In 1970s, China carried out the first large-scale Tibetan Plateau Scientific Expedition and Research (FTEP). FTEP accumulated a myriad of scientific materials, providing vital scientific support for regional socio-economic development and the broader development campaign of the western regions in China.

STEP will follow the footsteps of FTEP as it addresses the key scientific issue of Tibetan Plateau earth system change. Priority will be given to TP uplift and its resource-environmental effects, TP carrying capacity, Asian Water Tower change and its implications, westerly-monsoon interaction and its impact, optimization of the TP capacity as an ecological buffer, human impact on and adaptation to the environment, and disaster risk reduction. STEP will pay special attention to how environmental process and mechanism have changed over the last 50 years and the implications involved for human society. As it reveals how Tibetan Plateau earth system and environment changes, STEP hopes to strengthen the capacity of Tibetan Plateau as an ecological buffer and provide science-based solutions for the protection of the Asian Water Tower and Tibetan Plateau as an ecological buffer, for the building of Third Pole National Park clusters as well as for the designing of green development pathways. STEP divides the Tibetan Plateau into five major research regions in light of their different environmental, ecological, geological and geographical features and ecological roles. They are the Asian Water Tower Region, Himalaya Region, Hengduan Mountain Alpine Canyon Region, Qilian Mountain-Altyn Region and Tianshan Mountain-Pamir Region. Each major research area is further divided into several key zones. There are 19 key zones in total.
Our team mainly undertake the study of the gut microbiome of Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP) animals. The aim of this project is to obtain high-quality gut microbial reference genomes, discover new microbial groups and functional genes, especially microbial groups with functional potential, and initially realize the protection and sustainable use of the gut microbial diversity of QTP animals.
（http://www.tpe.ac.cn/webindex/）