On November 16, Springer Nature released the "Nature Index 2025 Science Cities" supplement online, which highlights the latest changes in scientific research output in high-quality journals tracked by the Nature Index in 2024 across major global cities and metropolitan areas. Changchun ranks 24th among the top 200 cities worldwide, climbing six places compared with last year.

The list focuses on changes in scientific research output published in high-quality journals tracked by the Nature Index in 2024 across major global cities and metropolitan areas. It also analyzes the performance of participating cities in five major disciplines—chemistry, physical sciences, Earth and environmental sciences, biological sciences, and health sciences. Changchun ranks 10th nationwide in chemistry, demonstrating the solid foundation and strong vitality of this major scientific research hub in Northeast China through hard data.

Universities are the core forces of scientific research and innovation. Jilin University has consistently deepened its expertise in automotive engineering and chemistry. On October 15, 2025, the professional higher education evaluation agency ShanghaiRanking released the "2025 ShanghaiRanking's Best Chinese Subjects Ranking", in which Jilin University's chemistry discipline once again ranks 5th nationwide, continuing to be recognized as one of "Top Chinese Subjects" (those ranking in the top 3% nationwide or among the top two subjects). The automatic wheel & intelligent chassis technology, independently developed over more than a decade by a research team led by Professor and doctoral supervisor Jin Liqiang at the College of Automotive Engineering of Jilin University, efficiently integrates the traditionally dispersed systems of steering, braking, driving, and suspension into wheel modules. It achieves 100% modularization of chassis configuration, reducing components by 40%, saving energy by 40%, cutting weight by 30%, and improving handling performance by 50%. With policy support from Changchun, this technology has been successfully translated into practical applications. Other universities, including Northeast Normal University, Changchun University of Science and Technology, and Changchun University of Technology, are also making concerted efforts, forming a research landscape characterized by multi-point support and collaborative progress.

Technological breakthroughs by research institutions demonstrate their commitment to scientific research. The Changchun Institute of Optics, Fine Mechanics and Physics has made breakthroughs in key technologies for EUV lithography light sources and released a new high-performance CO₂ laser solution. The research team led by Wang Xiaohui at the Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, in collaboration with Luo Minmin's team at the Chinese Institute for Brain Research, Beijing, has elucidated the key antidepressant mechanism of ketamine and identified rapid-acting antidepressant candidate compounds with better efficacy and fewer side effects, achieving an important breakthrough in developing fast-acting antidepressants.

Policy support energizes the innovation ecosystem. Jilin Province has issued a three-year action plan for the integrated development of education, science and technology, talent, and industry, specifying an average annual growth rate of around 10% in the province's R&D expenditure. By building an innovation ecosystem featuring "government-industry-university-research-finance-service-application" integration, Changchun is accelerating the transition of university research achievements from laboratories to production lines to achieve deep integration of innovation and industrial chains, which will inject robust momentum into cultivating new quality productive forces.

From laboratories to production lines, and from disciplinary strengths to industrial advantages, Changchun is speeding up its efforts for high-quality development with scientific research as its engine.

Source: Changchun Municipal Science and Technology Bureau  Editor: Liu Jiadi