Prof. Gamini Senanayake, Vice-Chancellor of University of Ruhuna, and Prof. Tilak Priyadarshana, Director of China-Sri Lanka Joint Center for Education and Research (CSL-CER), accompanied by Dr. Gang Pan from South China Sea Institute of Oceanology, Chinese Academy of Sciences, visited CAS-TWAS Centre of Excellence for Climate and Environment Sciences (ICCES) on June 29, 2017.

Prof. Zhaohui Lin, Director of ICCES, extended his warm welcome to the Sri Lankan delegates. In his remarks, Prof. Lin said that Sri Lanka has always been actively involved in the international scientific and research activities of CAS-TWAS Centre of Excellence for Climate and Environment Sciences, with the University of Ruhuna and CSL-CER standing out among others. Prof. Lin proposed scientific collaboration in greater depth, with focus on the training of young scientists.  In response to the welcome remarks by Prof. Lin, Prof. Senanayake reviewed his last visit at ICCES in year 2015, and looked forward to closer links with regard to scientific research and training mechanism in the days to come.

Prof. Xiaodong Zeng, Deputy Director of ICCES, who attended the Third China-Sri Lanka Joint Workshop on Monsoon Climate and Marine Environment Change on behalf of ICCES during May 24-25, 2017, hosted by CSL-CER, also joined this meeting and discussed with the Sri Lankan delegates about the joint workshop. Speaking on the occasion, Prof. Lin also referred to the visit by Honorable Lakshman Senewiratne, Sri Lankan State Minister of Science, Technology and Research. Honorable Lakshman Senewiratne visited IAP and ICCES on April 20, and he seeked bilateral cooperation with ICCES in an effort to meet the local challenges in the field of extreme meteorological and hydrological events including rainstorm and flood.

The Sri Lankan delegates expressed their heart-felt gratitude to ICCES for its efforts on bilateral cooperation, and showed their determination to take concrete measures as suggested by Honorable Lakshman Senewiratne. ICCES’s statistical analysis in climate disasters and its prediction results will be of great value to Sri Lanka considering the constantly increasing numbers of meteorological and hydrological disasters in recent years.

After the meeting, both parties agreed to conduct joint research starting with the sharing of hydrological and meteorological observation datum for the Mahaweli river basin and other major river basins. ICCES will work together with UoR and CSL-CER to make joint proposals, hold international workshops and training courses. ICCES also called for more Sri Lankan students to apply for the CAS-TWAS President’s Fellowship and other scholarships for international students from developing countries offered by the University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (UCAS).