[citation needed] The institute was formally founded in 1991, due to the encouragement of American Nobel Prize laureate Tsung-Dao Lee and current President of Chinese Academy of Sciences Lu Yongxiang, both of whom are Zhejiang University alumni.
The prominent leader Chen Yun also wrote (in calligraphy) the name for the institute.
[1] The facility is located on the hill of the Lingfeng (灵峰), and in the Yuquan Campus.
Current researchers including Mr. Xiaowei TANG (唐孝威, academician of CAS) also perform interdisciplinary studies of biophysics.
The institute is coupled closely with the Department of Physics of Zhejiang University.