The Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS) is located on a beautiful peninsula near Shushan Lake in the western suburbs of Hefei, capital of Anhui Province, China. HIPS was founded in 2003 and is a large-scale integrative research base within the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS).
HIPS has 10 scientific research and technology development units, including the Institute of Plasma Physics, the Institute of Solid State Physics, the Anhui Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, the Hefei Institute of Intelligent Machines, the High Magnetic Field Laboratory, Anhui Technology and Engineering Institute for Recycling Economy,the Institute of Technical Biology and Agricultural Engineering, the Institute of Advanced Manufacturing Technology at Changzhou, the Center of Medical Physics and Technology and the Institute of Nuclear Energy Safety Technology. HIPS also has administrative, technical, and logistical units to support scientific research and technology development, including a computer center and a logistical service center. HIPS has over 2,100 employees of which there are 1,600 scientific researchers and technicians. In addition, HIPS has more than 1,200 students pursuing master’s or doctorate degrees.
The research at CASHIPS focuses on plasma physics and magnetic confinement fusion, the science and technology of magnetic fields, atmospheric optics, nanoscience and materials physics, environmental optics and technology, bionic sensing and control, optical remote sensing, atmospheric and remote sensing, laser technology and materials, nuclear safety technology, modern agricultural information and technology, new-style solar cells, environmental optics and monitoring technology, superconducting magnets and power saving technology, and medical physics and technology, among other things.
CASHIPS has 21 well-equipped national, provincial and CAS key laboratories or research centers, including the Magnetic Confinement Fusion Laboratory, the National Engineering Research Center for Environmental Optical Instrumentation, the National “863” Key Laboratory of Atmospheric Optics and the CAS Key Laboratory of Material Physics. HIPS has major technology platforms for physics experiments. In addition, a group of large-scale science facilities are currently under construction, including a new generation of the Experimental Advanced Superconducting Tokamak (EAST), which is used for nuclear fusion experiments; a large-scale superconducting magnet testing system; an atmospheric optics and integrated remote sensing radiometric calibration testing site; steady-state magnetic field facilities; an ion beam irradiation system with single-cell positioning precision; an SMA microscopy system under a high magnetic field; a 9.4T MRI system for large animals; an absolute low-temperature radiometric calibration system; a kilometer-level high-resolution high-sensitivity atmospheric absorption spectral system; and a high-performance computer system with a peak computing speed of 150 billion operations per second, etc.
In recent years, HIPS has made important contributions to China’s scientific development. It has carried out many significant research programs for the National Basic Research Program (“973” Program), the National High-Tech R&D Program (“863” Program), the Natural Science Foundation of China, CAS and Anhui Province, among others.
CASHIPS’ international cooperation and exchange activities focus on shared use of its large-scale science facilities, including the EAST system, steady-state magnetic field facilities, and the comprehensive atmospheric observation system. These cooperative activities have played an important role in many major international projects such as ITER, which is a large experiment intended to prove the viability of fusion as an energy source.
