An ERA-Instruments delegation consisted of eight members visited the Institute of Biophysics in the afternoon of November 12, 2009. The delegation was welcomed by Dr. Lei Zhang, Director of the International Liaison Office of IBP, at the institute’s Zou Chenglu conference room.

After brief introductions among all the attendees, Dr. Zhang gave a presentation about IBP with emphasis on the institute’s recent progress in scientific research, instrument innovation, technology transfer, and international cooperation. Professor Fei Sun later introduced in detail IBP’s advanced electron microscopy facilities and their management. The meeting was then followed by an animated discussion among the attendees about issues of common concern, such as intellectual property, interaction with industry, international activities, infrastructure promotion, and so on.

At last, the delegation visited the Center for Brain Mapping and the Chinese Academy of Sciences Protein Science core facility center and had further understanding of IBP’s research infrastructure.

ERA Instruments is a European Research Area (ERA) initiative, funded by the

European Union (EU), which aims at initiating coordination and networking of ministries, charities, funding agencies and research councils active in funding of life science Research Infrastructure (RI). The delegation, composed of scientists and representatives of seven European funding institutions, was conducting a study tour to learn about current bioanalytical scientific and technological developments in China. The delegation would also get further information about funding policies and strategies of midsize bioanalytical research infrastructure (RI) in China. IBP, a leading life science research institute in China, is one of the stops in the delegation’s trip.