The kick-off and implementation workplan meeting of Enhanced and Innovative in Situ Biotechnologies for Contaminated Land Remediation (EiCLaR) project was successfully held in Nanjing on April 6, 2021. The project is co-funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and H2020 European Union (EU). The project is coordinated by Professor Xin Song from Nanjing Institute of Soil Science, Chinese Academy of Sciences (ISSAS), and by Professor Timothy Vogel from Ecole Centrale de Lyon, France.
More than 50 people from both China and Europe have attended the meeting in person and virtually, including:
Jie Shen, project officer of the European Office for the Bureau of International Cooperation of NSFC;
Qiang Fang, director of the European Office for the Bureau of the International Cooperation of Chinese Academy of Sciences;
Prof. Renfang Shen, director of ISSAS;
Prof. Yongguan Zhu (an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences), head of the Chinese Technical Advisory Panel;
Prof. Yongming Luo, representative of the EiCLaR Technical Advisory Committee;
Representatives of EiCLaR Technology Stakeholders Committee;
Prof. Timothy Vogel, Ecole Centrale de Lyon, France;
Prof. Xin Song, Prof. Heping Zhao, Prof. Chunling Luo, and Chinese team members.
Prof. Renfang Shen chaired the kick-off meeting. Jie Shen, Qiang Fang, Yongming Luo introduced the project background and objectives. Prof. Yongguan Zhu chaired the implementation plan meeting. Prof. Xin Song presented the research content, implementation challenges, and the cooperation plan between China and EU, followed by presentations made by Prof. Heping Zhao (Zhejiang University) and Chunling Luo (Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences), respectively.
All experts on the Chinese Technical Advisory Panel agreed that the implementation plan complies with requirements; the research contents are well organized; and the technical roadmap is feasible. To promote collaboration on innovative research on science and technology and cultural exchanges between China and the EU, the Panel suggested that Chinese and European Union teams shall establish a new pattern for international collaborations in the context of the post-pandemic era.
About the international (regional) cooperative research project of NSFC
The international (regional) cooperative research project of NSFC is an initiative to fund scientific and technical scientists for international and regional collaborations under the framework of an inter-organization agreement with overseas funding organizations (or research institutions and international scientific organizations). The funding mainly serves for the sustainable development of a country's economy, society, science, and technologies. Through selecting key scientific issues of strategic significance, pooling innovative forces, and funding multidisciplinary comprehensive research and interdisciplinary research, the level of fundamental research in China, together with other regions and countries will continue to improve significantly, especially in cultivating high-level talents and overall international competitiveness in the global world.
