Institute of Acoustics, Chinese Academy of Sciences

The Institute of Acoustics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (hereinafter referred to as the Institute of Acoustics) was established in 1964, with its predecessors being the Underwater Acoustics Research Laboratory, Air Acoustics Research Laboratory, Ultrasound Research Laboratory, and three research stations located in Hainan, Shanghai, and Qingdao under the Institute of Electronics, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The Institute of Acoustics is a comprehensive research institution engaged in acoustics and information processing technology research, headquartered in Zhongguancun, Haidian District, Beijing. Since 2014, as the supporting unit of the Institute of Marine Information Technology Innovation, Chinese Academy of Sciences (hereinafter referred to as the Marine Innovation Institute), the Institute of Acoustics has steadily advanced its construction work. The Marine Innovation Institute passed acceptance at the end of 2016 and entered the formal operation stage. On June 13, 2017, the second meeting of the first council of the Marine Innovation Institute was held at the Institute of Acoustics. The meeting reviewed and原则上 approved the "Task Document for the Development Plan of the Four Types of Institutions during the 13th Five-Year Plan Period." The meeting recognized that the Marine Innovation Institute had been proactive in its work, focused on institutional system construction during the preparatory period, and its pilot construction work successfully passed the acceptance evaluation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Its 13th Five-Year Plan was rated as an excellent plan by the CAS, with remarkable achievements across all tasks. As of the end of 2017, the Institute of Acoustics had a total of 819 on-staff employees, including 758 professional technical personnel, among whom were 120 senior professional technical personnel at the principal level and 249 at the associate senior level. There were 2 young and middle-aged leading talents under the "Ten Thousand Talents Plan," 1 young top-notch talent, 12 selected for the CAS "Hundred Talents Plan," 3 recipients of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, 1 winner of the National Innovation Award, and 1 selected for the Capital Science and Technology Leading Talent Training Project. The Institute of Acoustics is among the first batch of units approved by the Academic Degrees Committee of the State Council to confer doctoral and master's degrees. It currently offers doctoral training points in three first-level disciplines: Physics (Acoustics), Information and Communication Engineering (Signal and Information Processing), and Geological Resources and Geological Engineering (Earth Exploration and Information Technology), as well as master's training points in these three disciplines plus Electronic and Communication Engineering. It also has postdoctoral research stations in two first-level disciplines: Physics and Information and Communication Engineering. Currently, there are 511 graduate students enrolled (including 254 master's students and 257 doctoral students), 21 postdoctoral researchers, and 31 jointly trained graduate students at the institute. In 2017, the Institute of Acoustics had a total of 937 ongoing research projects. Among these, it led or undertook 5 key projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, 69 general projects, 1 project of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, 3 key projects under the Major Research Plan of the NSFC; 1 major national science and technology project, 25 projects under the National Key Research and Development Program; 7 major instrument development projects; 11 topics under the CAS Strategic Priority Research Program, 4 key deployment projects of the CAS; and undertook 30 international science and technology cooperation projects and 5 institute-local cooperation projects. In 2017, the Institute of Acoustics actively proposed, competed for, and undertook major national science and technology tasks during the 13th Five-Year Plan period. It organized the application for a total of 458 various science and technology projects, of which 318 were confirmed, securing research funding of approximately 999 million yuan. It completed the organization and implementation of major science and technology tasks, with 937 research projects ongoing throughout the year, and 192 projects completing final acceptance. While actively competing for external research projects, it also actively carried out independently deployed research projects for the Marine Innovation Institute and the Institute of Acoustics, deploying 10 projects for the Marine Innovation Institute and 48 projects under the Young Talent Program of the Institute of Acoustics. In 2017, all research projects at the Institute of Acoustics progressed smoothly, completing the annual research and production tasks. In 2017, the acoustic system of the "Deep Sea Warrior" 4500-meter manned submersible achieved breakthroughs in two-way effective communication technology across five communication modes: image, data, text, Morse code, and voice, enabling high-speed and reliable communication, with performance indicators comprehensively surpassing international similar submersibles. The high-resolution bathymetric side-scan sonar completed fine mapping at different seabed depths, generating terrain resolutions reaching sub-meter levels. The high-precision integrated navigation system based on domestically produced Doppler velocimeters, inertial navigation units, and acoustic positioning equipment enabled, for the first time, the submersible's capability for repeated fixed-point operations. Significant strides were made in the direction of domestic localization in the independent development and integration of acoustic systems, laying an important foundation for a major breakthrough in China's manned deep-sea diving to 10,000 meters. In 2017, the institute conducted a total of 60 outbound visits involving 155 person-trips, including 21 for inspection visits, 90 for participation in international conferences, and 44 for executing cooperative research agreements. It received 18 foreign visitors, of whom 10 were invited and 8 made casual visits. New international partners were established in countries such as Portugal and Norway. Two key international cooperation projects were newly added: China-Russia and China-Portugal. A total of 23 papers were co-authored with foreign scientists, and 1 new international cooperation agreement was signed. In response to the "Belt and Road" initiative, the Institute of Acoustics actively sought and advanced the implementation of international science and technology cooperation projects along the Belt and Road routes. It has confirmed 8 international cooperation projects, including China-Russia Arctic acoustic cooperation research, China-Portugal joint research on Atlantic seafloor characteristics and acoustic monitoring systems for the Belt and Road, and China-Norway joint research on environmental characterization of complex sea areas and reliable underwater communication. Three expeditions were conducted to Sri Lanka for marine surveys and underwater archaeology, scanning a sea area of 300 square nautical miles and obtaining data on seabed and hydrological environments. A sunken ship was discovered and verified, marking China's first scientific expedition and shipwreck detection mission in the Indian Ocean, which holds significant application value and can further promote China-Sri Lanka scientific, technological, and cultural exchanges and cooperation.