Collaboration

From May 19 to 25, 2025, Professor Luciano Maiani, a world’s renowned physicist, Dirac Medal laureate, and former Director-General of the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN), paid a week-long visit to Shandong Institute of Advanced Technology (SDIAT) at the invitation of Professor Lin Cheng, Member of the Standing Committee of the National People’s Congress, Vice Chairman of the Shandong Committee of the Chinese People’s Political Consultive Conference (CPPCC), and President of SDIAT.

During his visit, Professor Maiani held in-depth discussions with President Lin Cheng and reached collaborative agreements with SDIAT. Accompanied by Professor Weiwei Xu, Director of the Particle Physics Research Center, Professor Maiani toured key facilities, including the AMS Global Data Center, the Precision Measurement Platform, the Class 1000 (ISO Class 6) Cleanroom, the Electronic Test Laboratory, and SDIAT Library. Moreover, he delivered two lectures: "Exotic Hadrons: From Hidden Charm to Doubly Charmed Mesons" on May 19 for SDIAT researchers and students, and "The Rise of Standard Theory: 50 Years After J/Ψ Discovery" on May 20, which attracted a broad public audience from both within and outside the institute. On May 22–23, Professor Maiani attended the symposium hosted by President Lin Cheng. As the chair of the review panel, he reviewed a presentation by Professor Zheng Cui on the institute’s development since its founding, participated in discussions on the SDIAT Framework 2025-2030, and exchanged views with attending scholars.

In the meeting with the Particle Physics Research Center, Professor Weiwei Xu gave a detailed briefing on the center’s research progress, team structure, key achievements, and future plans. Professor Maiani provided constructive suggestions on refining research priorities building on AMS, strengthening international collaborations, and driving breakthroughs in frontier areas.

Professor Luciano Maiani spoke highly of SDIAT's work. He remarked:

Because I have been working with Professor Samuel Ting, I have closely followed SDIAT’s development. During this visit, I am deeply impressed by the institute’s facilities, research progress, and young scholars. As the former Director-General of CERN, I am well aware of the challenges in pursuing fundamental research. CERN, too, faced considerable doubts in its early years, but with our persistence and efforts, those doubts were gradually dispelled. The achievements SDIAT has made over the past five years are something to be proud of. With its strong research foundation and outstanding team, I am confident that SDIAT is capable of making breakthroughs in major scientific problems, and I look forward to seeing even greater progress in the next five years.