Alexey Amunts, whose pioneering work on mitochondrial ribosomes helped catalyse the cryo-electron microscopy “resolution revolution”, has left the Max Planck Institute in Germany to join China’s Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research and Translation (SMART) this month.
Amunts confirmed he had joined SMART as a senior investigator and would “contribute to its international relations agenda”.
He is internationally recognised for his breakthroughs in visualising life’s molecular machinery at near-atomic resolution. Britain’s Journal of Cell Science featured him as a “cell scientist to watch” in 2021.
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Why are more Chinese scientists leaving the US to return to China?
Why are more Chinese scientists leaving the US to return to China?
Amunts’ relocation highlights China’s growing appeal as a hub for cutting-edge basic science and translational innovation.
“Shenzhen adds another dimension; it is a place where ideas do not remain ideas for long. The density of talent, technology and manufacturing capacity makes it unusually practical to move from concept to implementation,” Amunts said.
“I chose SMART because it combines long-term scientific ambition with a system that can execute quickly and connect excellent basic research to translational impact internationally,” he added.
SMART announced his appointment on social media on January 7. Its head, Yan Ning, commented on and shared her post to welcome him to the academy’s Institute of Bio-Architecture and Bio-Interactions (IBABI).
Russian-born Amunts, who told the South China Morning Post his new position and foreign work permit application were expected to take a few weeks to finalise, reposted the news to his Weibo account, writing, “We’re forming a lab at SMART. Come to SZ to build your next chapter with us”.
