year Plan by both the central and local governments. As universities governed by Chinese Ministry of Education possess prominent advantages in seafloor scientific studies as well as observatory technologies, they are supposed to make bigger contributions to the construction of seafloor observatory system. This proposal embraces a well-directed goal for its scientific use which could meet the needs of national interest and practical application as well, and a National Users’ Committee is also being under well preparation.
The technical scheme of the project’s overall construction is advanced and rational and is highly operable. The operative management model for this observatory system serving as a national open platform for scientific information sharing is very practicable. Facing the current challenging situation where developmental paces of seafloor observatory techniques are booming in some regions of North America, West Europe and China’s neighboring countries and regions such as Japan and Taiwan, we should accelerate building our own long-term seabed observatory system. In addition, these experts provided many valuable constructive suggestions on multi-sectoral cooperation, improvement of collaborative innovation mechanism, and the further refinement of related scientific issues during the conference.
Last Updated (2013-05-14 16:40)
