The University of Macau (UM) and the Guangdong Institute of Intelligence Science and Technology (GDIIST) held a plaque unveiling ceremony for the ‘Joint Laboratory (Research Center) of Cognition and Brain-Inspired Intelligence of University of Macau and Guangdong Institute of Intelligence Science and Technology’. A collaborative effort between UM and GDIIST, the joint laboratory will focus on the field of cognitive and brain-inspired intelligence technologies, explore new cooperation mechanisms oriented towards major tasks and goals and innovative models for integrating research and teaching, thereby providing new impetus for technology development and talent cultivation in Macao and Hengqin.

The plaque unveiling ceremony was officiated by Fu Yongge, deputy director of the Executive Committee of the Guangdong-Macao In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin; Lei Chi Wai, director of the Economic Development Bureau of the Guangdong-Macao In-depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin; Ge Wei, vice rector of UM; Xu Cheng-Zhong, dean of the Faculty of Science and Technology at UM; San Jinghui, deputy director of the Zhuhai Science and Technology Innovation Bureau; and Zhang Xu, academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and director of GDIIST.

The establishment of the joint laboratory marks a strategic partnership between UM and GDIIST in the field of cognition and brain-inspired intelligence. Both parties will leverage the laboratory to conduct in-depth cooperation in three key areas: talent cultivation, transfer and transformation, and scientific research. These include joint PhD programmes, international industrial development exchanges and cooperation, shared research and technology platforms, as well as scientific research and applied technology development research in a variety of areas, such as the basic theories of artificial intelligence, machine learning, brain cognition, brain-inspired intelligence, and machine vision. The aim is to create a model for industry-academia collaboration in Hengqin and provide technological support for Macao’s economic diversification.

In addition, an academic seminar on ‘Cognition and Brain-Inspired Intelligence’ was held concurrently. The seminar featured presentations by Shi Yun, director of the Cognitive Neural Network Research Center at GDIIST; Huan Yuxiang, director of the Brain-Inspired Computing System Research Center at GDIIST; Yuan Zhen, associate director of the Institute of Collaborative Innovation at UM; and Ip Cheng Teng, assistant professor in the Centre for Cognitive and Brain Sciences at UM, providing attendees with a deeper understanding of the latest advances in the field.