The Sino-German center symposium on “VUV FELs in Molecular, Cluster and Surface Science: A Future Frontier for Energy Research” was successfully held in DICP on September 22^nd -27^th , 2013. The symposium, sponsored by Sino-German center for research promotion, was hosted by Professor Xueming Yang from DICP and Professor Alec Wodtke from Georg August Universitaet Goettingen in Germany. More than 40 scholars from China and Germany attended the symposium and presented their interests of using DCLS. Dr. Heike Strelen, director of Sino-German center, made a elaborate report “The Sino-German center for research promotion: cooperation – funding - success” to share the experience of successful cooperation between scientist from China and Germany.  

　　The purpose of the symposium is to explore future applications of Vacuum Ultraviolet Free Electron Lasers (VUV FELs) in the Molecular Sciences including Cluster and Surface Science. Special emphasis is placed on Molecular Dynamics at Surfaces, Combustion Research, Cluster Science, and Chemical Reaction Dynamics, areas of science that are crucial to the future of basic energy research. The workshop was designed to build an international community especially between German and Chinese Scientists who will plan and carryout joint research at the Dalian Coherent Light source (DCLS), which is presently under construction, funded by National Natural Science Foundation of China.  

　　The crucially important precondition to developing a cooperative international partnership is the exchange of ideas between German and Chinese colleagues, pursuing a process of friendly relationship and community building and achieving authentic trust and understanding amongst the partners. The workshop builds such trust and cooperation amongst a broad community of German and Chinese colleague, by developing a consensus around future scientific directions that may take advantage of the VUV FELs. We envision important new scientific initiatives arising from this workshop designed to exploit these opportunities.（by Weiqing Zhang, Chunlei Xiao）