Co-founded by the CAS and the Max-Plank Gemeinschaft (MPG) in 2003, the Institute of Tibetan Plateau research was poised to pool international scientific forces together in an effort to better understand the Plateau climate and eco-environment, and to come up with the adaptations to the changing environment for a sustainable development of the region. Consisting of three campuses, respectively in Lhasa, Beijing, and Kunming, the Institute has so far attracted over 140 talents, including one academician, 19 professors and 32 associate professors (statistics by May, 2009).

In retrospective,

2002, President Lu Yongxiang met with President Markl of MPG, reaching an agreement of a Partner Program of joint construction of the Institute of Tibetan Plateau Research by CAS, MPG and DFG (Deutche Forschungsgemeinschaft);

March, 2003, the CAS formally nominated members of ITP’s first leadership, with Prof. Yao Tandong as the Director and Profs Gao Xing and Liu Xiaohan as deputy directors;

December, 2003, ITP acquired the official license as an independent legal institute from the Central Government Authorization Office;

October 2003, the Personnel and Education Bureau of CAS visited Lhasa and help acquire the institute’s location in Tibet as the Lhasa campus, which was accomplished in late 2004;

2004, the ITP admitted its first batch of graduates, including 18 doctor’s candidates and 12 master’s candidates;

Afterwards, more young scientific staffs have been attracted to join us. Currently, the ITPCAS hosts 120 graduates (including 58 PhD candidates engaged in the study of geography or tectonics, and 62 master’s candidates learning physical geography, tectonics, solid-earth geophysics, or atmospheric physics and environment) and 16 post-docs (majoring in physical geography)…