International Center for Quark Matter & Detection Technology, subordinate to College of Physical Science and Technology of Central China Normal University, is an international scientific and technological cooperation base recognized by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China in 2015. This Center is mainly engaged in researches into the quark matter and related detection technologies. Driven by major national scientific research tasks, this Center works together with relevant collaborative units in China and carries out multilateral cooperation with the most powerful high-energy nuclear physics research centers and bases in the world in order to study the phase structure and phase boundary of strong-interaction phase diagrams, energy loss mechanism and strong coupling characteristics of quark matter, particle detection and its application in new technologies. This Center has strived to build an international first-class nuclear physics research highland, talent training base and academic exchange center.
This Center has integrated resources of advantageous bases and disciplines such as The key laboratory of Quark & Lepton Physics of Ministry of Education (a laboratory engaged in high-energy nuclear physics researches in Central China Normal University), the Silicon Pixel Laboratory, the International Joint Research Centre for Quark Matter (Hubei Province), the Overseas Expertise Introduction Base for Discipline Innovation of Quark Matter Physics under “Plan 111” initiated by the State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs, the National Training Base for basic scientific Research and Teaching Talents in Science (Physics), National Key Discipline of Theoretical Physics, Deep Structure Physics of Key Disciplines under “211 Project", First-level Physics Disciplines with Doctoral Degree Programs, Postdoctoral Research Station of Physics, etc. This Center is composed of nearly 40 researchers, including 1 distinguished professor from the “Yangtze River Scholar Program” of the Ministry of Education, 2 distinguished experts from “Thousand Talents Program” of Organization Department of the Central Committee of the CPC, 2 national distinguished young scholars, 4 candidates selected by the “Youth Thousand Talents Program”, 3 national outstanding young scholars, 7 Humboldt Research Fellows, 8 New Century Excellent Talents of the Ministry of Education, 4 Chutian Scholars of Hubei Province, and 2 winners of National 100 Excellent Doctoral Dissertations of China. This Center has also appointed 3 distinguished professors who are foreign citizens of Chinese origin. In addition, 8 internationally renowned foreign scholars are appointed as the honorary doctors, honorary professors and visiting professors. In the past decade, the laboratory has undertaken more than 130 projects at or above the provincial and ministerial levels, including 1 project financed by Science Fund for Creative Research Groups under Natural Science Foundation of China, 9 projects financed by key funds, 2 projects financed by National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, 2 projects financed by Outstanding Youth Science Foundation, 1 project managed by the Chief Scientist under “973 Program” of Ministry of Science and Technology, 1 Special Project of Preliminary Studies of “973 Program”, 3 Sub-projects of “973 Program”, 1 project of Major Project Cultivation Fund Program of the Ministry of Education, 1 project under the Program of Introducing Talents of Discipline to Universities, 1 project of the Innovation Team Development Program, and 24 international cooperation projects. Among them, 1 project has been granted with First Prize of the Science Award from the Ministry of Education, 1 project has been granted with First Prize of Natural Science Award of Hubei Province, 3 projects have won Second Prize of Natural Science Award of Hubei Province, and 2 projects have been granted with the Science Award for Youth in Hubei Province. About 800 papers were published, including about 680 papers accepted by SCI. Among those papers, 1 paper was published on Nature, 1 paper was published on Science, and over 40 papers were published on Physical Review Letters.
The center is first research team devoted to quark matter physics and signal detection of quark matter in China. Since 1980s, College of Physical Science and Technology of Central China Normal University, which the center is subordinated to, has participated in the experimental research of European CERN-SPS, American BNL- AGS and Russian DUBNA-JINR through international cooperation. It is the first institution in China to join in the STAR international cooperation group formed by Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL) in America on the research of Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) and is the Chinese principle organization of ALICE international cooperation group on Large Hadron Collider (LHC) formed by European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) and CBM international cooperation group on Facility for Antiproton and Ion Research (FAIR) in Germany. The high-tech silicon pixel laboratory under construction will make development preparations for the participation in the upgrading experiment of STAR and ALICE and the construction of the silicon detector for the future FAIR-CBM experiment. As to theoretical research, we have a research team consists of over 20 researchers in strong interaction physics. All researchers have the experience of visiting and working overseas and are involved in close international cooperation. They have made a series of breakthroughs in high energy heavy-ion collision theory and experiment, especially in the jet quenching theoretical research, experimental data analysis, jet tomography, collective flow, fluctuation and correlation in high energy heavy-ion collision through both theoretical and experimental efforts and by combining domestic independent research with international cooperation. In recent ten years, the international meeting or seminar on high-energy unclear collision is held at least once a year. With rich experience accumulated in the past few years, the talent team of the institute, which has gained international competitiveness and has enhanced in the scientific research strength, has gradually become a world renowned high-energy nuclear physics research institute.
Central China Normal University, on which the center is based, is a comprehensive normal university directly affiliated to the Ministry of Education, a key university included in "211 project", a university included in "985" Innovation Platform of Preponderant Discipline for teacher training, and an important talent cultivation base for teaching staff of middle schools and institutions of higher education and other professional personnel.
