The Province‑Ministry Joint Collaborative Innovation Center for Advanced Permanent Magnetic Materials and Technology (hereinafter referred to as the “Center”) was established with Shanxi Normal University as the lead institution, in collaboration with the Central Iron and Steel Research Institute, Nanjing University, Zhejiang University, Zhongci Technology Co., Ltd., and other partners. It was recognized as a provincial‑level industry‑sector collaborative innovation center by the Department of Education of Shanxi Province in September 2016, and was further designated as a province‑ministry joint collaborative innovation center by the Ministry of Education in February 2022. The Center hosts multiple innovation platforms, including the Shanxi Engineering Research Center for Magnetic Functional Materials and Devices, and the Innovation Team of the Ministry of Education in Magnetic Materials. The supporting disciplines—Chemistry, Physics, and Materials Science—are all national‑ and provincial‑level first‑class undergraduate program construction units, and offer doctoral degree programs in Chemistry, Materials Science and Engineering, and Physics. The Chemistry discipline is ranked among the top 1% of ESI global rankings.

Guided by the collaborative philosophy of “demand‑oriented, mission‑driven, and industry‑chain‑linked,” the Center targets major critical technological challenges in permanent magnetic materials. It integrates superior innovation resources, brings together leading talents in the permanent magnet field, and has formed a well‑structured, collaborative, and innovative research team. The Chair of the Academic Committee is Academician Shen Baogen; the Center Director is Professor Xu Xiaohong; and the Chief Scientists include renowned experts and entrepreneurs such as Academician Du Youwei, Academician Li Wei, Professor Yan Mi, and Professor‑grade Senior Engineer Dong Qingfei. The Center has undertaken more than 50 projects, including the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, key projects of the National Natural Science Foundation, topics under the National Key R&D Program, and the National 863 Program. It publishes an average of approximately 100 SCI‑indexed papers annually in leading international journals such as Nat. Mater., Nat. Commun., J. Am. Chem. Soc., Phys. Rev. Lett., and Adv. Mater., and has received multiple national and provincial/ministerial awards, with some achievements successfully commercialized.

Addressing major national strategic needs and the main economic battlefield, the Center continuously focuses on the transformation needs of Shanxi’s economy. Its goal is to synergistically enhance the overall performance of rare‑earth permanent magnets, with a particular emphasis on breaking through key core technologies for magnets used in high‑end permanent magnet motors. The Center strives to cultivate high‑level leading talents with a global perspective, promote the advancement of permanent magnetic materials toward greater sophistication and excellence, incubate national‑level innovation platforms, provide vital support for the economic transformation and upgrading of Shanxi Province, and make significant contributions to the national permanent magnet industry.