Nature Inspired Computation and its Applications (NICaiA)
The EU-funded NICAIA (Nature inspired computation and its applications) project was a researcher exchange venture among seven Chinese and European universities. The study area concerned the interdisciplinary field of computational capacities of natural systems, nature inspired computing, and applications for information technology. The initiative's research outcomes were disseminated via over 100 peer-reviewed conference or journal papers. The project achieved knowledge transfer through project-hosted seminars and a total of 13 workshops, which were open to external participants. In line with targets, NICAIA organised a total of 444 person-months of researcher secondments in both directions. The exchanges focused primarily on early-stage researchers. The secondments also strengthened relationships between research organisations, fostering ongoing collaboration between China and the EU. Several Europeans took up research positions at Chinese institutions. Further such outcomes include agreements for additional cooperative research, receipt of a Chinese government grant and establishment of a joint research centre in China. NICAIA fostered researcher exchanges between China and the EU, promoting collaboration and thus leading to improved research quality. Such advancements may offer commercial possibilities.
Keywords
Computing, researcher exchange, applications, nature inspired computation
