College of Al,Tsinghua University
2024
The establishment of the College of AI
The College of AI at Tsinghua University was established in April 2024.. The English name is “College of AI, Tsinghua University” and the English abbreviation is “CollegeAI”. Led by Professor Andrew Chi-Chih YAO, a recipient of the Turing Award, the highest honor in computer science, and an academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, the College of AI is committed to cutting-edge innovation research in AI and the cultivation of top talents. The goal is to achieve major innovative breakthroughs in the core foundations, underlying architecture and future computing models of AI, and to build a world-class base for gathering and training top-notch AI talents.
Based on the national strategic layout and relying on Tsinghua University's solid foundation in discipline construction and its comprehensive disciplinary advantages, the College of AI will focus on basic frontier breakthroughs and cross-disciplinary empowerment. It will concentrate on two major frontier directions: “AI core” and “AI+”. AI core covers new theories and efficient algorithms, embodied intelligence and multi-modal perception, underlying architecture platforms, scientific intelligence and cross-disciplinary applications, and future computing models (optoelectronic, quantum, etc.). “AI+” focuses on the driving force of AI in other disciplines, covering AI security governance, public health and medicine, intelligent vehicles and manufacturing, energy and environment, etc.
College of AI will establish good collaborative relationships with other departments within the university and with other universities in areas such as scientific research, talent recruitment, and student training. It will systematically build an ""AI+"" ecosystem and promote innovation and integration across disciplines by jointly organizing international forums, conferences, salons, and other activities. In addition, by creating vertical field cooperation platforms, CollegeAI will not only meet the major innovation needs of Beijing and the nation but also enhance students' industry capabilities and promote the transformation of research results. College of AI is expected to make Tsinghua University become one of the most internationally influential centers in the field of AI
In terms of scientific research development, the college has established a comprehensive disciplinary framework covering core AI theories, efficient algorithms, embodied intelligence, multimodal perception, underlying architecture platforms, and scientific intelligence along with interdisciplinary future computing models. It has also set up an "AI+" Committee to promote deep integration of AI with vertical domains such as healthcare, precision medicine, security governance, and autonomous driving. Regarding talent cultivation, the college implements a rotation mentorship system, allowing students to explore their research interests by rotating among different research groups before gradually determining their research direction.
In the future, the college will continue to deepen its research in areas such as modeling complex real-world environments, AI safety theory, autonomous intelligent systems, foundational large model development, and embodied intelligent collaborative systems. It will promote innovation and application of AI technologies, providing strong support for China’s goal of achieving self-reliance and strength in high-level science and technology.
