April 27, Vice-Chancellor of Flinders University, Australia, Mr. David Day visited IOCAS, accompanied by Professor Zhang Wei. IOCAS Deputy Director Dr. Yang Hongsheng welcomed the visiting guests and made a brief introduction on the basic situation of the institute, also demonstrated the ability and strength of the marine scientific research in IOCAS. The following report was chaired by Dr. Wang Bingui.

During the report, Professor Zhang Wei firstly introduced the basic situation of Flinders University, Australia, including the department sets, the main research areas, important results and Flinders University’s international influence; Then, he highlighted his main research direction, which is now considered the most primitive and the lowest aquatic multicellular animals - sponges; their structure is relatively simple, but with almost all of the basic animal characteristics. They contain very rich active substances biologically, as a special group of organisms; sponges have great scientific value and industrial application space. He also shared a detailed analysis with attendants about different countries’ the research progress in this field in recent years; finally, he took the positive outlook on the sponge and related research, and had in-depth exchanges and discussions with our researchers. He hoped that through his efforts the collaboration between China and Australia could make a progress in this research area.

After the presentation, the guests visited Marine Biological Specimen Museum and breeding labs accompanied by researchers and the head of international cooperation office.