On 14 September, 2023, a delegation from the CUHK(SZ), led by Vice President (Academic) Professor Tom Luo, visited King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST). In a ceremony witnessed by Mr. Qin Weizhong, Mayor of the Shenzhen Municipal Government, and Professor Tony F.C Chan, President of KAUST. Professor Suzana P. Nunes, Vice Provost for Faculty and Academic Affairs at KAUST and Professor Tom Luo, signed a joint PhD dual-degree training agreement on behalf of the two universities, marking the beginning of a new chapter in the collaboration between CUHK(SZ) and KAUST.
According to the agreement, CUHK(SZ) and KAUST will jointly select students in agreed academic fields for the dual-degree PhD program, with academic advisors from both universities providing guidance. Students participating in this program will benefit from world-class faculty and strong research capabilities from both institutions. After five years of coursework and research training, students who meet the graduation requirements will be awarded PhD degrees from both universities.
On the same day, the unveiling ceremony for the KAUST-SRIBD Joint Laboratory for Scientific Computing and Machine Learning (SCML Lab) between the Shenzhen Research Institute of Big Data (SRIBD) and KAUST was also held. The ceremony was officiated by Mayor Qin Weizhong, KAUST President Tony F.C Chan, CUHK(SZ) Vice Professor Tom Z.Q Luo, and Professor Pierre J. Magistretti, Vice President for Research at KAUST. The laboratory will not only focus on fundamental theoretical research, algorithm design, and software development but will also apply computational and data science methods to fields such as energy, biology, materials, engineering, medicine, and artificial intelligence. Moreover, the lab will promote interdisciplinary research in scientific computing and machine learning.
Additionally, CUHK(SZ), KAUST, and SRIBD have jointly developed ACEGPT, a large language model specifically designed to overcome the current limitations in supporting Arabic- Chinese- English. This tri-lingual model represents a significant breakthrough, addressing the lack of robust Arabic language support in existing models. After a period of collaboration between the three parties, ACEGPT has demonstrated outstanding performance in text generation, knowledge retention, and problem-solving across all three languages, surpassing other open-source models. Ongoing optimizations will further enhance its capabilities.
Looking ahead, the two universities will continue to explore the potential for collaboration, consolidate and expand the current achievements, and work together to develop diversified cooperation models, thereby deepening their partnership.
Established in 2009 and located in Thuwal, Saudi Arabia KAUST is an international research university specializing in science and technology. With world-class research facilities and laboratories, KAUST is dedicated to advancing global scientific and technological progress through interdisciplinary research, education, and innovation. According to the QS World University Rankings, KAUST ranked first in the world in “citations per faculty” for five consecutive years from 2015 to 2020, showcasing its influence in global scientific research.
