Prof. Fei Ma: Sustaining Influence in a Changing Publishing Landscape

Professor Fei Ma from the Department of Applied Mathematics and former Associate Vice President (Research and Impact) delivered a keynote speech titled "Sustaining Academic Influence in a Dynamic Publishing World."

"In today's competitive academic environment, producing quality research isn't enough - you must master strategic dissemination," Prof. Ma emphasized. He analyzed three major challenges: the 90% rejection rate at top-tier journals, rising open-access publication costs, and the tension between preprint platforms and traditional evaluation systems.

The professor provided practical solutions, recommending tools like Altmetric for impact tracking and social media for research visibility, while stressing the importance of maintaining academic integrity.

PhD Candidate Lok Hang Cheung: Rethinking Early-Career Research Approaches

Lok Hang Cheung (Henrik), a PhD candidate in Architecture and recipient of the Jiangsu Provincial Department of Education Scholarship's first prize, presented "Early-career Breakthroughs: Think Outside the 'Research Structure.'"

"Don't just research for publications - ask if your work creates real value," Cheung advised. He shared his personal journey of integrating AI with architectural design, which led to multiple international conference presentations and a forthcoming book chapter.

The symposium also featured a Q&A session where scholars engaged in in-depth discussions with the audience, addressing questions about academic publishing, metric interpretation, and resource utilization. This event provided researchers with a valuable platform for exchange, empowering them to achieve greater success on the international academic stage.