Professor Chen Shaoqing, Vice Dean of Research Institute, visited the Centre for Human-Inspired Artificial Intelligence (CHIA) at the University of Cambridge in the UK.

Starting from September 2025, Professor Chen Shaoqing, Vice Dean of the Research Institute, has been invited to the University of Cambridge in the UK as a Senior Research Scholar to engage in teaching, research, and exchange activities in the field of carbon neutrality technologies. From September 19 to 20, Professor Chen Shaoqing visited the Centre for Human-Inspired AI (CHIA) at the University of Cambridge and held a seminar with the Sustainable Innovation Lab.

At the start of the meeting, Professor Lili Jia, Director of the Sustainable Innovation Lab, introduced the disciplinary background and research mission of the lab’s establishment, and presented the team’s recent progress in applying artificial intelligence (AI) to carbon emission reduction in corporate supply chains. This includes the development of sustainable behavior models, the research and development of innovative technologies (such as digital traceability and AI), and the design of scalable systematic strategies and low-carbon solutions. Afterwards, Professor Chen Shaoqing gave a detailed account of the establishment background, research team, and research directions of the Institute for Carbon Neutrality and Green Development of Sun Yat-sen University. He focused on sharing the phased progress of the institute in scientific research (e.g., mechanisms for mitigating climate change in social systems and carbon neutrality pathways) and talent cultivation. Finally, both parties expressed their willingness to cooperate in intelligent technologies for carbon neutrality transformation in cities and enterprises, establishing an industry-academia-research cooperation bridge between Sun Yat-sen University and the University of Cambridge in the fields of full-scope carbon accounting and low-carbon transformation. In addition, Research Fellow Chen Peipei from the Judge Business School of the University of Cambridge also participated in the meeting as a representative. 

The Centre for Human-Inspired AI (CHIA) at the University of Cambridge is a key global research institution for the promotion and application of AI. It brings together a group of interdisciplinary research teams, dedicated to exploring innovative ways to integrate human intelligence with machine intelligence and advancing the development of AI that contributes to social and global progress. The centre drives the development of cutting-edge knowledge in interdisciplinary AI methodologies and plays a leading role in nurturing the next generation of AI scientists. Among its components, the Sustainable Innovation Lab is committed to identifying, designing, and pioneering sustainable development pathways in real-world contexts through interdisciplinary research. It helps enterprises, consumers, and governments establish rigorous and efficient transformation mechanisms to collectively move towards sustainable production and consumption models. 

Professor Lili Jia serves as the Director of the Sustainable Innovation Lab at CHIA and is a Resident Scholar at the Institute for Manufacturing (IfM) of the University of Cambridge. Her research paper on plastic pollution governance initiatives was selected as one of the Top 50 Most Influential Papers in the field of Earth and Planetary Sciences by *Nature Communications* in 2019. Professor Jia has received dual fellowship honors from the UK’s Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). Since 2017, she has led efforts to secure over 1.5 million pounds sterling in research funding and has maintained close scientific research cooperation with many domestic research institutions.

Sustainable innovation Lab conducts interdisciplinary research to identify, design, and develop pathways to sustainability in the real world. These approaches can help businesses, consumers, and governments establish rigorous and efficient ways to transition to sustainable production and consumption.

Prof Jia leads the Sustainable Innovation Lab at Centre for Human-Inspired AI (CHIA) and is an internal visitor at Institute for Manufacturing (IfM). Her article on “Motivating actions to mitigate plastic pollution” was among the Top 50 Earth and Planetary Sciences Articles 2019 in Nature Communications. She has been awarded Fellowships from both Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and Engineering & Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC). Since 2017, she has secured over £1.5 million in research grants.