Engaging with industry partners is integral to bringing research innovations in sustainable energy from the lab bench to real-world solutions for Singapore to achieve its decarbonisation goals.To support Singapore in achieving these goals,NUS is offering its built environment as ahub for sustainability-related research through the Campus as ALiving Lab at NUS(CALL NUS)initiative.CALL NUS is an innovative platform that utilises the physical systems and infrastructure of the NUS campus,together with the innovative capabilities of the NUS Digital Twin platform,for researchers and industry partners to co-create and validate impactful and scalable sustainability solutions in aliving and operational environment,for future implementation in Singapore and globally.NUS President Professor Tan Eng Chye said,“At NUS,we are presenting the campus as aLiving Lab,where our physical infrastructure and operational systems serve as an integrative test-bed for sustainability solutions.This opens up amyriad of possibilities for impactful discoveries,game-changing innovations,and transformative education.”Leveraging CALL NUS for sustainable energy projects Making use of the unique CALL NUS initiative is the Keppel-NUS Low Carbon Living Laboratory,where NUS researchers and Keppel engineers will work on amulti-pronged project,announced on 20 November 2023,aimed at advancing NUS’Campus Sustainability Roadmap 2030 and the Singapore Green Plan 2030.This project will enhance the adoption of commercially viable and sustainable energy technologies,as well as boost energy efficiency.The Keppel-NUS Low Carbon Living Laboratory is hosted on NUS Kent Ridge campus through aMaster Research Collaboration Agreement(MRCA)signed between NUS and Keppel Corporation’s Infrastructure Division in April 2022.Through this multi-faceted project,NUS and Keppel Corporation aim to advance distributed energy management solutions,develop and deploy asmart AC/DC hybrid microgrid,as well as implement an innovative and energy-efficient district-wide cooling system.“This collaboration leverages NUS’expertise in energy and sustainability research and Keppel’s technological capabilities to develop cutting-edge technologies for smart grid management and district cooling which,once validated,could be applied within NUS,on anational-scale,and even globally,”said Prof Tan.One aspect of this multi-pronged project will be conducted from 2023 to 2026 and co-led by Associate Professor Sanjib Kumar Panda along with Professor Dipti Srinivasan from the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering under the NUS College of Design and Engineering together with Keppel engineers.In this aspect,NUS researchers and Keppel engineers will implement adigital twin and leverage comprehensive sensing technologies and modelling to develop innovative distributed energy management solutions and explore the adoption of asmart AC/DC hybrid microgrid to allow seamless integration and optimisation of different sustainable energy technologies,such as renewable energy resources,energy storage devices,and smart electric vehicle charging solutions.These innovations are envisaged to create an infrastructure network that reduces energy consumption while enhancing grid reliability and climate resilience.In another aspect of this project under the MRCA,NUS researchers and Keppel Infrastructure engineers will focus on the implementation of an innovative district-wide cooling network at the NUS University Hall and its adjacent developments.This aspect will see the deployment of aproprietary material-based thermal energy storage technology jointly developed by NUS and Keppel in an earlier collaboration,techniques that use outdoor air for cooling,and real-time AI-based optimisations.These technologies will be integrated with the AC/DC hybrid microgrid,which has the potential to significantly reduce the carbon footprint and energy consumption for cooling at NUS.This multi-pronged project is aimed to scale across the entire NUS campus in different phases,and replicated for third-party customers locally and abroad. 查看详细>>

为庆祝中国科学技术大学（以下简称“中国科大”）建校65周年与推动细胞动力学科教融合的系统深入，无膜细胞器与细胞动力学教育部实验室与合肥微尺度物质科学国家中心联合中国细胞生物学会及亚太细胞生物学组织主办的第七届细胞动力学和化学生物学国际研讨会（The 7th International Conference on Cellular Dynamics and Chemical Biology；CDCB2023）于2023年10月27日至30日在中国科大胜利召开。来自美国哈佛大学、普林斯顿大学、加州大学圣迭戈分校、加州大学伯克利分校、宾夕法尼亚大学、欧洲肿瘤研究所、新加坡国立大学、香港大学、香港科学技术大学、中国科学院分子细胞科学卓越创新中心、中国科学院上海有机化学研究所、北京大学、清华大学、复旦大学、浙江大学、武汉大学、上海科技大学、南昌大学、中南大学、中国科学院深圳先进技术研究院、中国科学院合肥物质科学研究院、中国科学院广州生物医药与健康研究院、中国科学技术大学与合肥微尺度物质科学国家中心的29名报告人分别介绍了各自的最新研究成果。无膜细胞器与细胞动力学教育部重点实验室主任姚雪彪教授主持开幕式，中国科大校长助理薛天教授代表学校致欢迎词，对长久以来一直关注、支持科大发展，支持本研讨会举办的领导与专家们表示衷心的感谢,并对CDCB2023的胜利召开表示热烈的祝贺！他指出，15年前，“第一届细胞动力学和化学生物学国际研讨会”作为科大五十周年校庆的主要学术活动之一在中国科大顺利召开，此后15年间，本研讨会系列对国内外相关领域的交流合作起到了推动作用。他希望通过此次研讨与交流，促进我校细胞动力学及化学生物学的更好发展。姚雪彪教授代表中国细胞生物学会与亚太细胞生物学组织对CDCB2023的胜利召开表示祝贺，希望CDCB会议成为中国细胞生物学会对外交流的窗口、亚太细胞生物学组织区域联合与协同的纽带。美国科学院院士、2018年Breakthrough Prize获得者、加州大学圣迭戈分校细胞与分子医学系主任Don Cleveland教授作大会首场题为“Evolution of Genome Instability in Cancer”的Keynote Lecture，他的科研团队发现了EB病毒与DNA损伤异常介导染色体碎片化与微小细胞核形成的新机制，这些发现对我们理解肿瘤形成的早期机制与肿瘤的防治提供了靶向策略。美国科学院院士、哈佛大学教授Tim Mitchison教授作大会首场题为“How Do Microtubule Drugs Act as Medicines？”的Keynote Lecture，他的科研团队发现了秋水乙酰碱与紫杉醇靶向炎症反应的新机制。鉴于炎癌转化是胃肠道肿瘤发生的早期与关键事件，这些发现为我们提前干预肿瘤的发生与发展提供了有效工具。中国科学院院士、中国科学技术大学教授施蕴渝教授作题为“Epigenetic Regulation of Mitochondria in Degenerative Diseases”的Keynote Lecture，她的科研团队发现了线粒体核酸修饰异常介导细胞代谢紊乱的化学基础，这些发现对我们系统理解与早期干预细胞的衰老进程、为器官的功能可塑性调控提供了契机。美国普林斯顿大学康毅滨教授作题为“Targeting Cancer Fitness Gene MTDH in Metastatic Cancers”的报告，他的团队聚焦乳腺癌，探索驱动癌症转移和治疗抗性的肿瘤内在途径，以及靶向癌症转移的免疫激活策略。本次细胞动力学和化学生物学国际研讨会就“Cellular Machinery&Architecture”“Protein Machinery&Mechnosensation”“Cell Plasticity&4D Signaling Dynamics”“Molecular Dynamics&Cell Fate Control”“Organelle Dynamics&Chemical Biology”“RNA Code&Cell Fate Decision”以及“Modeling Development&Disease Mechanisms”等前沿研究方向展开讨论与交流。 查看详细>>

A team of international researchers led by The University of Hong Kong(HKU)and The University of Science and Technology(HKUST)has made asignificant discovery in the field of quantum materials,uncovering the controllable nonlinear Hall effect in twisted bilayer graphene.The findings,published as an Editors‘Suggestion article in the prestigious physics journal Physical Review Letters,shed new light on the unique properties of two-dimensional quantum moirématerials and hold promise for awide range of applications in industries such as new materials and quantum information to achieve terahertz detection with ultra-high sensitivity at room temperature.The team,composed of PhD student Xu ZHANG and his advisor Dr Zi Yang MENG from the Department of Physics at HKU;Professor Ning WANG from the Department of Physics at HKUST and his postdoctoral researchers Meizhen HUANG and Zefei WU(currently an Associate Researcher at the University of Manchester);as well as Professor Kai SUN from The University of Michigan,conducted in-depth research using acombination of theory,computation,and experiments.They discovered that by adjusting the dispersion of the topological flat bands in twisted bilayer graphene,the Berry curvature dipole moments,which play acrucial role in the Hall effect(details can be found in the Supplementary Note),can be easily controlled and manipulated.Using avertically applied electric field,the researchers found the dispersion of the flat bands in twisted graphene can be easily tuned and observed aclear nonlinear voltage response in the longitudinal direction when atransverse driving current was applied.The response varied significantly with the adjustment of the applied field,strain and twist angles,exhibiting increases,decreases,and changes in direction.These experimental observations confirmed the sensitivity of the nonlinear transport behaviour to the sliding of the Berry curvature hotspots in the topological flat bands,perfectly explained by their theoretical calculations(details can be found in the Supplementary Note).The researchers also investigated the role of the moirépotential and twist angle in the controllable nonlinear Hall effect of twisted bilayer graphene.They found that the strength of the moirépotential played acrucial role in determining the magnitude of the observed nonlinear response.By varying the twist angle between the layers of graphene,the researchers were able to manipulate the moirépotential and consequently control the nonlinear transport behaviour.The controllable nonlinear Hall effect demonstrated in twisted bilayer graphene holds great potential for the realisation of quantum Hall materials and nonlinear Hall effects in new experimental platforms.Unlike traditional electronic devices,the nonlinear Hall effect in graphene,driven by low-frequency currents,does not have voltage threshold or transition time limitations.This opens up possibilities for applications in frequency multiplication and rectification using low-frequency currents,especially in the terahertz frequency range with significant response and ultra-high sensitivity at room temperature(details can be found in the Supplementary Note).This discovery of the controllable nonlinear Hall effect in twisted bilayer graphene represents asignificant advancement in the field of quantum materials.It paves the way for further exploration and applications in condensed matter physics,new materials,and quantum information.This collaborative research between top institutions also underscores the importance of interdisciplinary cooperation in pushing the boundaries of scientific knowledge.This research was supported by the Area of Excellence Scheme(AoE 2D materials)and the Collaborative Research Fund(CRF many-body paradigm in quantum moirématerial research)of the Hong Kong Research Grants Council,highlighting the forward-looking perspective and support of the Hong Kong government in the research of two-dimensional quantum materials,especially quantum moirématerials such as twisted graphene.The large-scale numerical calculations conducted in this study were performed on the High-Performance Computing Platform HPC2021 at the Information Technology Services,HKU,and the‘Blackbody’supercomputer at the Department of Physics at HKU. 查看详细>>

NYU President Linda G.Mills and Korean Advanced Institute of Science and Technology(KAIST)President Kwang Hyung Lee were joined by Sung Bae Jun,president of the Institute of Information&Communications Technology Planning&Evaluation,and Joon Hee Joh,president of the Korea Software Industry Association in signing an agreement to collaborate on amajor Artificial Intelligence(AI)and digital technologies research effort.Senior public officials—including the President of the Republic of Korea,Yoon Suk Yeol;Korea’s Minister of Science and Information and Communications Technology Jong-Ho Lee;the Director of the US National Science Foundation Sethuraman Panchanathan;NYC Deputy Mayor for Housing,Economic Development,and Workforce Maria Torres-Springer—and Turing Prize-winning AI scientist and NYU faculty member Yann LeCun convened at NYU’s Greenwich Village campus to mark the new partnership and launch a“Digital Vision Forum”with leading thinkers on AI and digital governance from around the world.Senator Charles Schumer participated in the proceedings via video.The event also importantly marked the anniversary of the first Digital Vision Forum,which was held precisely ayear ago at NYU to initiate the partnership between NYU,the Republic of Korea,and KAIST,an event that also featured remarks by President Yoon.Today’s historic event positions NYU,New York City,and Korea at the forefront of the global science and tech ecosystem of the future.NYU President Mills said,“We are honored to bring together leaders in government,academia,and industry to commemorate avital and historic partnership that will propel scholarship and advancements in technology.We are thrilled by this partnership,which exemplifies both NYU’s commitment to global learning and research as well as our role in fueling the growth of New York City’s tech,science,and innovation sector.”Senator Schumer said,“I want to commend President Yoon and my friend,NYU President Linda Mills,on today’s announcement of ahistoric joint research program between NYU and the South Korean government.The partnership is apartnership made in heaven:NYU,one of the nation’s leading research institutions,and South Korea,one of America’s strongest allies and partners,and also aleader in research and science,collaborating on one of the most important issues of our time,artificial intelligence.”NSF Director Panchanathan said,“As our two presidents affirmed at the State Visit in April,the U.S.and the Republic of Korea have atruly global alliance that champions democratic principles,enriches economic cooperation,and empowers technological advances.NSF shares in President Yoon‘s conviction that human values are important in the development of new technology.Values including openness and transparency,and the creation of AI tools that are responsible and ethical,without bias,and protect the security and privacy of our people.”The research effort—the ROK Institutions-NYU AI and Digital Partnership—aims to conduct world-class research in AI and digital technologies.The partnership is expected to be headquartered at NYU. 查看详细>>

The National Institutes of Health(NIH)is channeling$50.3 million over the next five years into anew consortium dedicated to advancing the generation and analysis of multi-omics data for human health research.As part of this team,Washington University in St.Louis is establishing and will lead acentral production center that functions as ahub for multi-omics analyses for materials from consortium members at each of six disease study sites identified by the NIH.Gary Patti,the Michael and Tana Powell Professor of Chemistry in Arts&Sciences and aprofessor of medicine and of genetics at the School of Medicine,and Ting Wang,head of the Department of Genetics at the School of Medicine and the Sanford C.and Karen P.Loewentheil Distinguished Professor of Medicine,are principal investigators with the new consortium.Patti,who recently founded amulti-omics company called Panome Bio,is an innovator in multi-omics research,and Wang is involved in multiple other NIH consortia,such as the Human Pangenome Reference Consortium.Collaborators will take advantage of cutting-edge resources at Washington University,such as the Center for Proteomics,Metabolomics,and Isotope Tracing on the Danforth Campus.The university estimates the value of its portion of the new grant at$19.2 million.“Most human diseases have complex origins that are influenced by acombination of genetic and environmental components such as diet,physical activity,exposure to pollutants and social determinants,”Patti said.“We are working to understand how disease develops in aperson by studying the flow of molecular information at multiple levels of‘omics’in parallel.“This consortium model eliminates one important barrier to progress by making it easier to collect multi-omics data from the same sets of samples and developing collaborative teams with the appropriate expertise to harmonize and integrate the results,”he said.A more holistic view Multi-omics incorporates several“omics”data types,including genomics,epigenomics,transcriptomics,proteomics and metabolomics.Each of these data types reveals distinct information about different aspects of abiological system,and leveraging all these data types at once is becoming increasingly possible with advances in high-throughput technologies and data science.The integration of multiple types of data from an individual participant’s biological sample can provide amore holistic view of the molecular factors and cellular processes involved in human health and disease,including untangling genetic and non-genetic factors in health and disease.This approach offers great promise in areas such as defining disease subtypes,identifying biomarkers and discovering drug targets.“With each additional layer of omics information comes more clues about biology,”Wang said.“I’m really excited about the work we will do in this consortium to integrate genomics,proteomics and metabolomics data.This is the future of systems biology.”“Beyond gaining insights into individual diseases,the primary goal of this consortium is to develop scalable and generalizable multi-omics research strategies as well as methods to analyze these large and complex datasets,”said Joannella Morales,a National Human Genome Research Institute(NHGRI)program director involved in leading the consortium.“We expect these strategies will ultimately be adopted by other research groups,ensuring the consortium’s work will have broad and long-lasting impacts for clinical research.”Funding for the consortium will support work at six disease study sites,which will examine conditions such as fatty liver diseases,hepatocellular carcinoma,asthma,chronic kidney disease and preeclampsia,among others.The sites will enroll research participants,at least 75%of whom will be from ancestral backgrounds underrepresented in genomics research.The sites also will collect data on participants’environments and social determinants of health to be used in conjunction with the multi-omics data.Combining the multi-omic and environmental data can offer an even more comprehensive view of the factors that contribute to disease risk and outcomes. 查看详细>>

A multi-institutional research project led by Todd Braver,a professor of psychological and brain sciences in Arts&Sciences at Washington University in St.Louis,received aMultidisciplinary University Research Initiative(MURI)award from the U.S.Department of Defense to study attention control and strategies to improve it.The project—“A computational cognitive neuroscience framework for attentional control traits and states(CCN-FACTS)”—is expected to span five years with atotal budget of about$8.8 million,of which WashU will receive up to$2.5 million.In addition to Braver,the U.S.research team includes as core members Julie Bugg and Wouter Kool from WashU’s Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences;David Badre and Michael Frank from Brown University;Mark Steyvers and Jeffrey Rouder from the University of California,Irvine;and Susanne Jaeggi and Aaron Seitz from Northeastern University.The project also features aclose collaborative partnership with aparallel team of researchers from Australia,led by Andrew Heathcote at Newcastle University.Over the next five years,the research team will develop neurocomputational models of both individual differences and state-related fluctuations in attention control due to factors such as motivation,stress and mind-wandering.They will test the models using multi-modal neuroimaging methods,including functional MRI and EEG.They will also develop novel tasks to investigate attention control in both laboratory and real-world complex environments.“A major goal of the project will be to harness the modeling and task development efforts to implement and evaluate new training strategies for enhancement of attention control,”Braver said.“Such strategies will be useful in enabling individuals to maintain high levels of focus and concentration even in high-pressure situations,such as those faced by military personnel.”The MURI program supports research in areas of critical importance to national defense and brings together researchers from multiple universities to collaborate on projects that are expected to bring significant advances in science and technology.Altogether,31 projects received$220 million in awards this year. 查看详细>>

9月2日，由上海交通大学系统生物医学研究院吴强教授牵头承担的国家重点研发计划“前沿生物技术”重点专项“基因编辑技术及衍生工具的挖掘优化与应用研究”项目启动会暨实施方案论证会在上海顺利召开。项目主要目标是深入挖掘和开发原创型基因编辑工具和新型应用场景，突破基因编辑“卡脖子”难题，由上海交大联合清华、北大、复旦、华东师大、上科大、中国水稻所和中科院深圳先研院共同完成。中国生物技术发展中心副处长田金强、专项主管张鑫，项目跟踪专家中国农科院王国英教授和扬州大学崔恒宓教授，项目顾问专家季维智院士、李劲松院士、邓子新院士、林志新教授、高彩霞研究员、刘光慧研究员、伊成器教授和李大力教授，项目财务专家刘跃华注册会计师，上海交通大学党委常委、副校长蒋兴浩，系统生物医学研究院院长韩泽广，上海交通大学财务计划处副处长周大喜，上海交通大学前沿创新研究院副主任郭金超，项目负责人、课题负责人与项目成员等40余人参加了会议。启动会开幕式由韩泽广院长主持。田金强副处长介绍了重点研发计划项目相关的管理政策和要求，强调项目牵头单位要严格执行国家重点研发计划的各项管理规定、认真落实责任、管理好各课题的实施，不仅要重视项目的科研任务和指标，还要重视财务等问题。蒋兴浩副校长代表学校对与会嘉宾致以诚挚欢迎，他表示上海交通大学作为项目牵头承担单位，将充分落实国家重点研发计划管理的相关要求，加强对项目实施的组织管理，认真履行作为项目牵头单位的法人责任，为项目的顺利实施提供全方位的支持与保障。同时也希望项目各参研单位要精诚合作、共同努力，全力保障项目按期高质量完成项目目标和考核指标。实施方案论证会由季维智院士主持。项目负责人吴强教授进行项目总体情况汇报，介绍了项目总体目标、研究内容和预期成果等，研究团队整合了国内优势研究力量，成员包括一批长期在基因编辑领域耕耘且具有国际竞争力的优秀中青年科学家，力图解决我国基因编辑领域存在的关键技术瓶颈问题。随后，五位课题负责人分别对各自课题进行了汇报，介绍了各自课题的研究内容、课题人员、预期成果以及最新研究进展。项目跟踪专家和顾问专家针对项目总体方案与进展、各课题的具体实施方案等提出了指导意见和建议，认为项目团队具有很好的基础。建议项目要加强各课题之间的联系，整合优势力量，集中力量去突破卡脖子问题，突破一批颠覆性前沿生物技术，提升我国生命科学与前沿生物技术原始创新能力。 查看详细>>

Researchers in the Department of Physics in Arts&Sciences at Washington University in St.Louis received$1.5 million from NASA to fund anew flight of XL-Calibur,a balloon-borne telescope built to examine the most extreme objects in the universe.XL-Calibur will be launched from Esrange Space Center in Sweden,north of the Arctic Circle,in May 2024.Henric Krawczynski,professor and chair of physics,is leading acollaboration of more than 50 scientists from three countries—the United States,Japan and Sweden—on the project.Krawczynski and his group at Washington University developed XL-Calibur and its successful predecessor X-Calibur to unlock the secrets of astrophysical black holes and neutron stars.The telescope last flew in 2022.The XL-Calibur instrument measures polarized X-ray light as it is lofted under ascientific balloon flown at 125,000 feet in the air.The data that it gathers can be used on its own or together with data from aspace-based polarization detector called IXPE.Krawczynski and his collaborators participate in IXPE as members of the science team.During their upcoming flight,the XL-Calibur scientists plan to study how the black hole Cygnus X-1 accretes matter and to test models of particle acceleration by pulsars and blazars.XL-Calibur scientists also seek to validate certain findings suggested by IXPE,including anew theory about the nature of the X-ray source known as Cygnus X-3,which may be aneutron star in disguise and not ablack hole.XL-Calibur scientists will be able to take aclose look at the Cygnus X-3 accretion disk and determine how matter and magnetic fields are organized in the extreme environment close to this compact object.Krawczynski is teaming up with Alex Chen and Yayie Yuan,both assistant professors of physics in Arts&Sciences;graduate students Nicole Rodriguez Cavero and Ephraim Gau;and postdoctoral fellow Kun Hu to work on anew theory to explain the recent IXPE observations of stellar mass black holes.“Most of the recent IXPE black hole observations have given us really surprising results,”said Krawczynski,who is afaculty fellow of the McDonnell Center for the Space Sciences.“We are getting the first information about the magnetization of black hole accretion disk atmospheres.” 查看详细>>

日前，由土木工程学院咸贵军教授担任项目首席科学家的国家重点研发计划“先进结构与复合材料”重点专项“海洋工程用热塑性复合材料筋材及其应用技术研究”项目启动暨实施方案论证会在北京召开。科技部高技术中心材料处项目主管吴思其出席会议。该项目由哈工大牵头，南方科技大学、东南大学、同济大学、北京科技大学等10家单位共同参与。项目将研发先进高性能热塑性纤维复合材料筋及其增强海洋工程结构的设计方法与应用技术，研究成果将推动我国先进热塑性纤维复合材料创新发展，提升海洋工程服役寿命，助力我国海洋经济发展和海洋强国战略。咸贵军教授代表项目组介绍了项目的整体实施方案，围绕项目背景与意义、目标与考核指标、研究内容与创新点、技术路线与研究方案、组织实施与经费管理等内容进行了汇报。专家组对项目实施方案进行了论证，认为该实施方案合理可行，目标明确，研究内容翔实，总体安排符合任务书要求，可实现项目预期目标，并从项目关键技术难点、创新点、成果集成与示范应用等多个角度提出了建设性意见和建议。专家组认为，该项目是海洋工程用先进复合材料领域的重要探索，希望项目团队能够围绕任务书的预期目标，以满足国家重大需求和重大工程为指引，加强科研攻关，取得一批标志性成果，助推我国海洋强国战略的实施。科工院、土木工程学院相关负责人和项目组成员参加会议。 查看详细>>

6月30日，中俄工科大学联盟首届低碳能源与可持续发展学术年会暨绿色发展学术子联盟成立大会在青岛举行。会议由中俄工科大学联盟主办，来自中俄25所高校的300余名代表参加。中俄工科大学联盟中方执行长、副校长甄良出席成立大会并致辞。甄良对中俄工科大学联盟框架内第一个学术子联盟——绿色发展学术子联盟成立表示祝贺，希望联盟高校依托学术子联盟携手共进，助力中俄绿色低碳可持续发展领域的教育交流与合作，为中俄两国生态文明建设贡献中俄工科大学联盟智慧和力量。大会审议通过了《中俄工科大学联盟绿色发展学术子联盟章程》、子联盟标识、创始成员高校名单和学术委员会成员名单。甄良与其他中俄创始成员高校代表在现场共同签署子联盟成立宣言。成立大会后，举办了以“伙伴与进步：ASRTU Green框架下的中俄工科高校”为主题的工作研讨会。国际合作部、能源科学与工程学院、威海校区相关负责人和师生代表参会。 查看详细>>