Recently, the special project of the square kilometer array radio telescope (SKA) of the Ministry of Science and Technology, "Research on the cosmic magnetic field based on the SKA pilot telescope", was launched in Yunnan University. SKA is an international major scientific project. The SKA Observatory, an intergovernmental international organization, is responsible for the construction and operation. Australia, China, Italy, the Netherlands and other countries participate in the construction. Cosmic magnetic field is one of the main scientific directions determined by SKA in its initial planning, and also one of the characteristic research directions in China's SKA scientific strategy. Magnetic fields play a key role in important astrophysical processes such as star formation, active galactic nuclear jets, formation and evolution of galaxies and large-scale structures. Radio polarization observation is one of the most important means to measure the magnetic field of the universe at various scales. The large radio telescopes that have been built and are under construction in the world take the use of polarization survey to detect the cosmic magnetic field as an important research content. However, due to the limitations of observation equipment and technology, it is not completely clear how the magnetic field originated and evolved. SKA's ultra-high sensitivity and ultra-strong ability to survey the sky will be able to obtain the Faraday rotation of tens of millions of extragalactic radio sources, draw the three-dimensional magnetic field structure image of the universe, and is expected to make a revolutionary breakthrough in magnetic field research. "SKA is composed of many small antenna units, with a total receiving area of one square kilometer. After completion, it will become the largest comprehensive aperture radio telescope in the world. After completion, SKA will make breakthroughs in many research fields, including the cosmic magnetic field. With SKA, we will be able to measure the magnetic field structure of celestial bodies at different levels in the universe, so as to understand how the cosmic magnetic field originated and evolved." Sun Xiaohui, head of the SKA special project, said, "The difficulty of the project lies in how to deal with the huge data and how to extract the magnetic field information from the data. The radio astrophysics team of Yunnan University has been involved in the SKA research very early. The team members play an important role in the various scientific work of SKA and have a good research foundation." It is understood that the project is led by Yunnan University, and the participating units include the Shanghai Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences The National Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Xinjiang Astronomical Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Central China University of Science and Technology and Sun Yat-sen University. The goal of the project is to establish the SKA cosmic magnetic field data processing system and deploy the data processing pipeline, establish the technical method to obtain the multi-scale magnetic field of the universe based on polarization observation, carry out corresponding scientific research, cultivate the domestic magnetic field research team, and lay a solid foundation for future research. Mao Ruiqing, deputy director of the Zijinshan Observatory of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, said: "Cosmic magnetic field is everywhere, and the research of magnetic field is both a basic problem and a difficult problem. There are high requirements for observation technology and data processing methods. SKA will become a sharp tool for observing the cosmic magnetic field. At present, there are some pilot telescopes in the world, and the project team plans to make full use of these pilot equipment, and make preparations from the aspects of technical methods and data simulation. When SKA is completed, it is expected that there will be important issues related to magnetic field " Wu Jian, vice president of Yunnan University, said: "The university will fully promote the construction of radio astrophysics team, ensure the implementation of SKA special project, and hope to take the SKA special project as an opportunity to develop radio astrophysics for SKA