At the banks of Yanqi Lake in the Huairou district, Beijing, a magnifying glass-shaped complex with a circumference of 1.36 kilometers stands quietly. This is China's first High Energy Photon Source (HEPS). It is scheduled to produce the “brightest light” in the world in 2025.
As one of China's key scientific and technological infrastructure projects, HEPS is expected to become one of the brightest fourth-generation synchrotron radiation facilities worldwide after completion and it will serve as an international research platform for material science, chemical engineering, biomedicine, and other fields.
National key scientific and technological infrastructure projects, also known as large scientific facilities, empowered the exploration into the unknown, the discovery of natural laws, and the advancement of technological transformation. These facilities serve high-level research activities with long-term operational support and have significant international influence. The construction of large scientific facilities integrates advantages in science and technology, industrial manufacturing, material processing, and expert cultivation, representing a country's comprehensive scientific and technological strength.
HEPS is one of the latest testaments to China's advancements in the construction and research of large scientific facilities. In 2024, a series of remarkable achievements and positive progress were made in the construction and studies of China's large scientific facilities. These improvements not only witnessed China's path to technological self-reliance and strength, but also demonstrated the country's growing contribution to international frontier scientific research.
At the Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP), Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Beijing Electron-Positron Collider (BEPC) is currently undergoing its third round of renovation since it began operations. This collider, which commenced construction in 1984, is the first large scientific facility established in China. Since its inception, China has gradually gained recognition, developed a world-class research team, and opened new avenues for international collaboration in the international arena of high-energy physics research.
Thirty years after the construction of the BEPC, China, so far, has constructed or laid out construction plans for more than 70 large scientific facilities, some of which rank among the best in the world in terms of comprehensive capabilities.
According to a report published by Nature in June 2024, the construction of China's Circular Electron-Positron Collider (CEPC), which, once completed, is expected to be the world's biggest particle collider, and will hopefully kick off in 2027.
The platform will serve as a high-luminosity Higgs factory to help the international scientific community explore unknown areas in the field of particle physics. Being able to independently design such a large scientific facility demonstrates Chinese scientists' capabilities.
On Sept 28, 2024, the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) in South China's Guangdong Province initiated its liquid injection phase. Launched in 2015, the JUNO project is designed to detect neutrinos, which are among the oldest and most fundamental particles in the universe. They could hold the key to explaining why matter dominates the universe instead of antimatter, they could also provide insights to unifying the four fundamental forces of the universe – gravity, electromagnetism, strong nuclear force, and weak nuclear force.
This photo taken on Dec. 17, 2024, shows photo-multiplier tubes seen from the top of the acrylic sphere of the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO) in Jiangmen, south China's Guangdong Province.
(Xinhua/Jin Liwang)
JUNO has been an international cooperative project since the beginning and now it is increasingly becoming a new platform for international scientific research collaboration, attracting about 750 researchers from 74 research institutions across 17 countries and regions, promoting the advancement of global neutrino research.
Deep in the mountainous area in Pingtang County, Southwest China's Guizhou Province, the 500-meter aperture spherical radio telescope (FAST), also known as China's Tianyan or “Sky Eye,” made a record in 2024 for identifying a collective of more than 1,000 new pulsars. The number surpassed that of all foreign telescopes combined during the same period, according to the National Astronomical Observatories (NAOC) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.
This photo shows the first newly-installed test prototype of the Core Array of China's Five-hundred-meter Aperture Spherical Radio Telescope (FAST) under the starry sky in southwest China's Guizhou Province. Sept. 25, 2024, marked the eighth anniversary of the launch of China's FAST.
(Xinhua/Liu Xu)
FAST was open to the global scientific community and accepts observation applications from scientists around the world starting from April 1, 2021. As of the end of 2024, it had assisted research teams from 15 countries, including the US, the Netherlands, and Australia, in conducting over 900 hours of observations, covering various scientific objectives such as drift scan surveys, neutral hydrogen galaxy surveys, Milky Way polarization surveys, pulsar timing, and fast radio burst observations.
From the vast expanse of the universe to the intricate realm of the material world, China has made forward-looking deployments and systematic layouts for large scientific facilities, with increasing investment.
During the 12th Five-Year Plan (2011-2015) period, China initiated the construction of 15 facilities, including a high-altitude cosmic ray observation station. In the 13th Five-Year Plan (2016-2020) period, nine facilities were launched in fields such as basic science, energy, earth systems and environment, space and astronomy, and some interdisciplinary areas, including a high-energy synchrotron radiation source and a hard X-ray free electron laser facility. According to the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-2025), around 20 new large scientific facilities are expected to be built during the period.
China is ushering in a rapid development period for large scientific facility construction, achieving a historic leap forward. These facilities are deemed to provide stronger support for China's original innovation and global frontier science and technology research.
Thanks to the vigorous development of the economy and the rapid advancement of industrial strength, China made significant progress in the construction and research of large scientific facilities. To enhance development and research, international cooperation remains indispensable.
Currently, large scientific facilities for pure basic research in various countries around the world, such as those in astronomy and high-energy physics, require international investment. The full commitment of scientists from around the world, review procedures from different countries, and an international perspective and evaluation greatly enhance the importance, feasibility, and likelihood of success of projects. All participants in the projects will also be trained, tested, and improved on the international stage.
Moreover, the true value of large scientific facilities extends beyond their presence within a specific research institution. What's more significant is their accessibility. China's extensive scientific infrastructure also requires the creativity and expertise of scholars from across the globe to engage in research. This collaboration can lead to an increase in scientific discoveries and advancements.
The construction and development of large-scale scientific facilities are crucial to a country's scientific and technological innovation strength and future development. China should increase investment and support, cultivate outstanding scientific and technological experts, and continuously enhance our scientific and technological innovation capabilities, therefore letting the country's large-scale scientific facilities shine on the world's scientific and technological stage and contribute Chinese wisdom and strength to human scientific and technological progress.
This is especially important in light of the intense competition in science and technology within the international community. Only in this way, can we not only bolster China's capacity for independent research in basic science, but also help to preserve the overall cooperative spirit within the international scientific community.
Source: VOC
