The Material Science Interdisciplinary Research Center, a collaborative and innovative crossover research platform of the Hefei Comprehensive National Science Center, has opened bidding on its general construction contract, Hefei's building department revealed on Nov 4.

The move means that the international, leading, cutting-edge scientific innovation platform is soon to start construction.

Located on the high-tech campus of the University of Science and Technology of China, the project will cover a planned area of about 8,100 square meters, with a build duration of 730 days. The estimated price of the project contract is 145 million yuan ($21.97 million).

Industry insiders point out that the material sciences study the general rules of structure and the motion of substances in nature, and their interactions. This is not only the foundation of all natural sciences, but it also derives a series of new technical principles promoting research and the development of new materials and devices. At present, Hefei in Anhui province is an important material science research base in China. The exploration of the subject is also a research field with strong challenges and social needs.

After the completion of the research center, the center will focus on research into matter at a micro-scale, to explore major basic science issues in fields like information, energy, health, environment and materials. The project aims to build Hefei into a famous innovative highland, offering strong support for long-term scientific and technological development and innovation-oriented national construction by developing a hub for talent, a high-level technology think tank, and international research institutions.

The project's other two research centers will also be settled at the University of Science and Technology of China. The Center for Advanced Research in Earth and Space Sciences will be based at the east campus with a scientific foundation frontier and a comprehensive research base exploring and studying works in related fields. The Medical Frontier Science and Computing Intelligence Frontier Technology Research Center will be equipped with a multidisciplinary advanced platform integrating the life sciences with medicine, information, artificial intelligence and so on for "life plus health" emerging frontier field research.