‘The Base of Innovation and Introduction of Intelligence from Abroad in Agricultural High-efficient Water Use’ has been selected into the Program of Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities (‘111 Plan’) in 2014, and the funding period is 2014 – 2018. The person in charge of the Base is Prof. Kang Shaozhong, an Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering and Director of the Center for Agricultural Water Research in China (CAWR). Foreign research scientists that the Base has planned to introduce to CAWR include two academic masters of Dr. Graham Farquhar (Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, and Fellow of the British Royal Academy of Science) and Dr. John Langford (Fellow of Australian Academy of Engineering, Director of Australia-China Water Resource Research Center), and the other 12 academic researchers from Australia, the United States, the United Kingdom, Israel, and other countries and regions. The domestic members of the Base are 16 professors and experts in the research group of ‘High-efficient Water Use in Agriculture’ of China Agricultural University (CAU). Relying on the now available research platforms, such as key disciplinary fields of Agricultural Soil and Water Engineering and Hydraulic Engineering, the Engineering and Research Center of the Ministry of Education, the Field Scientific Observation and Experimental Station of the Ministry of Agricultural, and the Center for Agricultural Water Research in China, the Base will collaborate closely with the international experts and conduct research on key technologies related to crop water requirement and irrigation systems, hydraulic cycle in farmland and associated management practices, and modeling regional water cycle in order to meet the country’s strategic needs on food security and water safety. Collaborating with foreign experts, the Base will introduce the advanced theories and technologies into our country, jointly apply for international exchange programs, jointly carry out major research projects, and set up joint programs to cultivate creative ability and international perspective in young scientists of the field. The Base strives to build an influential research platform of research, the education, exchange and cooperation on high-efficient water use in agriculture, and further improve CAU’s international competence in this field.
1 Scientists to be introduced
(1)Academic Master
Dr. Graham Farquhar has been elected as a Foreign Associate of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, Fellow of the British Royal Academy of Science and Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science, and he is former associate dean of the Australian Academy of Science, and one of scientists whose work has been most cited in Australia. Dr. Graham Farquhar was a co-winner of the Nobel Peace Prize, awarded the highest honor by the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation of Germany and Australian National University. Dr. Graham Farquhar is one of the pioneers in modeling the response of plant water and stomatal conductance to environmental conditions and applying isotope technique to plant science.
Dr. John Langford has been elected as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Engineering, and is professor of the University of Melbourne, director of Australia-China Water Resource Research Center, and an international renowned expert in water resource management.
(2)Experts
Name
|
Gender
|
Birth date
|
Nationality
|
Degree
|
Title
|
Research area
|
Robert Sharp
|
Male
|
1956.05.11
|
The United States
|
Ph.D
|
Professor
|
Crop high-efficient water use
|
Andrew Binley
|
Male
|
1961.12.08
|
The United Kingdom
|
Ph.D
|
Professor
|
Hydraulic processes modeling
|
Lu Zhang
|
Male
|
1960.10.04
|
Australia
|
Ph.D
|
Research Fellow
|
Hydraulic cycle and climate Change
|
William J Davies
|
Male
|
1949.03.23
|
The United Kingdom
|
Ph.D
|
Professor
|
Crop high-efficient water use
|
Robert Horton
|
Male
|
1954.07.09
|
The United States
|
Ph.D
|
Professor
|
Hydraulic modeling and regulation
|
Freddie R. Lamm
|
Male
|
1955.09.11
|
The United States
|
Ph.D
|
Professor
|
Water-saving Irrigation technology
|
Laosheng Wu
|
Male
|
1956.04.17
|
The United States
|
Ph.D
|
Professor
|
Water resources and environment
|
François Avellan
|
Male
|
1955.03.04
|
France
|
Ph.D
|
Professor
|
Water-saving Irrigation technology irrigation equipment
|
Alon Ben-Gal
|
Male
|
1961.12.04
|
Israel
|
Ph.D
|
Research Fellow
|
Water resources and environment
|
Hongbin Zhan
|
Male
|
1966.06.05
|
The United States
|
Ph.D
|
Professor
|
Hydraulic processes modeling
|
Henry Lin
|
Male
|
1965.06.17
|
The United States
|
Ph.D
|
Professor
|
Hydraulic modeling and regulation
|
Ruixiu Sui
|
Male
|
1956.11.28
|
The United States
|
Ph.D
|
Research Fellow
|
Water-saving Irrigation technology
|
2 Research Topics
Aiming at international research fronts in water use in agriculture, ‘The Base of Innovation and Introduction of Intelligence from Abroad in Agricultural High-efficient Water Use’ will conduct systematic and in-depth research on the driven mechanisms and quantification of multi-scale hydraulic processes in agriculture, theories and approaches of coordinately improving water-use efficiency in agriculture and eco-environmental impacts from high-efficient water use practices in agriculture to meet the major need of our nation. The Base attempts to comprehensively improve water-use efficiency in agriculture throughout the processes of crop water consumption and yield production, hydraulic processes in farmland, regional water resources distribution, and in turn ensure sustainability of soil and water resources and contribute to food security and water safety of our country. The major research topics are:
(1) Driven mechanisms and quantification of multi-scale hydraulic processes in agriculture
(2) Theories and approaches of coordinately improving water-use efficiency in agriculture
(3) eco-environmental impacts from high-efficient water use practices in agriculture
3 Substantive cooperation goals
The approach of cooperation in the Base could be characterized as project-talent-base integration, which is the core of joint projects between the international exchange and research ones. Research projects provide a variety of opportunities for nurturing and training young scholars, and could enhance the continuous growth of the Base; international exchange activities could encourage fast developments of young talents; research projects and the Base could foster the emergence of the prominent research scientists. In addition to routine academic exchange activities, the Base will adopt the ‘bringing in, going out’ principle, and the cooperation will be materialized through setting up joint programs for nurturing graduate students, initiating mutual research scholar exchanges, jointly carrying out research projects and collaborating on publishing research articles to ensure the realization of the following goals :
(1) Introducing advanced theories and technologies
(2) Jointly carrying out international cooperation projects and the national major research projects.
(3) Jointly nurturing talents with innovation ability and global perspective
(4) Establishing joint international research center on high-efficient water use in agriculture