2025 ACIA Spring Conference
Chinese Scholars in Ireland: Research Contributions and Interdisciplinary Collaboration
爱尔兰华人学者前沿科研进展与跨学科交流
Saturday 3 May 2025
Venue: Scripture Hall, Maynooth University South Campus
Schedule
09:30-09:40 Opening of the Conference
Dr. Zhouxiang Lu, Maynooth University
09:40-12:30 Session One
09:40-10:05 Respect Spatial Heterogeneity in Research
Prof. Chaosheng Zhang, School of Geography, Archaeology and Irish Studies, University of Galway
10:05-10:30 Current Progress and Challenges in Immune Cellular Therapies
Prof. Sanbing Shen, School of Medicine, University of Galway
10:30-10:55 Utilizing microalgae for wastewater treatment and carbon sequestration
Prof Xinmin Zhan, School of Engineering, University of Galway
10:55-11:10 Tea Break
11:10-11:35 Linguistics and Language Education in the Era of Gen-AI
Dr. Yanyu Guo, Department of Asian Studies, University College Cork
11:35-12:00 Enhance Climate Adaptation and Extreme Weather Resilience of the Irish Power System
Dr. Jin Zhao, Department of Electronic & Electrical Engineering, Trinity Colleg Dublin
12:00-12:25 VR Sports Games: History and Challenges Ahead
Dr. Zhouxiang Lu, School of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures, Maynooth University
12:30-13:30 Lunch Break, The Roost, Main St, Maynooth
13:30-15:00 Session Two
13:30-14:15 Free discussion on research collaboration and funding application
14:15-15:00 Sightseeing
Speakers
Prof. Chaosheng Zhang is Professor of Geography, Vice-Dean for Research of College of Arts, Social Sciences and Celtic Studies, Director of International Network for Environment and Health (INEH) at University of Galway, and a member of Academic Council Standing Committee of the University. He teaches Geographic Information System (GIS) courses at the University and was the founding and former head of Ryan Institute GIS Centre. Prof. Zhang’s academic background covers both GIS and environmental geochemistry. His research focuses on spatial analyses of environmental variables, especially metals and nutrients in soils, using GIS, geostatistics and other spatial statistical techniques, to identify hotspots and quantify spatial variation, providing scientific bases for improved environmental management, mineral exploration, precision agriculture and human health. Prof. Zhang has published more than 200 papers in peer-reviewed journals (Google Scholar H-index: 67; SCOPUS H-index: 53).
Prof. Sanbing Shen has been appointed as Professor of Fundamental Stem Cell Biology since 2011 and led a research program on human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) at REMEDI, School of Medicine, University of Galway. Through collaboration with Irish clinicians his team has generated iPSCs from healthy controls, and around 50 patients with Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD), Fragile X Syndrome (FXS), Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Retinitis Pigmentosa (RP), and Long QT syndrome (LQTS), all of which are associated with specific genetic lesions. His latest activity involves deriving iPSCs from patients with Epilepsy, differentiating into astrocytes, neurons and cardiomyocytes, and phenotype them to establish human disease models. They have discovered that ULK4 can be a rare risk factor for neurodevelopmental and neuropsychiatric disorders. They are working on the Ulk4 hypomorph mouse model and discovered its role in neuritogenesis, neurogenesis, ciliogenesis and anxiety behaviour.
Prof. Xinmin Zhan’s research interests include (i) the development of cost-effective and efficient wastewater treatment technologies; and (ii) the recovery of organic waste and biomass for use as a sustainable and clean energy source and for building a green agriculture industry. His research has been supported by national funding agencies including Science Foundation Ireland, Department of Agriculture, Food and Marines, Sustainable Energy Authority of Ireland, Environmental Protection Agency, Enterprise Ireland, and Teagasc; international funding agencies, like European Union, Brazil’s Science without Border PhD programme, China Scholarship Council, United States Department of Agriculture, and Natural Science Foundation of China; industry, like Gas Networks Ireland. He has published over 130 peer-reviewed journal papers, and invented several technologies some of which have been licensed.
Dr Yanyu Guo is Lecturer (tenured) in Chinese Linguistics and Applied Linguistics and Director of the MA -Teaching Chinese to Speakers of Other Languages programme (MA-TCSOL) at University College Cork. She works on second and third language acquisition, Chinese linguistics, formal linguistics and Chinese language teaching. She serves as a board member on the Committee on Linguistics Theories and Language Education Research of the International Society for Chinese Language Teaching. Dr. Guo is engaged in multiple multilingualism projects, exploring the mental grammars of trilinguals in combinations such as English-Irish-Chinese, English-Korean-Chinese, and Spanish-Catalan-Chinese.
Dr. Jin Zhao is an Assistant Professor at Trinity College Dublin. Her research interests include Resilient Energy System, Electricity, Operation of Highly Renewable Energy Integrated Systems, Microgrids and Machine Learning. She is the Alexander von Humboldt Fellow of Germany. She was a Research Scientist at The University of Tennessee (UTK). She received the B.E. and Ph.D. degrees from Shandong University, Jinan, China, all in the electrical engineering, in 2015 and 2020, respectively. She is a Subject Editor of IET Generation, Transmission & Distribution, and a regular reviewer for several IEEE and Nature Portfolio journals. She is the chair of IEEE Task Force AISR and PES representative of IEEE DataPort. She was an outstanding reviewer of several IEEE Trans. journals.
Dr. Zhouxiang Lu is an Associate Professor within the School of Modern Languages, Literatures and Cultures at National University of Ireland Maynooth. He is an elected Member of the European Academy of Sciences and Arts, Fellow of the Royal Historical Society, President of the Association of China-Ireland Academics, and Adjunct Professor at University of Electronic Science and Technology of China. He also serves as Academic Editor of Asian Journal of Sport History & Culture, Associate Editor of Cogent Social Sciences, and Editorial Board Member of Sport History Review. Zhouxiang’s research interests include nationalism, national identity and cultural history, and he has published extensively in these fields. He has been listed in the Stanford/Elsevier Top 2% Scientist Rankings 2024.
Presentation by Prof. Chaosheng Zhang
Presentation by Prof. Sanbing Shen
Presentation by Prof. Xinmin Zhan
Presentaiton by Dr. Jin Zhao
Presentation by Dr. Zhouxiang Lu
About ACIA
The Ireland-China Professors and Scholars Association (ACIA) was established in Dublin in 2013. The association is composed of Chinese faculty members and researchers working at universities and research institutions in Ireland. Its purpose is to provide members with various platforms for information exchange, idea sharing, collaboration, and activities; to enhance mutual understanding and connections among members; and to foster friendship. The association actively promotes and organizes scientific and cultural exchanges and cooperation, with a particular focus on advancing talent exchange and scientific and cultural collaboration between Ireland and China. The association currently has over 100 members. The members’ academic expertise spans a wide range of fields in both natural and social sciences. Many members have significant international influence in their respective academic fields, with several holding leadership positions in international academic organizations, serving as editors and editorial board members of academic journals, and chairing international conferences.
爱中教授学者协会 