Peking University, January 18, 2017: On January 13, 2017, PKU President Lin Jianhua met with Senior Global Vice President of Microsoft Shen Xiangyang, and held an in-depth discussion on further strategic cooperation between Peking University and Microsoft Research Asia (MSRA). Senior officials from the two institutions and relevant departments attended the forum.
During the forum, President Lin Jianhua expressed his hope that Peking University could establish deep and long-term cooperation with the world’s leading high-tech enterprises like Microsoft. To grow into a world first-class university, it is important to maintain such collaboration. With joint efforts devoted to advance creative education system, more outstanding talents would emerge, and the university could make full use of its scientific research advantages, creating greater value for social development.
Dr. Shen Xiangyang and Dr. Hong Xiaowen, vice president of MSRA and head of the Microsoft Search Technology Center, both recognized the cooperation between Peking University and Microsoft. They believed that broad and deep engagement with academic communities would help improve the quality of computer science research in China, fostering innovative talents to meet the needs of the country.
Professor John E. Hopcroft from Cornell University, Turing Award winner in 1986, was glad to meet President Lin Jianhua again. He wished that Peking University could explore the top computer talents training model and promote it to other universities. Also, he hoped that more first-rate international scholars would gather at Peking University to help enhance the teaching method and quality.
The forum ended on amicable terms. Future strategic cooperation includes joint research in artificial intelligence, big data and other fields, the establishment of a center of frontiers in computational sciences at Peking University, deepening cooperation in talent training and exchange and so on. Both sides will maintain close communication and make active efforts to facilitate the implementation of these programs.
Background info:
Microsoft Research Asia (MSRA) is Microsoft’s fundamental research arm in the Asia Pacific region, and the largest one outside the U.S. The lab conducts basic and applied research in areas central to Microsoft’s long-term strategy and future computing vision, including natural user interfaces, next-generation multimedia, data-intensive computing, search and online advertising, computer science fundamentals and other fields, pushing forward the state of computer science. The lab works closely with Microsoft products division, and has transferred a large number of technologies from the lab to Microsoft core products, including Office, Windows, Azure, Bing, Visual Studio, Xbox Kinect and Windows Phone, as well as AI products such as XiaoIce, Cortana and Skype Translator. Up to now, MSRA has supported more than 70 cooperative scientific research projects in Peking University, in which more than 80 teachers and 200 students from Peking University have participated. In addition, more than 500 undergraduate and graduate students in Beijing have taken internships at MSRA. Thanks to the guidance of outstanding researchers and Microsoft’s open environment, the students have made significant academic progress in a short time. There are also more than 40 researchers from MSRA attending innovative courses at Peking University. The two sides have jointly launched several influential academic exchange programs in the Asia-Pacific region.
Written by: You Danqian
Edited by: Xu Liangdi
