CAST's 28th annual conference unites thousands to advance scientific innovation

The 28th annual conference of the China Association for Science and Technology wrapped up a month of programming in Beijing on Friday, bringing together thousands of researchers to explore the frontiers of science and technology across disciplines.

Qu Dacheng, deputy director of CAST's Department of Scientific and Technological Innovation, said the conference adhered to a principle of letting academic societies take the lead, with scholars as the main participants and scholarship as the core mission.

More than 1,000 sessions were held, with 95 national societies mobilized alongside five national laboratories, 272 research institutions, 174 universities, 176 technology companies, and 43 academic journals, Qu added.

Wang Feiyue, a researcher at the Chinese Academy of Sciences' Institute of Automation and supervisor of the Chinese Association of Automation, chaired the academic committee for a forum on integrating perception, decision-making, and control, which he praised for "breaking single-discipline thinking".

Key forums also included one on heat-resistant lightweight structures and thermal protection for reusable space vehicles, organized by the Chinese Society for Composite Materials. The forum coincided with China's Long March 10B rocket completing the world's first sea-based net recovery of a reusable launch vehicle and connected university research teams with aerospace manufacturers, resulting in several joint research agreements.

The Chinese Society for Cognitive Science organized a forum on brain-computer interfaces and molecular imaging, proposing a research direction for cognitive brain-computer interfaces to move beyond motor-control applications toward recognizing and modulating attention, memory, and emotional states.

Zhou Xin, the society's secretary-general, said current bottlenecks in brain-computer interfaces "lie in the identification and regulation of internal brain states", calling for deeper integration across cognitive science, neuroscience, clinical medicine, and engineering to push the technology toward the next generation of human-machine interaction.

This year, more than 600 participants from young talent programs attended. CAST President Wang Guangqian met with more than 300 young scientists, urging them to contribute to China's drive for high-level scientific and technological self-reliance.

Wang Feiyue said the most impressive aspect of the conference was the active participation of young researchers. "The more young people involved, the more hope there is for the future," he said.