The kick-off meeting of the project “New Time-frequency System”-the special development of significant national scientific instruments and equipments, organized by the Information Sciences Department of National Natural Science Foundation of China, was held in the National Time Service Center (NTSC) of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) on Sept. 05, 2012.

The meeting was chaired by Director Qin Yuwen. On behalf of the NTSC, Director Guo Ji welcomed the arrival of leaders and experts from the Foundation, and expressed his full support for the project team to carry out the development work and will provide necessary conditions and guarantees for the development of the “New Time-frequency System”. Meng Xianping, the Director-general, gave a brief introduction to related research requirements and the significance of the Foundation establishing the Project. On behalf of the Project Team, Zhang Shougang, a researcher, reported the organization and implementation of the Project. Subsequently, the leaders and experts from the Foundation conducted a site inspection for project progress and had specialized discussions and exchanges with the Project Team members. Three experts fully affirmed the Project’s progress and said that the task decomposition, research program and work scheme for the Project were reasonable and feasible. On the other hand, the experts repeatedly emphasized the difficulty of the Project and offered a proposal for carrying out cooperative studies actively.

This meeting aimed to further define the management responsibilities of the Project’s organization department and support unit, and further determine the technical proposal and development program. The Project Team was fully aware of the great responsibility andheavy task on the Project. They said they would strengthen management and make every effort with broad cooperation to ensure the successful completion of the development.