International Symposium on Interdisciplinary and Collaborative Innovation Research held at UM

To promote interdisciplinary collaboration and academic exchange, the Institute of Collaborative Innovation (ICI) of the University of Macau (UM) organised the 2nd International Symposium on Interdisciplinary and Collaborative Innovation Research. The symposium featured 29 presentations by renowned scholars from China and abroad in the fields of data science, neuroscience and brain science, and was attended by over 300 participants.

In his opening remarks, UM Vice Rector Ge Wei highlighted the mission of ICI and its importance in the academic community. The two-day symposium, sponsored by Nanjing Jianchuang Technology Company Limited and Lingbio Biotechnology Macau Company Limited, included two sessions: the 2nd Macau Symposium on Data Science and the 5th Macau Symposium on Cognitive and Brain Sciences.

The 2nd Macau Symposium on Data Science featured 3 keynote presentations, 6 invited talks, and 2 industrial talks. Topics discussed included big data analytics and processing, data mining and management, legal issues in data science, applications of artificial intelligence in healthcare, and various machine learning algorithms and techniques. Among the keynote speakers: Sourav S. Bhowmick, associate professor at Nanyang Technological University, shared his insights on managing conflicts of interest through data-driven approaches, highlighting the shift from socio-technical data systems research to practical applications; Hong Huaqing, professor at Shanghai International Studies University, explored the pivotal role of big data learning analytics in driving meaningful educational transformation, focusing on evidence-based pedagogy and its potential to improve decision-making in teaching and learning; Li Yanzhi, professor at City University of Hong Kong, presented his research on integrating business knowledge into offline reinforcement learning to enhance personalised recommendation systems.

The 5th Macau Symposium on Cognitive and Brain Sciences featured 4 keynote presentations and 14 invited talks, covering a range of topics including cognitive neuroscience related to addiction and decision-making, language and cognition, child development and cognitive aging, visual perception, neuroimaging, and psychiatric and neurological disorders. Among the keynote speakers: He Sheng, academic deputy director of the Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences, discussed his research on feedback processing in the human brain; Jiang Tianzi, director of the Brainnetome Center of the Institute of Automation, Chinese Academy of Sciences, talked about brain mapping based on the Brainnetome Atlas, its research background and applications in understanding cognitive mechanisms and diagnosing brain diseases; Tatia Lee Mei Chun, professor at the University of Hong Kong, shared her studies on loneliness as a significant threat to the well-being of older adults from behavioural and neural perspectives; Patrick Wong Chun Man, professor at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, discussed how to predict language development from neural data, and how hypothesis testing leads to model generalisation.

The symposium also included a poster session, where 35 posters were displayed. To encourage the participation of young scholars, the poster evaluation committee selected the best posters and presented 2 first prizes, 5 second prizes, 5 third prizes, and 8 merit awards. Notably, both first prizes went to UM students—Sun Yinghao, a doctoral student from the Faculty of Business Administration, and Yang Yi, a doctoral student from the Faculty of Science and Technology.

The event was attended by Che Wai Meng, senior manager of the Project Transformation and Support Department of the Science and Technology Development Fund of Macao; Steven He, senior expert of Huawei Macau branch; Zoey Wang, account director of Huawei Macau branch; George Du Wencai, dean of the Institute for Data Engineering and Science at the University of Saint Joseph, Macao; and UM members—Xu Cheng-Zhong, interim director of ICI; Yuan Zhen, associate director of ICI and head of the Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences; and Ryan U Leong Hou, head of the Centre for Data Science.

The Institute of Collaborative Innovation (ICI) is dedicated to promoting interdisciplinary research among higher education institutions in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and beyond, cultivating innovative talent, creating an environment conducive to innovative thinking, innovative capabilities and innovative industries, and fostering industry-academia collaboration. The symposium exemplified ICI’s efforts to achieve its objectives. The event brought together experts from academia, government, and society to discuss the latest trends and challenges in data science, cognitive neuroscience, and brain science, and facilitated discussion and exchange among scholars.