CAS annually awards Einstein Professorships to 20 distinguished scientists from around the world who are actively conducting research at the frontiers of science and technology. The program supports these researchers tolecture, lead workshops and interact with faculty and students for one or two weeks in China. To be more specific, Einstein Professors visit two CAS institutes in different Chinese cities to conduct in-depth academic discussions with researchers and graduate students. They are expected to deliver a lecture at the host institute or at the Graduate University of CAS (GUCAS) in Beijing, or the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) in Hefei, Anhui. In order to train future generations of Chinese scientists, each Einstein Professor will subsequently host one or two young CAS researchers from the Chinese host institute. The visiting researchers will work with the Einstein Professor in his/her homelaboratory for one to three months.

Upon the recommendation of NSSC, Prof. John W. Belcher, professor of physics at MIT and associate chair of the MIT faculty, was selected as a CAS Einstein Professor in 2013. As a condition of the award, Prof. Belcher will pay an academic visit to NSSC in 2014 to deliver lectures and discuss further cooperation.

Prof. Belcher’s research interests are within the field of space plasma physics, in particular, the interaction of the heliosphere with the local interstellar medium. He was the principal investigator for the Voyager Plasma Science Experiment during the Voyager Neptune Encounter—the end of the Grand Tour. He is now a co-investigator for thePlasma Science Experimenton board theVoyager Interstellar Mission.In addition, he has twice received NASA’s Exceptional Scientific Achievement Medal, once for his outstanding contributions to the understanding of the plasma dynamics of the Jovian magnetosphere, in 1980, and once for his role as principal investigator for the Plasma Science Experiment on Voyager during theNeptuneencounter, in 1990.

For more information about the CAS Einstein Professorship Program, Please download the attached document.