Yunnan University projects get national recognition

The Ministry of Science and Technology recently released key project approval information for the 14th Five-Year Plan (2021-25) National Key R&D Plan – the highest level of R&D projects in China at present.

Three projects led by Yunnan University, or YNU – located in Kunming, in Southwest China's Yunnan province – were approved, in a decision expected to promote the continued improvement in the development of academic disciplines there.

The YNU led another five academic teams nationwide to advance the proposed Cosmic Magnetic Field Research Base for the Square Kilometer Array (SKA) Pilot Telescope. The project attracted funding of 29.4 million yuan ($4.1 million) in total.

This project explores the magnetic field structure of objects of different scales in the universe, laying the foundation for future magnetic field research using the SKA telescope.

A selection of exotic plant species that figure in a YNU biodiversity project. [Photo/ynu.edu.cn] 

Elsewhere, the Biodiversity Response Mechanism Against Biological Invasion and Ecological Restoration of Damaged Systems project – led by a team of the YNU College of Ecology and Environment – received 13 million yuan in funding.

The Institute of Botany of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Institute of Plant Protection of the Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences and three universities participated.

Additionally, a project on Statistical Theory and Algorithms of Big Data Resampling, Distributed Inference and Online Learning – led by a team from the YNU's School of Mathematics and Statistics and participated in by six units – received 10 million yuan in funding.

The project proposes an efficient statistical inference algorithm that can be expanded, converged and quickly migrated, providing common scientific support for big data applications.