Science-themed afternoon tea party promotes academic exchanges in Tianjin

Researchers attend an exchange and discussion session at the afternoon tea party in the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Tianjin, north China, June 30, 2026. At the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a science-themed afternoon tea party is held regularly, serving as an academic platform for cross-disciplinary exchanges among researchers and engineers. Every time, a specific topic is set up, around which everyone sorts out the bottlenecks in the research and raises technical questions to be solved. The participants freely discuss and together explore ways to overcome difficulties in the process of exchanging their ideas.

Over the years, the institute's key laboratory of Engineering Biology for Low-Carbon Manufacturing, composed of outstanding researchers and engineers from various departments and disciplines, has successively produced a number of landmark achievements. A number of cutting-edge laboratory achievements are industrialized, generating industrial value worth billions of yuan. (Xinhua/Sun Fanyue)

A researcher speaks during an exchange and discussion session at the afternoon tea party in the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Tianjin, north China, June 30, 2026. At the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a science-themed afternoon tea party is held regularly, serving as an academic platform for cross-disciplinary exchanges among researchers and engineers. Every time, a specific topic is set up, around which everyone sorts out the bottlenecks in the research and raises technical questions to be solved. The participants freely discuss and together explore ways to overcome difficulties in the process of exchanging their ideas.

Researcher Wang Qinhong (3rd L) speaks during an exchange and discussion session at the afternoon tea party in the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Tianjin, north China, June 30, 2026. At the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a science-themed afternoon tea party is held regularly, serving as an academic platform for cross-disciplinary exchanges among researchers and engineers. Every time, a specific topic is set up, around which everyone sorts out the bottlenecks in the research and raises technical questions to be solved. The participants freely discuss and together explore ways to overcome difficulties in the process of exchanging their ideas.

Associate researcher Yuan Qianqian conducts computer simulations at the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Tianjin, north China, June 24, 2026. At the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a science-themed afternoon tea party is held regularly, serving as an academic platform for cross-disciplinary exchanges among researchers and engineers. Every time, a specific topic is set up, around which everyone sorts out the bottlenecks in the research and raises technical questions to be solved. The participants freely discuss and together explore ways to overcome difficulties in the process of exchanging their ideas.

Researchers talk after the afternoon tea party at the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Tianjin, north China, June 30, 2026. At the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a science-themed afternoon tea party is held regularly, serving as an academic platform for cross-disciplinary exchanges among researchers and engineers. Every time, a specific topic is set up, around which everyone sorts out the bottlenecks in the research and raises technical questions to be solved. The participants freely discuss and together explore ways to overcome difficulties in the process of exchanging their ideas.

Senior engineer Liu Jiao uses a fermenter to test the strain for production at the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Tianjin, north China, June 30, 2026. At the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a science-themed afternoon tea party is held regularly, serving as an academic platform for cross-disciplinary exchanges among researchers and engineers. Every time, a specific topic is set up, around which everyone sorts out the bottlenecks in the research and raises technical questions to be solved. The participants freely discuss and together explore ways to overcome difficulties in the process of exchanging their ideas.

Associate researcher Zhang Yue (2nd R) organizes a scientific research experiment at the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Tianjin, north China, June 24, 2026. At the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a science-themed afternoon tea party is held regularly, serving as an academic platform for cross-disciplinary exchanges among researchers and engineers. Every time, a specific topic is set up, around which everyone sorts out the bottlenecks in the research and raises technical questions to be solved. The participants freely discuss and together explore ways to overcome difficulties in the process of exchanging their ideas.

Senior engineer Liu Jiao places different strains in a high-speed incubator shaker at the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Tianjin, north China, June 30, 2026. At the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a science-themed afternoon tea party is held regularly, serving as an academic platform for cross-disciplinary exchanges among researchers and engineers. Every time, a specific topic is set up, around which everyone sorts out the bottlenecks in the research and raises technical questions to be solved. The participants freely discuss and together explore ways to overcome difficulties in the process of exchanging their ideas.

Senior engineer Chen Jiuzhou conducts data analysis at the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Tianjin, north China, June 30, 2026. At the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a science-themed afternoon tea party is held regularly, serving as an academic platform for cross-disciplinary exchanges among researchers and engineers. Every time, a specific topic is set up, around which everyone sorts out the bottlenecks in the research and raises technical questions to be solved. The participants freely discuss and together explore ways to overcome difficulties in the process of exchanging their ideas.

Researchers conduct morphological and color analysis on the strains at the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Tianjin, north China, June 30, 2026. At the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a science-themed afternoon tea party is held regularly, serving as an academic platform for cross-disciplinary exchanges among researchers and engineers. Every time, a specific topic is set up, around which everyone sorts out the bottlenecks in the research and raises technical questions to be solved. The participants freely discuss and together explore ways to overcome difficulties in the process of exchanging their ideas.

Associate researcher Zhang Yue conducts a scientific research experiment at the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Tianjin, north China, June 24, 2026. At the Tianjin Institute of Industrial Biotechnology under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, a science-themed afternoon tea party is held regularly, serving as an academic platform for cross-disciplinary exchanges among researchers and engineers. Every time, a specific topic is set up, around which everyone sorts out the bottlenecks in the research and raises technical questions to be solved. The participants freely discuss and together explore ways to overcome difficulties in the process of exchanging their ideas.