On September 18th, 2017, the welcome meeting for 2017 MASTA & DOCSTA participants was held in Room 505, International School, Beihang University.

At first, Mr. Weng Jingnong, Deputy Director of the Centre, gave a general introduction of the Centre as well as its development history and organizational framework. He expressed his welcome and expectations to the new participants, and encouraged them to dare to question without blind obedience, eager to explore with perseverance, willing to be creative without fearing the difficulties. He hoped that they would take advantage of the Centre and reach out to the world.

After the participants’ self-introduction, Ms. Guo Yuanyan, Program Director of the Centre, introduced the training plan, course arrangement and practical activities of MASTA and DOCSTA Programs. She also hoped that the participants could form good learning and living habits and adjust to the new environment as soon as possible.

At last, Ms. Cui Yizuo, Coordinator of the participants, built a WeChat group for timely information sharing. Then, four (4) monitors were selected by the participants in different majors respectively.

From 20th to 21st, the Centre also organized the meet up of 2017 new participants with their supervisors. The majors were introduced in detail at the meeting. Through the communication with their supervisors, the participants got a better understanding of their majors and had a clearer view of their research directions.

In September 2017, the Centre has enrolled fifty-two (52) participants majoring in GNSS, RS&GIS and Micro-satellite Technology in total, with forty (40) in MASTA Program and twelve (12) in DOCSTA Program. The participants are mainly recommended by ASPCO and related space departments of RCSSTEAP Member States. Being the professionals or the backup talents in related fields of their home countries, these participants are from twelve (12) different countries including Algeria, Bangladesh, Bolivia, Brazil, Iran, Mongolia, Nigeria, Pakistan, Peru, Thailand, Turkey and Venezuela.