Prof. Peter A. Tanner from the Department of Biology and Chemistry, Hongkong City University visited Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter (FJIRSM) at the invitation of the Laboratory of Laser Engineering and Technology in March, 2009. During his stay, Prof. Peter A. Tanner delivered a seminar report titled "Spectra of lanthanide compounds" and carried out detailed discussion on scientific researches with the research staff of FJIRSM.

Prof. Tanner is engaged in the researches on spectroscopy of lanthanide compounds in solids. He is one of the distinguished scholars in the research field of spectroscopy. His current research interests include: energy transfer and low-temperature spectroscopy of rare earth ions in solids; atmospheric chemistry and air pollution in Hong Kong; and method development in environmental analyses. So far Prof. Peter A. Tanner has published more than 200 research papers on some famous scientific journals such as JACS, PRB and APL. Now he is the deputy chief editor of Spectroscopy Letters.