“Interdisciplinary” the theme of the 2013 JRI symposium

International Institute, July 31, 2013 — Peking University（PKU）in Beijing hosted the fourth annual symposium of the PKU-UCLA Joint Research Institute in Science and Engineering（JRI）in early July. Close to 200 faculty and students attended the event, including 18 UCLA faculty who traveled to Beijing to attend, meet with PKU colleagues, strike up new relationships and expand existing collaborations. They represented the UCLA departments of computer science, engineering, electrical engineering, environment, life sciences, neuroscience, and public health.

PKU’s President Wang and UCLA’s Chancellor Block opened the event on July 1^st, addressing welcome remarks to a full auditorium. Prof. Jason Cong, co-director of JRI, reported the progress of the institute, which sees a steady increase in the number of participating faculty members and joint research publications since its inception in 2009.  Plenary speakers, who addressed topics ranging from nanoscale technologies, to environmental sciences, to the sexuality of flies, included UCLA professors Paul Weiss（director, California NanoSystems Institute, UCLA）and Suzanne Paulson（vice chair, department of atmospheric and oceanic science, UCLA,）, together with PKU professors Yi Rao（dean, life sciences, PKU）, Tong Zhu（dean, college of environmental sciences and engineering, PKU）and Wen Gao（school of electronic engineering and computer science, PKU）.

True to established tradition, the plenary session was followed by an afternoon of presentations and discussions in four parallel tracks. This year, the topics addressed were biological communication, climate and environment, semiconductor materials and devices, and mobile computing and big data. All sessions were well attended, some with standing room only（program available here.） Faculty from all disciplines then share ideas for collaboration on the second day of the symposium when participants are brought together again.

“I’m realizing how interdisciplinary the issue of environment is today,” said PKU Professor Tong Zhu. “Just recently, computer and engineering companies have contacted my department about research. Our fields have to work together.” Prof. Zhu, who gave a plenary talk on air pollution and its health impacts, is currently participating in a PKU-UCLA Beijing pollution research group（story here）with UCLA Professor Yifang Zhu and PKU Professor Mei Zheng, PKU, both of whom also participated in the symposium.

Students also benefited from the event. “I learned a lot,” said first-year PKU Ph.D. student Chen Zhang, who is studying reconfigurable computing. “This broadened my horizons, particularly talks by Professor Wei Wang（UCLA）and Kaigui Bian（PKU）. We discussed a lot.” A total of 11 UCLA students were also in attendance, fresh from their cross-Pacific journey to participate in the ten-week JRI UCLA Summer Research Exchange at PKU. Joonhee Kim, a third-year UCLA life sciences major, chose the semiconductor materials and devices track in the afternoon. “Although I could not fully understand the complexity [of the discussion], I was exposed to Perse topics. . . . I was amazed by the idea of a joint institute between UCLA and PKU — a collaborative effort to research and learn more about global and international issues. At PKU, I saw how focused professors and students were about academics and felt inspired to remain interested in research.”

Noted Suzanne Paulson, “The symposium also had some surprising outcomes. Because of the interdisciplinary nature of the group, I met several UCLA colleagues I didn’t know already, and observed that the Chinese delegation did the same. This will likely result in new collaborations and synergies within each institution, among researchers from very different fields who otherwise might not ever have met. I personally observed two such nascent collaborations myself, and I am sure there were more.”

“PKU has attracted a number of ‘stars’ in neuroscience, beyond its existing top talent,” commented Anne Andrews（department of psychiatry and biobehavioral sciences, UCLA）. “Since neuroscience is also a strength at UCLA, this enables many exciting opportunities for collaboration between PKU and UCLA."

If the past is any indication, the introductions and ideas for collaboration from this symposium will now percolate on both sides of the Pacific and eventually lead to more joint PKU-UCLA projects and publications.

 

12 intrepid UCLA students X 10 weeks at PKU
Learning takes place in labs and Beijing

LAPD（Luciferase Assisted Proteome Detection）Platform for Plant Systems Biology

Beyond the research, I learned so much about the world and myself through the program. I'd like to thank everyone who made China a place that I'll miss for many years to come. Hopefully not too many...

-Benjamin Lee, '14

Growth and Development in Children with Picky Eating Behavior：a cross-sectional study

It helped me develop research skills and see from a global perspective. It gave me the opportunity to travel abroad for the first time and meet and work with so many great people.

-Eva Lee, '13

Characterization of Alpha Ganglion Cell Distribution in the Cat Retina using RNA-Binding Protein with Multiple Splicing Antibody

Everything was great!  I loved my lab… Overall I learned so much about Chinese history and culture that I couldn't have learned by watching TV or reading a book.

-Jessica Liu, '14

HUA ENHANCER2 is Important for the Growth and Development of Arabidopsis Independent of Post-transcriptional Gene Silencing

I made Chinese friends, met great mentor, traveled to amazing historical sites, and learned about Chinese culture. 

-Joonhee Kim, '14

The Prevalence and Risk Factors of Depression among the Elderly in Beijing - Based on a 2010 Survey

I gained a whole new perspective of Computer Science, and learned a lot about my topic. It was also a very interesting experience working in a Chinese lab. Not only have I made amazing friends, I also met future collaborators.

-Karen Chaw, '14

How can Representation Learning Deal with the Problem of Nuisance Variability in Computer Vision?

I'm happy for my choice to work here this summer. I improved the results of my UCLA PhD project and worked in 2 new projects as well. It seems my research in PKU will lead to at least one publication.

-Nikolaos Karianakis, PhD candidate

Potential Role of MG53 in Aging

One of the most important themes I discovered was the value of collaborating, especially with people from different backgrounds.

-Scarlett Chen, '15

Effects of Glutamate and Substance P on DREAM and Prodynorphin Expression Levels in Astrocytes and Neurons

-Taryn McLaughlin, '13

The Oxidative Stress Biomarkers in Normal and TMD Patients

-Vivian Tran, '13

Characterization of DREAM in Astrocytes and Neurons in Response to Pain Modulators, Bradykinin and Glutamate

I love this program! I did a lot that I've never experienced before... I really gained a lot from it --- friendship, cultural experience and academic enrichment.

-Wai Yin Michelle Wong, '14

Accelerating the Reservoir Simulator using Circuit Simulation Techniques

We learn a lot from each other on the way of thinking and dealing with problems.  So I think the most important knowledge I gained is how to collaborate and discover common research interests with people in different research area.

-Wei Wu, PhD candidate

Kinematic and Dynamic Simulation of Interceptive Behaviors

-Xiaolong Jiang, PhD candidate