Recently, the National Engineering Research Center for Microbial Pesticide co-founded by the microbiology department of the School of Life Sciences and Huazhong Agricultural University has passed the inspection by National Development and Reform Commission and approved as one of the national engineering research centers under its direct supervision.
The National Engineering Research Center for Microbial Pesticide is an important part of the national research and innovation and also an important platform for the university to undertake the mission of scientific and technological self-reliance as well as to serve the national interest. The National Engineering Research Center for Microbial Pesticide focuses on fulfilling major national demands and facilitating green sustainable development. To address the critical needs in the microbial pesticides and solve those bottleneck technological challenges in agriculture, the microbiology department would take advantage of the research background to become a major driving force of scientific and technological innovation at national level.
Previously in February and August of 2021, the National Development and Reform Commission has founded two rounds of national engineering research centers and optimization of national engineering labs. The microbiology department has participated in the second round of optimization of National Engineering Research Center for Microbial Pesticide. 348 national institutes and labs have registered for the optimization but only 191 of them have passed the inspection, of which the approval rate was as low as 54.9%. 53 of the approved centers were led by universities. The participation of the microbiology department in the optimization of national engineering research centers would strengthen our collaboration with other renowned research department in China and expand our academic impact, further boosting the development of the biology discipline in Chongqing University.