Institute of Flexible Electronics (IFE) at Northwestern Polytechnical University is a comprehensive and interdisciplinary frontiers institute, which is led by the fellow of Chinese Academy of Science, Prof. Huang Wei, one distinguished scholar in organic electronics and flexible electronics. IFE aims flexible electronics (including organic electronics, plastic electronics, printing electronics, nano-electronics, biological electronics, etc.), a highly cross-integrated and disruptive discipline form as the research core, and takes the key scientific problems and technical difficulties in flexible photoelectric materials, semiconductor properties, device physical mechanism, device process and integration as the research objects. The institute aims to make both innovative and practical contributions to the application fields of new generation information display, storage computing, data encryption, biosensing, health care and renewable energy. IFE will rely on cities of Xi'an and Taicang in China to collaborate with world-class universities and research institutes. It will gather an international high-end scientific research team engaged in basic theories and application technologies of flexible electronics and related disciplines, and create a world-top national base for R&D, talents cultivation and industry incubation in flexible electronics field.

      IFE was established on October 31th, 2017. It contains more than 40 distinguished scholars including fellows of the Academy and winners of national talents programs, like Changjiang Scholars Program, the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, Ten Thousand Talents Program and the National Outstanding Youth Science Foundation. All core members have years of overseas study and work experience. The Institute established six professional disciplines that are organic optoelectronics, nano-optoelectronics, bio-electronics, advanced energy, printed electronics, plastic electronics and one industrial promotion center for flexible electronics. At the same time, it established several provincial and ministerial-level scientific research platforms, such as the key laboratory of the ministry of industry and information technology of flexible electronic materials and devices, the key laboratory of Shaanxi province of flexible electronic materials and devices, Xi'an key laboratory of flexible electronics and engineering technology research center. In recent years, IFE team has undertaken more than 300 ministerial and provincial-level research projects, including 3 projects of the National 973 Program, 10 projects of the National key R&D Programs, 5 projects of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, 2 projects of the National Science Fund for Excellent Young Scholars, more than 100 projects of The National Natural Science Foundation of China, 2 major fund and key project of the Ministry of Education, and more than 100 ministerial and provincial-level research projects. The team has published more than 2,000 high-level academic papers in international top and authoritative academic journals such as Nature, Nature Materials, Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Photonics, Nature Chemistry, and Nature Communications. More than 300 invention patents have been issued, more than 180 of which have been granted by the United States, Singapore and China. IFE aims to develop disruptive technologies by solving key scientific problems in flexible electronics field and create an innovation-oriented, reliable and internationally renowned technology think tank. It will serve as an innovation demonstration platform for the major national strategic needs, the Belt and Road Initiative and the local economic development. It will support the national industrial transformation and development in transcending and overtaking ways through changing lanes and building new roads.