Academic collaboration and exchanges key to innovation

Prominent academics, researchers, and entrepreneurs gathered in London, England on Oct 17 to discuss the importance of collaboration and exchanges in science and technology.

The Outstanding Young Scholars Society, an organization dedicated to connecting Chinese doctoral and postdoctoral researchers located in the United Kingdom, organized the meeting, themed around the industry of artificial intelligence, or AI, and the development of scholars.

In the opening remarks, Gu Sai, the founder of the society and executive vice-chancellor of the University of Warwick, encouraged more exchanges among Chinese scholars across different disciplines in the UK.

"If we pass down our collective wisdom to future generations of Chinese scholars, we can make greater contributions to education and our respective academic fields," Gu said.

Zhang Yitang, a renowned mathematician and a professor at Sun Yat-sen University, shared his academic journey and encouraged young scholars to remain focused in their research areas while keeping an open mind, suggesting they explore links between two seemingly unrelated areas and apply different methods in solving research questions.

The full-day conference also included two panels – about AI innovation and research application in industry – and face-to-face sessions connecting students with entrepreneurs and scholars.

Ding Mingqin, minister counselor and chief of the science and technology section at China's embassy in the UK, and Mei Yanchang, former president of City University of Hong Kong, were among the 400 guests attending the event.

Liao Enli contributed to the story.