On March 26, 2019, the Deputy Director and two delegates of the Office of Scientific Research of Peking University visited ELSI. This visit was coordinated by JSPS, Administrative Office of ELSI and Dr. Yamei Li of ELSI. The purpose of the delegates was to understand how WPI institutes coordinate interdisciplinary and international research and how ELSI manages and evaluates research programmes in this framework.

The visit started with a welcome lunch with Prof. Yasuhito Sekine and other young scientists of ELSI. Prof. Sekine first introduced the organisation of ELSI and its scientific mission. This was followed by Dr. Jim Cleaves's brief explanation of the International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life (ISSOL). During the discussion, the visitors from Peking University explained that in China they also established several big research programmes lead by the principal investigators distributed among different institute. This visit can help them make a rational evaluation of the outcome of these programs. The discussion was followed by a lab tour of ELSI's chemical and biochemical laboratories explained by Dr.Yayoi Hongo and Dr. Tomohiro Mochizuki. The delegated appreciated the well-organised plan for the visit from ELSI staffs.

Image credit: ELSI