Founded in December 19, 2016, the Institute of Palaeobiology, under the support of the university and the leadership of Professor Ji Qiang, chief scientist, and Professor Wu Wensheng, dean of the institute, has achieved fruitful results in various areas including academic exchange and scientific research.

The research team is young and dynamic. The institute is integrated by researchers from School of Natural Resources, the museum and the experiment center. There are now 14 members working in the institute, 11 of them are with doctor’s degree. Meanwhile, the institute attaches great importance to talent introduction. Ever since the establishment, a number of specialists have been introduced, including Wu Xiaochun, director of geological department of Canadian Museum of Nature, Professor Luo Zhexi, world-famous expert in mammalia, Luis M. Chiappe, deputy director of Natural History Museum L.A. etc.

During 2017, 22 research papers were published in total, 18 of them were in SCI journals. In August 9, 2017, Ji Qiang and Luo Zhexi published two articles inNature,which drew extensive attention from mass media and was reported by media including CCTV4, CCTV News and Xinhua net. Recently, Dr. Zhang Weiting just published a paper inCladistics, a evolutionary biology journal with world reputation. Besides, last year, the institute held and attended 20 domestic and international conferences, conducted 5 field trips, one of the fellow was awarded the Best Oral Presentation. In November 25, 2017, a documentary named the Secret of Birds was broadcast on CCTV 10, which introduced the important discovery made by Ji Qiang.

In the year 2018, the Institute of Palaeobiology will continue to work hard, trying to make new breakthroughs in scientific research, talent introduction and academic exchange.