Source: Institute of Astronomy and Space Sciences
Written by: Institute of Astronomy and Space Sciences
Translated by: Liang Wenjie
Proofread by: Prof. He Zhenhui
Edited by: Wang Dongmei

The Institute of Astronomy and Space Sciences, Sun Yat-sen University (SYSU) was officially unveiled and established in the morning of December 28, 2013. This was a historical moment for SYSU to resume the astronomical discipline after 61 years.

The first department of astronomy in China was founded in SYSU in 1927; and the SYSU Observatory in Yuexiu Mountain was built in 1929. Teachers and students of the Department of Astronomy participated in the first determination of Guangzhou's latitude and longitude, and the astronomical teaching in aviation schools. In the departmental adjustment in 1952, the department of astronomy, including all the teachers and the students, as well as the staff and the instruments of the SYSU Observatory was moved to Nanjing University.

Three members of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Chen Jiansheng, Zhou Youyuan and Gu Yidong, who have made outstanding contributions in astronomy and space sciences, were invited to take part in the unveiling ceremony. Presided over by Vice President Zhu Xiping and addressed by President Xu Ningsheng, the ceremony was simple but solemn. The academicians expressed their sincere congratulations and expectations on the resuming of SYSU's astronomical discipline, and proposed many constructive suggestions on the development and integration of astronomy and space sciences at SYSU. They hoped that the establishment of the institute could provide a large platform for astronomical development in South China. They expected the institute will operate in an innovative mode, create active and free academic atmosphere, and, at the same time, exert SYSU's multidisciplinary advantages to cultivate more excellent talents, and meet the national demands and the rapid development of astronomy and space sciences.

It is learned that the institute has already introduced professional talents including Li Miao, Feng Longlong and Zhu Weishan; enrollment of postgraduate students of master’s and doctoral degrees will start next year at the earliest.