Institute of Acoustics

Official Chinese name	中国科学院院声学研究所
Official English name	Institute of Acoustics, Chinese Academy of Sciences
Chinese aliases	中国科学院电子学研究所, 声学所
English aliases	CAS Institute of Electronics
Acronyms	IOA
Research fields	Underwater acoustic physics and underwater acoustic detection, environmental acoustics and noise control, ultrasonics and acoustic micro-electromechanical systems, communication acoustics and speech information processing, acoustics and digital system integration, high-performance networks and new network media
Total employee count	Over 960 (as of 23 November 2025)

Summary

Institute of Acoustics is categorised as a Regular Defence Partner based on the following indicators:

Defence advisor

0 indicators

Defence award

2 indicators

Defence funding

3 indicators

Defence laboratory

1 indicators

Military-technology patent

3 indicators

Research collaboration with defence entities

3 indicators

Defence advisory roles

There is insufficient information to assess whether any members of the leadership of the Institute of Acoustics have served on defence-related expert committees.

Defence award

Available information indicates that Institute of Acoustics researchers have received at least six separate defence awards over time. These include five National Defence Science and Technology Progress Awards and one Honorary Medal for Dedication to National Defence Science and Technology.^[1]

Of the six awards identified, five can be confidently determined to have been awarded during the recipients' employment at the Institute of Acoustics. One award, granted in 2012, aligns directly with the researcher's employment history at the institute.^[2] Two of the National Defence awards were granted to a researcher who has spent their entire career at the Institute of Acoustics,^[3] supporting attribution to the institute's work. The final two National Defence awards were granted to a current researcher who has been employed at the Institute of Acoustics throughout their career, with the exception of one year spent as a visiting scholar in the United States.^[4] As all their research within China was conducted at the Institute of Acoustics, there is a high level of confidence that these awards can be attributed to work undertaken at the institute.

The honorary medal did not have a confirmed date, and because the researcher had been employed at several different research institutes across China, our analysis was not able to determine if this award was tied to work carried out at the Institute of Acoustics.^[5]

While researchers and projects linked to the Institute of Acoustics have received at least one defence award before 2021, its researchers have probably not been granted awards in recent years. However, because outdated information and insufficient source detail prevent verification of award dates, this assessment is made with medium confidence. Awards granted prior to researchers' affiliation with the institute or more recently cannot be fully ruled out.

Defence funding

Between 2021 and 2025, researchers from the Institute of Acoustics authored 18 publications funded by Chinese defence entities, placing the institute in the 43rd percentile among the CAS institutes included in this analysis. Of the 1,093 authors affiliated with the Institute of Acoustics who published during this period, 10 (1 per cent) had at least one defence-funded publication. However, it is not possible to attribute specific funding to individual researchers based solely on publication data.

Defence laboratories

No publicly available information suggests that this institute hosts or is affiliated with any known defence laboratories. The Chinese-language laboratory websites do not mention any links or references to defence-related activities.

There is no public Chinese-language website for the State Key Laboratory of Acoustics and Marine Information [声学与海洋信息全国重点实验室]. It is unclear whether the absence of a website reflects administrative factors or a deliberate effort to limit public visibility.

Military-technology patents

Between 2021 and 2025, the Institute of Acoustics was granted five military-technology patents, placing it in the 61st percentile among the CAS institutes included in this analysis. A total of 26 inventors affiliated with the Institute of Acoustics were listed on these patents.

Research collaboration with defence entities

Between 2021 and 2025, researchers from the Institute of Acoustics co-authored 188 publications with at least one Chinese defence entity, placing the institute in the 18th percentile among the CAS institutes included in this analysis.

These collaborations include 20 publications with PLA academic institutions, 36 with defence laboratories, 125 with members of the Seven Sons of National Defence, 33 with members of the Seven Sons of Ordnance Industry and 11 with defence conglomerates.

Of the 1,093 authors affiliated with the Institute of Acoustics who published during this period, 183 (17 per cent) had at least one defence-related collaboration.

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