In the fields of big data and artificial intelligence, which are leading the Fourth Industrial Revolution, the importance of algorithms and optimization theory has been increasing. With the objective of leading this field, on October 23rd at Tianjin University in China, the SKKU Applied Algebra and Optimization Research Center (AORC) held a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing ceremony with the Center for Combinatorics at Nankai University and the Center for Applied Mathematics at Tianjin University.

With the growing importance of combinatorics and graph theory in algorithms and optimization theory, Prof. Gi Sang CHEON, Director of SKKU's AORC and a professor in the SKKU Department of Mathematics, and Prof. William Y. CHEN, Director of the two research centers in China, intend to foster the development of joint research areas in combinatorics and graph theory through this academic exchange agreement.

Nankai University was founded in 1919 in Tianjin as the first private university in China. After it became a public university, it became famous for producing the first Premier of China, Zhou Enlai, and the world-renowned mathematician Shiing-Shen CHERN. The Center for Combinatorics at Nankai University, established by Prof. W. Y. CHEN in 1997 with the support of the city of Tianjin, has consistently received government support and grown to become a global research center. Currently, 12 full-time faculty members, along with many visiting researchers and graduate students, are actively conducting research at the center. In particular, the journal 'Annals of Combinatorics,' which was founded at the same time when the center was established, is now the leading SCI journal in the field of combinatorics.

The Center for Applied Mathematics at  Tianjin University was founded in 2012 according to the proposal of Prof. S.-S. CHERN and with the support of the Tianjin City Government. Prof. W. Y. CHEN has been the Director since the center was established. There are 50 full-time faculty members at the center who are actively conducting research in applied fields of mathematics, and more than 50 additional faculty members are expected to be recruited within the next few years. The center's goal is to become a world-class applied mathematics research institute and facilitate the application of mathematics to scientific and practical problems.