IMHE has been cultivating international groups for quite along time by way of participating in CAS Visiting Professorships for Senior International Scientists since 2009, which was considered as a preface of International Outreach Initiatives (IOI). When 2014 walks towards, It seems that we could say IMHE’s continuous dedication in international talent development career eventually gains return, with booming development of the Plan of International Innovative Group (POIIG).

 As part of the IOI of IMHE, POIIG is jointly supported by Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and State Administration of Foreign Experts Affairs(SAFEA), total funding CNY6000,000, 2012-2015, focusing oninternational innovative team building and scientific issue solving : 1) research on mountainous ecosystem response to global change and evolution; 2) research on slope runoff and erosion effected by climate change and human activities; 3) research on biogeochemical processes and ecological and environmental effect in mountainous region of upper Yangtze River; and 4) research on remote sensing of mountainous earth surface process and multi-source data assimilation.

 Eight international innovative groups have been built up based on POIIG, in the way that the party of IMHE recommends 8 talented researchers and 8 foreign scientists are recommended by University of Bergen, University of Life Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Syracuse University, Ghent University, University of Maryland, Purdue University, and University of New Hampshire, partnerships around the countries of USA, Germany, Belgium, and Norway. These groups have conducted several interactive visits sorted like academic speeches, fieldworks, Jointly  writing research papers, and international conference participation, etc.