The Shanghai Particle Physics and Cosmology Symposium 2014 (SPCS2014) was successfully held at the Xuhui Campus of Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU) on May 28-31, 2014. Professors Yong-Zhong Qian (Changjiang Scholar of the Ministry of Education, Visiting Chair Professor of SJTU) and Yang Sun (Distinguished Professor of SJTU) co-chaired the Organizing Committee. Professor Xiangdong Ji, Director of the Insitute of Nuclear, Particle Physics, Astronomy and Cosmology (INPAC) at SJTU made opening remarks to welcome participating experts from abroad and within China, overseas postdoctoal scholars, and students.

The SPCS series is an annual symposium sponsored mainly by the INPAC at SJTU. It aims to provide a platform for extensive discussion of new results and future development in particle physics and cosmology among experts from home and abroad. It also tries to introduce young researchers and students to the field and provide them with opportunities to interact with international experts and peers so that they have a deeper understanding of reseach at the scientific frontiers and are inspired to enter the field. This series makes important contributions to establishing a high-level international research environment for particle physics and cosmology in Shanghai.

SPCS2014 is the fourth in the series. Its themes were neutrino astrophysics, dark matter, and underground laboratory science. Professor Rashid Sunyaevfrom the Max Planck Institute for Astrophysics in Germany, a world-renowned expert in astrophysics and cosmology and a Crafoord Laureate in astronomy 2008, gave the keynote speech “Hot Gas in Clusters of Galaxies, Cosmic Microwave Background, and Cosmology.” There were 27 invited speakers from the US, Germany, the UK, Australia, and Japan and 9 from top-tier Chinese universities (including Peihong Gu and Changbo Fu, both members of the INPAC at SJTU) and research institutions of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). There were approximately 70 participants altogether.

Professor Yifang Wang, Director of the CAS Insititute of High Energy Physics, presented the Jiangmen Underground Neutrino Observatory (JUNO). Professor Weiping Liu, Associate Director of the China Institute of Atomic Energy, presented the Jin-Ping Mountain Underground Nuclear Astrophysics Experiment (JUNA). Professor Shuang-Nan Zhang, Director of the CAS Key Laboratory of Particle Astrophyics, presented the High Energy Cosmic Radiation Detection (HERD) Experiment onboard China’s Space Station. In addition, Wei Zhao from Tsinghua University and Changbo Fu from SJTU presented the ongoing dark matter detection experiments CDEX and PandaX, respectively, at the China Jin-Ping Underground Laboratory. These ongoing and planned experiments indicate that China will play more and more important roles in particle physics and cosmology.