Partners for a Better Future: Australia - China Science and Technology Week is seeing a range of activities at the Australian pavilion at the Shanghai World Expo to mark 30 years of Australia-China Science partnerships.
Science Week at the Australian pavilion has brought together eminent scientists and senior officials from Australia and China to address key global challenges like climate change, food and resource security, environmental sustainability and health needs.
The Australia-China science relationship is very special, spanning many fields of science, and producing a broad array of life-changing projects. Over the last 30 years researchers from Australia and China have worked together on projects ranging from reducing child mortality rates to using lasers to treat eye and skin disease to solar energy. Australia's partnership with China is one of our longest official science and research partnerships and continues to go from strength to strength.
The volume of joint work is impressive with the Chinese Academy of Sciences accounting for more collaborations with Australian institutions than any other international institution in the world. The amazing range of joint projects spans numerous disciplines including health, renewable energy, communications and the environment.
A commemorative book which highlights some 30 science and research collaborations marks the 30th anniversary, and the stories are available on line at http://www.innovation.gov.au/Section/science/Documents/Aust-ChinaBook.pdf
The week kicked off with a landmark Australia-China Astronomy Roundtable. Led by Australia's Chief Scientist, Professor Penny Sackett, leading minds from Australia and China explored opportunities to develop and enhance research, technology and infrastructure collaborations in all areas of astronomy. This included prospects for real-time data correlation between Australian and Chinese radio telescopes and development of leading-edge astronomy instrumentation for Antarctica.
The Australian pavilion also saw a number of bilateral workshops which examined the impacts of climate change on future urban societies - a key issue particularly for Australia, one of the most urbanised countries in the world. The new report Climate Change and the Urban Environment from the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering (ATSE) was launched in Shanghai during the week.
The report was a starting point for discussions at two days of workshops convened for Australia by ATSE Fellow Professor Michael Manton. The workshops link Australian and Chinese experts in architecture, town planning, water management, human health and climate science. The report identifies issues and impacts of climate change on urban landscape management, water management, building design, urban planning, transport and health. The report is available at
http://www.atse.org.au/resource-centre/func-startdown/240/.
Two further bilateral workshops in Science Week discussed how nanotechnology benefits society in improving health outcomes, sustainable energy options and information and communication technologies, and how biotechnology can improve food production and quality and so improve nutrition and health outcomes for everyone.
Three new agreements between Australian and Chinese science and research institutes signed during Science Week will help address key global challenges like climate change, food and resource security, environmental sustainability and health needs.
A Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between Australia's National Measurement Institute and China's National Institute of Metrology will see experts from both countries work together on research in physics, biology and chemistry.
The China Australia Alliance for New Energy Vehicle Innovation focuses on collaborative automotive research, including for a new generation of energy efficient cars of the future.
The third MOU, between CSIRO and the East China University of Science and Technology, will see talented researchers, including PhD students and visiting scholars, working in cutting-edge areas like advanced and nano materials, biomaterials, and information and communication. Under this MOU, the existing scholar exchange will be strengthened and joint supervision of PhD students further enhanced.
The week-long program was developed by the Department of Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (DIISR) in collaboration with the Chinese Ministry of Science, ATSE, the Australian Academy of Science (AAS), the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality and the Shanghai Association of Science and Technology.