The Key Laboratory of Environmental Processes and Health Hazards of Shandong Province was unveiled on the Qingdao campus of Shandong University (SDU) on March 26,which is expectedto advanceglobalfrontier disciplines,as well asChina's research on environmental science and health.

The lab concentrates on three major research fields - bio-geochemistry of toxic metals, environmental processes of pollutants, and toxicology and health effects - and strives to solve critical scientific and technical problems,and fill the gap in related theories and methods.

Li Shucai, president of SDU and academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, said in his speech that the 20th National Congress of the Communist Party of China (CPC) has drawn up a grand blueprint for achieving the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation through Chinese-style modernization in which the harmonious coexistence of humans and nature plays a crucial part.

He added that the discipline of environmental science and engineering at SDU should adopt an integrated model to strengthen cooperation, build high-level research platforms for collaborative innovation, enhance productivity led by green industries,and create new highs to serve the country.

Jiang Guibin,aresearcheratthe Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and honorary dean of the School of Environmental Science and Engineering at SDU, said that SDU's environmental discipline should be down-to-earth and align with the national strategy for the preservation and high-quality development in the Yellow River Basin,as well as address Shandong's ecological and health issues. It should alsoexpand cooperationinChina and abroad tomakebreakthroughsinthe construction of research platforms and talent introductionefforts.

After the launch ceremony, the fourth meeting of the Advisory Committee on the Strategic Development of the Environmental Science and Engineering Discipline at SDU was held.