10th National Science and Technology Workers' Day: STU Faculty Showcase Research Achievements

May 30 marks the 10th National Science and Technology Workers’ Day. Shantou University’s official WeChat account published a feature highlighting representative achievements from multiple colleges and research platforms, as well as faculty and students recognized as advanced collectives and individuals in Shantou’s S&T innovation work.

Medical College: High-Level Publications and Provincial Awards

At the Medical College, a research team led by Professor Yu Honghua from the Shantou International Eye Center, in collaboration with South China University of Technology, the National University of Singapore Eye Center, and other international partners, published findings on the “Reti-Pioneer” fundus imaging AI system in the top medical journal Nature Medicine. The system constructs a multi-disease screening AI framework based on fundus photographs, enabling simultaneous screening for six common endocrine and metabolic diseases including type 2 diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, gout, osteoporosis, and thyroid diseases. The team completed prospective silent trials and real-world clinical pilots.

Additionally, the project “ECG AI Remote Diagnosis Series Technology Innovation and Clinical Application,” led by Professor Tan Xuerui and Professor Chen Yequn from the First Affiliated Hospital’s Cardiovascular Hospital, won the second prize of the Guangdong Provincial Science and Technology Progress Award — the only such provincial-level award led by an institution in eastern Guangdong this year.

Faculty of Science: Steady Growth in Research Indicators

The Faculty of Science has seen steady growth in research metrics over the past three years. In terms of funded projects, a total of 115 vertical projects were approved with total funding of 45.688 million yuan, including 36 national-level projects. Industry-funded projects totaled 74 with funding of 29.581 million yuan. In intellectual property, 10 patent transfers were completed totaling 2.46 million yuan. Academic output included 343 SCI papers, 2 CNS sub-journal papers, and 11 Nature Index high-level papers.

Faculty of Engineering: Challenge Cup Awards and Science Outreach

The Faculty of Engineering had 141 research projects approved in 2025 with total funding of 22.34 million yuan, including 8 National Natural Science Foundation projects. Faculty published nearly 300 journal papers, with nearly 200 in SCI-indexed journals. The discipline of Engineering maintained its position in the ESI global top 1%, improving to 0.21%.

In innovation, the project “Smart Navigation Clusters — Multimodal Cooperative Transportation System for Unmanned Ships in Complex Inland Waterway Scenarios” won a national second prize at the 19th Challenge Cup “Open Challenge” competition. In science outreach, the Faculty organized a “Smart Huijie Xi, Create and Share the Future” science carnival at Jiexi County No.1 Middle School with 12 themed booths, attracting over 1,000 secondary school students.

School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering: Science Paper and Mobile Science Lab

The School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering achieved systematic breakthroughs in MOF carbon capture materials and fullerene coordination materials. Professor Wu Qinghe, as co-corresponding author, published a paper in Science, making advances in organic optoelectronic functional materials and organic photovoltaics. The school also created a “Mobile Science Lab” brand activity, transforming cutting-edge research into hands-on science experiments for primary and secondary school students in underserved areas.

School of Mathematics and Computer Science: National Key R&D Program Launched

A National Key R&D Program project “Development of Novel Non-Invasive Brain-Computer Interface Equipment Driven by Coupled Functions,” led by University President Professor Hao Zhifeng, has been launched. The project addresses the development needs of non-invasive brain-computer interface equipment, exploring safe, convenient, and intelligent new technical pathways by integrating multimodal sources including EEG, near-infrared spectroscopy, and ultrasound to build equipment supporting brain function assessment, rehabilitation training, and neuromodulation applications.

Shantou S&T Innovation Advanced Collectives and Individuals

Recently, the Shantou Science and Technology Bureau announced the list of advanced collectives and individuals in S&T innovation. Multiple STU collectives were recognized, including the Key Laboratory of Intelligent Manufacturing Technology (Ministry of Education) and the Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Marine Biotechnology. Advanced individuals included Professor Wu Qinghe (Chemistry), Professor Li Yun (Mental Health Center), Professor Tang Shijie (Second Affiliated Hospital), Professor Zhang Mingzhi (International Eye Center), and Professor Chen Yequn (First Affiliated Hospital).

Source: WeChat Official Account of Shantou University