Leading talents

The Nanjing Institute of Geology and Palaeontology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (NIGPAS) was founded in 1951, with its root in the former Paleontological Section, Institute of Geology (Academia Sinica) and in the Paleontological Group of the Geological Survey of China. The founding director of NIGPAS was Prof. Li Siguang (J. S. Lee), a distinguished geologist and palaeontologist.
NIGPAS conducts basic and applied research in palaeontology (invertebrate palaeontology and palaeobotany) and stratigraphy and is the only Chinese institution that specializes in these fields. The institute currently focuses on the origin and evolution of life on earth, evolutionary palaeontology, biostratigraphy and chronostratigraphy, systematic palaeontology, palaeoecology, palaeogeography and palaeoclimatology, molecular palaeobiology, geobiology, coevolution of life and environment, and applied palaeontology and stratigraphy.
NIGPAS has three research units: the Department of Systematic Paleontology, the State Key Laboratory of Palaeobiology and Stratigraphy, and the CAS Key Laboratory of Economic Stratigraphy and Palaeogeography. To study fossils and sedimentary strata, the institute is well-equipped with modern observational and analytical equipment and facilities such as scanning electron microscopes, genetic analyzers, stable isotope mass spectrometers and peripherals in addition to fossil preparation laboratories. NIGPAS also houses a large collection of specimens and a library of multilingual literature about geology and palaeontology.