In line with the national trend of aggressively promoting science and technology, the Center for Applied Physics and Technology (CAPT) at Peking University was established in December, 2007.

The missions of CAPT are as follows. 
- To substantiate the fundamental researches for national major demands such as laser inertial confinement fusion; 
- To probe into challenging scientific research frontiers including high energy density physics;
- To promote academic interactions both domestic and international; and 
- To train and educate devoted and innovative young scientists. 
 

CAPT advocates a democratic academic atmosphere, active interactions, freedom in expressing ideas, and innovative thoughts. Through efforts in the past eight years, we have formed an excellent research team, comprised of three full time faculty members, one Peking University guest professor, thirty three adjunct Peking University professors from the College of Engineering, School of Physics, and School of Mathematical Sciences, thirty three adjunct researchers from China Academy of Engineering Physics, and one foreign recipient of the Thousand Talent Program. Among them, there are six members of Chinese Academy of Sciences, six Cheung Kong Scholars, fifteen recipients of China National Funds for Distinguished Young Scientists.
 

CAPT has carried out about seventy research projects in the field of high energy density physics, and published about twelve hundred papers since 2007. Many of them appeared in leading journals such as Nature Physics, Nature Communication, Proceedings of the National Academy of the Sciences of the United States of America, Physical Review Letters, Nano Letters, Advanced Materials, Journal of Fluid Mechanics, etc. In Physical Review Letters alone, CAPT members have published more than thirty papers. 
 

CAPT has now become one of the major research centers on high energy density physics in China, and caught attention among the international academic community. Based on CAPT, we have been approved to establish the Ministry of Education Key Laboratory of High Energy Density Physics Simulations, the Research Base of Fundamental Science and Technology, and the Peking University Branch of Ministry of Education IFSA Center. CAPT hosted International Conference on High Energy Density Physics, as well as many research workshops and symposiums. These activities offer opportunities to promote interactions among domestic and international scientists, and the impact of China researchers. 
 

One of the missions for CAPT is to foster young researchers, who will become the energetic momentum for advancing future science and technology. CAPT offers graduate programs on research topics of high energy density material sciences, the exploration and computational design of new materials with novel properties, atomic physics with intense lasers, acceleration physics of energetic charged particles under strong fields, hydrodynamic instabilities and compressible turbulence, and scientific computing relevant to the above subjects.