Sep. 3, 2009, invited by Prof. Lu Yongxiang, the president of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Prof. Bruce Alberts paid a visit to the Institute of Biophysics (IBP). Prof. Bruce Alberts was the president of the National Academy of Sciences from 1993 to 2005 and the former co-chair of the InterAcademy Council (IAC). Now he works in the department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, and is the editor in chief of Science magazine. Prof. Bruce Alberts is noted particularly for his extensive study of the protein complexes which enable chromosome replication when living cells divide. His textbook, the Molecular Biology of the Cell, now in its fifth edition, is the standard cell biology textbook in many universities.

The report of Prof. Bruce Alberts attracted a lot of scientists and graduate students not only from IBP but also from Peking University, Tsinghua University as well as other institutes of CAS. More than 300 people attended the meeting. Prof. Shigang He held the report as a host. The title of this report was ‘Mechanisms in cell biology: so much left to discover’, in which Prof. Bruce Alberts shared his academic career and scientific achievement with the audience. The vivid PPT and video displayed various protein-driven processes in the cell such as DNA replication. As a science educator, Prof. Bruce Alberts also showed a great passion to the education of young scientists during his report. He encouraged young researchers to explore novel methods and combine different fields of knowledge in their research. He said there would be many exciting challenges in cell biology left for young scientists. Additionally, based on his own experiences, Prof. Bruce Alberts summarized the ways to stimulate innovation, such as structuring institutions to encourage a random collision of ideas and organizing focused workshops with experts in other areas. In the end, the audience had an active communication and a heated discussion with Prof. Bruce Alberts.
After the report, accompanied by staff of international liaison department, Prof. Bruce Alberts had a tour of the institute. Advanced facilities in IBP impressed him greatly. Prof. Bruce Alberts wished that scientists in IBP would publish more and more high-level papers on prestigious journals such as Science, and hoped further collaboration with IBP in the future.
　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　　

[Photograph]

Prof. Bruce Alberts visiting Prof. Zhijie Liu's Lab	Prof. Bruce Alberts visiting 'Chinese Academy of Sciences Protein Science core facility center'	Prof. Bruce Alberts making a speech	Prof. Shigang He presiding lecture
audiences	questions and answers	Prof. Jiangyun Wang putting a question	Prof. Ying Wu putting a question