The Shanghai Institute of Technical Physics (SITP) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences was cofounded by CAS and Fudan University in October 1958 and became an independent CAS institute in 1962. The institute is a comprehensive research-oriented state-owned institute with tremendous strength that engages in basic and applied research and the industrialization of new and high technology.

SITP’s primary research area is the application of infrared physics and optoelectronics technology with particular attention to new infrared photoelectric materials, devices and methods, etc. SITP focuses on developing advanced airborne and space-borne payloads, infrared staring imaging and signal processing, infrared focal plane arrays and infrared photoelectric devices, optical coatings, miniature coolers, medical image processing and remote sensing information processing, etc. The institute comprises 14 research departments, a national key laboratory for infrared physics, a national key laboratory for sensors (the photo-sensor branch) and three CAS key laboratories.

The institute has a staff of over 900, of whom 140 are professors, 200 are associate professors or senior engineers. Among the institute’s staff are six CAS academicians; two academicians of the Chinese Academy of Engineering. It has Ph.D., master’s degree and postdoctoral programs, with over 350 graduate students enrolled as of 2013.

Since its establishment, the institute has produced more than 800 important scientific achievements including 61 national level achievements and 313 provincial level achievements. It has also been granted 737 Chinese patents until 2013.

Shanghai Tech-Phys Optoelecronics Company, which is controlled by SITP, has invested in 17 companies including Shanghai Nicera Sensor Co., Ltd. It focuses on R&D, production and marketing of various kinds of sensors and inactive optical communication devices.

In terms of international cooperation and exchange, the institute has established many cooperative ties with academic institutions and companies in the U.S., Japan, Britain, and France, etc. The institute also publishes the Journal of Infrared and Millimeter Waves and Infrared magazine.