The Institute of Biophysics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was established in 1958 by Prof. BEI Shizhang, a renowned biologist and distinguished CAS member. The mission of the institute is to carry out basic frontier research in a multi/interdisciplinary manner to achieve strategic breakthroughs in such areas as protein sciences, brain and cognitive sciences, infection and immunity, non-coding RNA, and protein and peptide drugs, among others. The institute also emphasizes applied and translational research related to biomedicine and diagnostic methods, including the development of state-of-the-art instruments, key technologies and experimental methods for bioresearch.

The institute currently has 80 laboratories in various areas. These include the National Laboratory of Biomacromolecules, the State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences, the CAS Key Laboratory of Infection and Immunity, and the CAS Key Laboratory of Noncoding RNA. The institute itself has also established two institute-level key laboratories for research on protein and peptide drugs, as well as one devoted to interdisciplinary science.

The Institute of Biophysics is home to the CAS Protein Science Core Facility Center, which is the largest CAS biological instrument platform in the Beijing area. It currently has more than 50 large pieces of equipment, including a 300-kV field emission transmission cryo-EM, a 7-Tesla NMR imaging system, a high-speed laser sorting flow cytometer, a high flux X-ray diffractometer FRE, a 600-MHz NMR spectrometer, an ultra-high resolution structure illumination fluorescent microscope, and other large instruments. The center not only provides technical support to the institute’s researchers, but also provides services to other institutions throughout the country and internationally, thus maximizing instrument usage and sharing research and technological resources.

The institute enjoys a history of scientific excellence. In the 1970s, the institute determined the1.80？ crystal structure of porcine insulin, thus making a critical contribution to the original synthesis of bovine insulin. The institute has received a series of major research grants, including grants from the Ministry of Science and Technology, the National Natural Science Foundation of China and CAS. These grants have supported the institute’s research in various areas and propelled many significant achievements. The institute’s outstanding contributions are reflected in its high-level publications in top-tier scientific journals, such as Science, Nature, Cell, and so on; in its numerous inventions and patents; and in its many international and national science and technology awards, such as the National Natural Science Awards and the National Technology Progress Awards, among others.

Recent IBP publications on SCI journals

The institute is the host institution for the Biophysical Society of China, which publishes two scientific journals, Progress in Biochemistry & Biophysics and Acta Biophysica Sinica; the former is indexed by SCI-E. In cooperation with the Chinese Higher Education Press and the Beijing Institutes of Life Science of CAS, the Biophysical Society of China also began to publish a new SCI journal, Protein & Cell, in January 2010.

IBP puts great emphasis on international cooperation and exchange. It has developed cooperative relationships with organizations in 16 countries. Its harmonious research environment and high standards of research have attracted many international scholars. IBP aims to become a world-class institution that makes major contributions to the advancement of biological sciences.