Prof. YANG Hongxia, Executive Director of the PolyU Academy for Artificial Intelligence, Associate Dean (Global Engagement) of the Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, and Professor of the Department of Computing
Prof. YANG Hongxia, Executive Director of the PolyU Academy for Artificial Intelligence, Associate Dean (Global Engagement) of the Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, and Professor of the Department of Computing, has received funding from the Theme-based Research Scheme 2025/26 under the Research Grants Councilfor her pioneering project, “Collaborative Generative AI (Co-GenAI)”.
Professor Wing-tak Wong, Deputy President and Provost of PolyU, remarked, “We are delighted that our scholars have received this significant recognition and support. This visionary project highlights PolyU’s strategic commitment to advancing cutting-edge AI research, with a strong emphasis on inclusivity and sustainability. The establishment of the PolyU Academy of Artificial Intelligence will further enhance interdisciplinary collaboration and open up new frontiers in AI applications.”
The project has been awarded a total of HK62.6 million in funding, with HK41.79 million provided by the RGC and the remaining matched by PolyU and other participating universities. This initiative is aimed at reshaping the landscape of GenAI in a decentralised way. The research holds significant potential to strengthen Hong Kong’s position as a global leader in GenAI development, with real-world applications in healthcare and technology.
Led by Prof. YANG, the Co-GenAI project seeks to establish a novel collaborative paradigm in Generative AI. By integrating several hundred domain-specific models, the team aims to develop a foundation model capable of achieving artificial general intelligence (AGI) with significantly reduced reliance on centralised computational resources. This innovative approach addresses the current limitations posed by GPU monopolies, paving the way for more inclusive and accessible AI development.
Co-GenAI is designed to foster cross-domain collaboration and enhance the versatility of GenAI platforms. Key objectives include building a domain-adaptive continual pre-training infrastructure, developing a robust and generalisable model ranking methodology, and implementing an advanced model with a fusion approach to merge heterogeneous top-ranked domain-specific models.
To evaluate the Co-GenAI, the research team will collaborate with industry partners such as Cyberport, Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, Alibaba, and leading hospitals, including Huashan Hospital affiliated to Fudan University, Shandong Cancer Hospital, and Sun Yat-sen University Cancer Center, by deploying the technology across a wide range of practical applications.
The RGC’s Theme-based Research Scheme aims to pool the research strengths of UGC-funded universities to address topics of strategic importance for Hong Kong’s long-term development. Projects are evaluated based on their potential to achieve world-leading standards and impact on Hong Kong.
| Achievement | Department of Computing |
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