Dr. BAI Chunli, President of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), was elected member of the German Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech) at the Academician Conference of the acatech held on October 18, 2011.

Professor Reinhard F. Hüttl and Professor Henning Kagermann, co-presidents of the acatech sent a letter recently to Dr. BAI and informed him of the news.

Acatech now possesses 362 members, drawn from engineering and the natural sciences, from the humanities and the social sciences, since acatech covers a broad spectrum of interdisciplinary issues in science and technology. The members are admitted into the organisation on the basis of their outstanding scientific achievements and excellent reputation.

"I am glad to be a member of the acatech,” addressed Dr. BAI in his reply letter to the co-presidents and took it as not only his personal honour, but the honour of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. “The CAS has long established successful cooperation with German research institutions and funding organizations. I believe it a valuable chance to extend cooperation in research fields of common interest between CAS and acatech.” said BAI.

Dr. BAI graduated from the Department of Chemistry, Peking University in 1978 and received his M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees from the CAS Institute of Chemistry in 1981 and 1985 respectively. From1985-1987, he worked with the California Institute of Technology, U.S.A., in the field of physical chemistry as a post-doctorate associate and visiting scholar. After returning to China in 1987, he continued his research at the CAS Institute of Chemistry. From 1991 to 1992, BAI worked as a visiting professor at Tohoku University in Japan.

His research areas include the structure and properties of polymer catalysts, X-ray crystallography of organic compounds, molecular mechanics and EXAFS research on electro-conducting polymers. In the mid-1980s, he shifted his research to the fields of scanning tunneling microscopy and molecular nanotechnology.

BAI also serves as the Chief Scientist for the National Steering Committee for Nanoscience and Technology and was the Founding Director of China National Center for Nanoscience and Technology. He has received numerous awards and honours from international and national scientific communities. He is also members of several national academies.

Established as the German Academy of Science and Engineering on 1 January 2008, acatech represents the interests of the German scientific and technological communities, at home and abroad. Acatech is organised as a working academy that advises politicians and the public on forward-looking issues concerning the technical sciences and technology politics.

Internationally, acatech plays its role in the European Council of Applied Sciences, Technologies and Engineering (Euro-CASE) and its global equivalent, the International Council of Academies of Engineering and Technological Sciences (CAETS).