According to an announcement of the International Science Council (ISC), the Global Commission on Science Missions for Sustainability was launched on December 9 to press the reset button on efforts to accelerate progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Prof. GUO Huadong from the Aerospace Information Research Institute (AIR), Director of the International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS), was invited to serve as a member of the commission.

More than 150 scientists from China and Brazil gathered for a three-day webinar from Dec. 14 to 16, 2021 to share their research and development on infectious diseases, especially emerging infectious diseases. The webinar was initiated by George F. Gao, Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and Carlos Morel, Full Member of Brazilian Academy of Sciences, and sponsored by the Institute of Microbiology of CAS (IMCAS) and Oswaldo Cruz Foundation (Fiocruz) of Brazil.

Dr. Raymond CHAN from the Neuropsychology and Applied Cognitive Neuroscience (NACN) Laboratory, and the CAS Key Laboratory of Mental Health of the Institute of Psychology was elected as member (Medicine) of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts on December 3rd 2021, in recognition of his sustained outstanding contributions to the understanding of psychopathology of mental disorders, especially in early detection and intervention for mental disorders.

The Institutes of Science and Development of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CASISD), the National Science Library of CAS, and Clarivate released a "Research Fronts 2021" report on December 8 at a joint forum in Beijing, to identify the hottest and emerging scientific research areas. This is the eighth annual collaborative report of the three agencies.

China's Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST) released 2021 annual report series to evaluate the latest development trend of global ecosystem and environment.

The Chinese version of International Code of Nomenclature for Algae, Fungi, and Plants (Shenzhen Code) was published recently by Science Press in Beijing. The Chinese version is exclusively based on English version and can be used as a reference for researchers, teachers and graduate students engaged in the taxonomy of algae, fungi and plants and related disciplines.

According to an announcement released by the Group on Earth Observations (GEO) on November 26, Prof. LI Guoqing from the Aerospace Information Research Institute (AIR), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) won 2021 GEO Excellent Individual Award, marking him the first Chinese scientist who wins the honor.

An international partnership between Scotland and China, forged to fight biodiversity loss this week celebrates its 30th anniversary. For many decades, scientists from the Royal Botanic Garden Edinburgh (RBGE) and the Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences (KIB/CAS), have been working together to understand, record and conserve plant diversity, a relationship which was put on a formal footing by a twinning agreement in 1991.

Dr. CHEN Jian from Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics (CIOMP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), has been recognized as a Senior Member of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE).

Dr. Alain Bécoulet, a devoted scientist on fusion energy, won the 2020 China International Science and Technology Cooperation Award. He is one of eight recipients among international scientists, during the 2021 National Science and Technology Award Conference held in Beijing on Nov. 3.

ITER, one of the most ambitious energy projects in the world today, had its the first correction coil BCC/4 lowered into place on Oct.21. The coil, which is for correcting "magnetic field errors", was shipped to ITER last Sept. It was developed by ASIPP, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science of the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Responding to requests from the United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP) and the Geo-Informatics and Space Technology Development Agency (GISTDA), ChinaGEO Secretariat activated its Disaster Data Response (CDDR) Mechanism to provide high-resolution satellite imagery in support of Thailand's disaster response.

The Tianjin Biosecurity Guidelines for Codes of Conduct for Scientists, a paper guiding principles and standards of conduct designed to underpin biosecurity governance at national and institutional levels, were submitted to the States Parties of the Biological and Toxin Weapons Convention for further convention this August.

Professor XU Yigang from the Guangzhou Institute of Geochemistry (GIG) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) was elected as a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (AGU) for his breakthroughs in igneous petrology and geochemistry, as the organization announced its 2021 class of Fellows on Tuesday September 28th Eastern Standard Time.

Institutes of Science and Development of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CASISD), Elsevier Ltd. and the China National Knowledge Infrastructure (CNKI) jointly released the Think Tank Journals Group (Version 1.0) in Beijing on September 28th, to promote the scientific development of think tank research and to form a community.

China's 12th Arctic scientific expedition team returned to Shanghai on Sept. 28 with equipments developed by Anhui Institute of Optics and Fine Mechanics, Hefei Institutes of Physical Science (HFIPS) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences on board Xuelong 2 (Snow Dragon 2) icebreaker.

In a press conference held on Sept. 28, the International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals (CBAS) introduced the report on "Big Earth Data in Support of the Sustainable Development Goals (2021)".

Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences signed agreement with RWTH Aachen University via on-line on September 3 to joint establish a center of biotechnology, during the 3rd Aachen Protein Engineering Symposium (AcES). The center is targeted to build an exchange and collaboration platform in biotechnology to promote the joint R&D, staff exchange, information & resources sharing, technology transfer and industrialization between the two sides.