Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology & Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences

To accelerate the development of national and regional innovation systems and capitalise on the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ role as the nation’s leading scientific and technological institution, leaders from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Zhejiang Provincial People’s Government and the Ningbo Municipal People’s Government, demonstrating foresight and strategic vision, jointly signed an agreement on 20 April 2004, to establish the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (hereinafter referred to as the Ningbo Institute of Materials). This marked a breakthrough in establishing the first CAS-affiliated institute in Zhejiang Province and signalled the beginning of the institute’s development. Since its inception, the institute has closely aligned itself with international trends in science and technology and the nation’s innovation-driven development needs. Focusing on “materials research”, it has successively established four major research areas: materials technology, materials + manufacturing, materials + energy, and materials + medical engineering. After more than 20 years of dedicated effort, it has become a key research base and technology provider in the fields of new materials and related disciplines. As of the end of December 2025, NIMS had undertaken more than 9,400 research projects of various types, published over 13,000 papers in journals such as *Science* and *Nature*, and ranked in the top 1‰ globally in the ESI Materials Science discipline for three consecutive years. It has filed nearly 8,500 patent applications and obtained nearly 4,500 patent authorisations, winning the Silver Award at the China Patent Awards in 2022. The institute has received 41 national and provincial/ministerial-level science and technology awards, including 3 national-level awards and 38 provincial/ministerial-level awards. In 2024, it was selected as one of ten pilot units for the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ initiative to revitalise existing patent assets, and in 2025, it was selected as one of ten pilot units for the Chinese Academy of Sciences’ technology transfer initiative.