UM hosts Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Interdisciplinary Doctoral Forum

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.