The Institute of Advanced Studies in Humanities and Social Sciences (IAS) at the University of Macau (UM) held the 3rd Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Interdisciplinary Doctoral Forum on 21 and 22 August. The two-day forum brought together nearly 50 doctoral students, scholars, and experts from renowned institutions such as Peking University, Fudan University, Zhejiang University, and Seoul National University. Attendees engaged in in-depth discussions and exchanges across a range of disciplines, including the humanities, social sciences, natural science, and technology.
Speaking at the opening ceremony, Ge Wei, vice rector of UM, said that since its inception in 2023, the forum has become a key platform for interdisciplinary academic exchange in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. It has facilitated intellectual dialogue and the sharing of research findings among young scholars from diverse academic backgrounds. Building on the success of previous editions, this year’s forum would provide doctoral students with a valuable opportunity to present their research and receive feedback from experts and peers, thereby inspiring innovative thinking and promoting interdisciplinary collaboration.
The theme of this year’s forum was ‘Interdisciplinary Approaches to Global Challenges: Innovation, Aspiration, Solution’. The programme featured two keynote speeches and 13 panel discussions, covering a wide range of topics including AI narratives, innovations in arts and humanities, frontiers of social sciences, philosophical reflections, women and gender in the digital age, interdisciplinary approaches to global challenges, health and well-being, digital literacy: standards and evaluations, economy and sustainable development, and machine reasoning and human reasoning. Attendees from different places actively shared their latest research findings and offered different perspectives on how to promote sustainability, equity, and inclusion in the context of globalisation and rapid change.
The forum received over 300 paper submissions from universities at home and abroad. Following a review process, 25 outstanding papers and 21 presentation papers were selected. The organiser will compile these papers into conference proceedings to support young scholars in translating their research into tangible outcomes.
The forum not only strengthened academic ties within the Greater Bay Area but also built a long-term international collaboration network for young scholars. Through this platform, the organiser hopes to further promote interdisciplinary research and collaboration and contribute to addressing global challenges.
University of Political Science and Law, Hainan University, University of Macau, and Macau University of Science and Technology had an in-depth discussion on interdisciplinary issues.
Professor Ge Wei, Vice Rector (Research) of the University of Macau, delivered an opening speech. He extended a cordial welcome to doctoral students from universities at home and abroad to assemble at the University of Macau to engage in interdisciplinary discourse on cutting-edge issues, and gave a brief introduction of the University of Macau and the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Doctoral Forum. In his speech, he expressed gratitude to the doctoral students who had contributed to the preparation and organization of the conference, wished the conference a smooth run, and anticipated that the participating doctoral students would overcome disciplinary boundaries, engage in comprehensive discourse, and promote the integration and advancement of diverse disciplines.
The forum comprised four sub-forums, which not only continued the tradition of academic discussions and exchanges between presenters and critics, and presenters and the audience, but also introduced a new session of professors’ conclusions at the end of each sub-forum. In this session, senior professors from different fields were invited to comment on the research of doctoral students, with the aim of providing more in-depth academic guidance to the students.
Professor Yu Xingzhong, Director of IAS and Chair Professor of the Faculty of Law of the University of Macau, presented awards to the winners of the forum and delivered a speech at the closing ceremony. In his address, Professor Yu highlighted the significant impact of the forum, noting the remarkable number of high-quality contributions it attracted, and valuable new explorations and attempts in interdisciplinary research on the basis of the first forum. He emphasized the growing trend of interdisciplinary research in contemporary academic circles and encouraged the doctoral students to sustain their enthusiasm for research, broaden their perspectives, engage in extensive learning based on a firm grasp of their respective disciplines and explore more possibilities of collaboration and innovation.
