[Malaysia] Visit of the CNRS ASEAN Office in Malaysia

CNRS Office in ASEAN visiting the malaysian partners of the project IFM NatProLab. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 26/02/2024 Credits: Project IFM NatProLab.

The CNRS Office in ASEAN also visited the malaysian partners of the international project IFM NatProLab in University Malaya, Prof. Khalijah Awang and her team, to discuss the future of this long-lasting collaboration.

Finally, the CNRS ASEAN Office met the scientific attache of the French Embassy in Malaysia.

[Singapore] Visit of CNRS Physics in Singapore

CNRS in ASEAN 2023 – Booklet

[Vietnam] Visit of Antoine Petit, Chairman and CEO of CNRS, in Vietnam

40 years of cooperation between VAST and CNRS. Credits: CNRS.

[Singapore & Thailand] Visit of Antoine Petit, CEO of CNRS, in Singapore and Bangkok

CNRS confirms and expands its presence in ASEAN

A recognized stakeholder and a dynamic local subsidiary

This event gave Antoine Petit the opportunity to exchange views with a number of strategic contacts, including Ms Minh-di Tang, French Ambassador to Singapore. He also held in-depth discussions with Mr. Heng Swee Keat, Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore and Chairman of the National Research Foundation of Singapore (NRF). During their meeting, they discussed scientific strategy and planning, cooperation with industry, innovation, attracting young people to science, and science diplomacy. They also discussed the bridges to be built and the direction to be taken for relations between Singapore and the CNRS.
CNRS was the first research organization to join the CREATE international research hub in 2019, through the creation of CNRS@CREATE – the very first CNRS subsidiary abroad. With 8 research projects to its credit (lasting from 18 months to 5 years), this subsidiary is now a partner of choice for Singapore.

Mr Heng Swee Keat, Deputy Prime Minister of Singapore and Chairman of the National Research Foundation Singapore (NRF) discussing with Prof. Antoine Petit, CEO of CNRS. Credits: CNRS@CREATE.

The DesCartes program, and the ambition to develop “frugal” AI

The following morning, taking advantage of the momentum created by this symposium, CNRS@CREATE organized an event dedicated to its flagship program, and one of CNRS’s biggest collaborative projects to date: the DesCartes program.
This 5-year research program is dedicated to decision-making in “urban critical systems”, one of the many research challenges linked to the “smart city”. Combining AI and physics to form a “hybrid AI” that is more frugal, less data-hungry and therefore less energy-hungry, it fits in perfectly with the theme of the previous day’s Symposium, where it had already been presented.

After an introduction by Ambassador Minh-di Tang, followed by several scientific presentations including a new presentation of the “DesCartes Augmented Marina Bay Twin” demo, Antoine Petit was invited to take part in a panel discussion on the future and prospects of AI in smart cities.
In the company of Luke Ong (Chief Scientist of AISG) and Raju C. Chellam (Editor-in-Chief of the AI Ethics & Governance Body of Knowledge), this panel was moderated by Steven Miller (Vice-Provost of Singapore Management University) and provided an opportunity for the panelists to discuss recent research in the field that they felt held promise, as well as to share their ideas about developments in artificial intelligence that could be applied to and enhance tomorrow’s smart cities.

Finally, this last day in Singapore was also an opportunity to exchange views with local CNRS researchers. So, after attending the renewal of the CINTRA International research laboratory (nanotechnology), Antoine Petit and the delegation were able to meet the teams of the various International research laboratories and International research projects based in Singapore, in addition to the CNRS@CREATE teams and researchers.

CNRS in Thailand: a stronger presence on biodiversity issues

Finally, on Wednesday July 12, the delegation travelled to Bangkok to officially launch the International research laboratory Health, Disease Ecology, Environment and Policy (HealthDEEP).

The ceremony took place at the French Embassy in Bangkok, in the presence of Ambassador Thierry Mathou and representatives of the project’s partners, Mahidol University and Kasetsart University. Serge Morand, director of the new laboratory, explained the challenges and ambitions of the project.

The research carried out in this Franco-Thai laboratory will be dedicated to the study of biodiversity and its links with human health. In order to meet the environmental and public health challenges posed by the many mutations in biodiversity in Southeast Asia, which are conducive to the emergence of zoonoses, HealthDEEP will be home to research into the diversity of infectious agents, the ecology of transmission and conservation, as well as socio-ecosystemic approaches based on the involvement of communities and local administrations.

In addition to scientific research, the new Franco-Thai laboratory is also intended to become a hub for collaborative research, training and dialogue with political decision-makers. With the creation of this international laboratory, CNRS intends to intensify its collaboration with ASEAN countries, whose members are cooperating on the One Health initiative.

Serge Morand, Director of HealthDEEP, and the various project partners after the signing ceremony at the French Embassy in Bangkok.