IHEP celebrates its 40th birthday
Honoring the past and exploring the future
IHEP celebrates its 40th birthday
The Institute of High Energy Physics (IHEP) under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the largest comprehensive and world-renowned research institution on basic and applied sciences in China, celebrates its 40th birthday on February 1, 2013. More than 700 people including IHEP staff, representatives from the funding agencies and the fellow research institutions around the country attended the celebration at the IHEP campus.
With Premier Zhou Enlai’s personal support and approval, the Institute of High Energy Physics was established in February, 1973, based on the First Department of the Institute of Atomic Energy. Zhang Wenyu, a noted physicist and a Purdue professor from 1949 to 1956, was appointed as the first director of the institute.
Over the past forty years, IHEP grows up, and becomes one of the best research institutions in China, with focus upon particle and astro-particle physics, accelerator physics and technologies, radiation technologies (mainly x-rays, neutrons and positrons) and their applications. In particular, IHEP is known in China and also in the world for its excellence on mega-science facility construction and operation, as well as scientific researches.
“The institute experienced difficult times and also significant growth. I am delighted that this great institute is now positioned well in the nation’s innovation system for the next decades with ambitious goals and great programs” said Wang Yifang, the Director of IHEP. Highlights of the morning celebrations include a series of speeches outlining the current activities, future plans and history of IHEP.
“Talking about the progress and achievements in the past decades, we can’t forget the first generation scientists who laid a firm foundation for the China’s high energy physics.” said Chen Hesheng, the former Director of IHEP. Zhang Wenyu, Zhao Zhongyao, He Zehui, Zhu Hongyuan and Xiao Jian, all noted scientists in the field, had contributed significantly to the development of science in China. Their dedication reminds us of what Newton once said: “If I have been able to see further, it was only because I stood on the shoulders of giants.” While we are celebrating the progress and achievements of IHEP, we know it is because we have been standing on the shoulders of those giants.
In the new century, IHEP encounters unprecedented opportunities but also faces great challenges. The completion of the Beijing Electron Positron Collider (BEPCII) signals IHEP’s role as an advanced institution on accelerator and detector technologies. In the meantime the first-class physics results are also expected. The Daya Bay Reactor Neutrino Experiment brought the neutrino physics program of IHEP from null to the world attention. Their excellent results on the discovery of non-zero θ13 were selected as the Top Ten Breakthroughs of the Year 2012 by Science Magazine. We will not stop here, and a new reactor neutrino experiment for the mass hierarchy is now under planning.
The China Spallation Neutron Source (CSNS) Project together with others is actually a touchstone for IHEP’s innovation and organization capabilities, since off-site large science project construction will become normal for IHEP. The glorious history and a bright future of IHEP depend on the staff's wisdom and hard work, and also depend on the support of the nation and the society. With efforts, IHEP shall be able to complete all the tasks and overcome all the challenges.
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