About Pearl

The Planetary Environmental and Astrobiological Research Laboratory (PEARL) at Sun Yat-sen University stands as a pivotal institution for education and research in planetary science within China. As a founding member of the China University Planetary Science Consortium and a key constituent of the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Center of Excellence in Comparative Planetology, PEARL addresses national strategic priorities in deep space exploration. The laboratory focuses on unraveling fundamental natural laws governing the evolution of planetary spheres (including natural satellites) and their coupling mechanisms. By contrasting the environmental conditions and habitability of diverse celestial bodies, PEARL aims to elucidate the evolutionary dynamics and driving mechanisms of Earth's system. Its research spans solar activity and solar wind dynamics, physical/chemical processes in the space-atmosphere-surface-interior environments of solar system objects, and the detection and modeling of exoplanets. Additionally, the laboratory pioneers technologies for deep space environmental sensing, formulates terraforming strategies for lunar and Martian environments, and explores socioeconomic applications of deep space technologies.

PEARL has contributed extensively to China's flagship deep space missions, including the Chang'e lunar exploration series and the Tianwen-1 Mars mission, securing competitive access to lunar samples from Chang'e-5. It actively participates in planning future initiatives such as the International Lunar Research Station, near-Earth asteroid exploration, and the Jovian system mission. Internationally, PEARL has collaborated on major programs including NASA's MESSENGER Mercury mission, ESA's Venus Express and Cluster missions, and the NASA-ESA Cassini-Huygens Saturn exploration, earning multiple individual and team excellence awards. To date, PEARL researchers have published over 800 SCI-indexed articles in premier journals such as Nature and Science, achieving international prominence in terrestrial planetary atmospheric escape, ionospheric structures, and surface geological processes.

Organized into four research units—Planetary Atmosphere and Space Environment (led by Prof. Cui Jun), Planetary Surface and Interior Environment (co-led by Profs. Li Jianyang and Xiao Zhiyong), Solar-Terrestrial Space Environment (led by Prof. Hao Yongqiang), and Deep Space Technology R&D (led by Prof. Dmitri Titov)—the laboratory comprises 20 faculty members (5 Full Professors, 14 Associate Professors, 1 Assistant Professor), 8 postdoctoral researchers, 4 administrative staff, and approximately 50 graduate students. Prof. Cui Jun, recipient of the National Natural Science Foundation's Distinguished Young Scholars Award, serves as laboratory director.

PEARL maintains robust collaborations with leading global institutions, including the University of Arizona, UC Berkeley, UCLA, Imperial College London, Swedish Institute of Space Physics, Max Planck Institute for Extraterrestrial Physics, and domestic partners such as Peking University and the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The laboratory engages in public outreach through its Deep Space Experience Center, annual lecture series, summer programs, and field expeditions.

Academically, PEARL offers China's first undergraduate specialization in Space and Planetary Science under atmospheric sciences, alongside graduate programs in space physics (M.S./Ph.D.) and postdoctoral research stations. It actively recruits students from Earth sciences, astronomy, physics, and aerospace engineering, while supporting international academic exchanges for early-career researchers. Committed to establishing itself as a world-class research and education hub, PEARL continues advancing China's deep space exploration capabilities through interdisciplinary innovation and talent cultivation.