On May 8, National Natural Science Foundation Committee carried out field evaluation for BJUT ‘s “Eco-materials and Preparation Engineering” project, approved in 2016 as a National Natural Science Foundation innovative research group. The evaluation was led by Mr. Yao Jiannian, academician of Chinese Academy of Science, vice director of National Natural Science Foundation committee and Mr. Gao Ruiping, vice director of National Natural Science Foundation committee. On BJUT’s side, President Liu Gonghui, Vice President Nie Zuoren, a leading figure of the innovative research group and head of BJUT’s Science and Development Office and key members of the research group participated in the evaluation.

President Liu thanked the National Natural Science Foundation delegation for the visit, pointing out that under the guidance of the national “13^th five-year plan” and the “Beijing-Tianjin-Hebei integration strategy”, BJUT had established four key development areas, among which the current research group led by Vice President Nie Zuoren was very important. With the establishment of national level engineering laboratory in this area, the university expects to take the development of the research group as an opportunity to cultivate more eminent researchers so as to facilitate the university’s comprehensive development.

On behalf of the research group, Vice President Nie Zuoren delivered a report concerning the group’s research background, project content, and team construction.

After the meeting, the National Natural Science Foundation delegation visited the lab of the research group.

National Natural Science Foundation has long supported research groups composed of outstanding young scientists and researchers to work on key international frontier researches. Since 2014, BJUT has twice been awarded with the research fund, among the top ranking of provincial universities. The second one is under Vice President Nie’s leadership. The group has been conducting research in the life cycle of environmental friendly materials, making breakthroughs in the metallurgy and recycling of material engineering of rare earth refractory metal powder. With its achievements among the “Selection of outstanding achievements supported by the National Natural Science Fund”, the research group has become a major force in the country’s eco-materials research and talents cultivation.