College of Artificial Intelligence at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics. [Photo/en.nuaa.edu.cn]
The College of Artificial Intelligence at Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics (NUAA) traces its academic roots to the "Computing Devices" program founded in 1958. In 1981, NUAA's Computer Application was listed among the first batch of national master's degree-granting programs and began enrolling academic master's students specializing in artificial intelligence in the 1990s.
In July 2018, NUAA established the College of Artificial Intelligence, which operates under a unified administrative framework akin to that of the College of Computer Science and Technology. The college officially started operating independently in June 2024 and was recognized as a provincial-level Artificial Intelligence college in March 2025.
The college consists of two departments: the Department of Intelligent Science and Technology and the Department of Intelligent Cross-disciplinary Applications. Aligned with NUAA's strengths in aviation, aerospace, and civil aviation, the college explores the "AI+X" and "X+AI" interdisciplinary development models, integrating AI with a diverse array of disciplines.
The college has undertaken an array of major projects including key projects of the National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Key Research and Development Program projects and Jiangsu Province Key Research and Development Program projects.
It has achieved domestically leading and internationally influential breakthroughs in machine learning, brain-computer intelligence, and AI for Science. It has published over 100 papers in IEEE Transactions journals and over 50 in the China Computer Federation Category A top AI conferences.
The college has established the Ministry of Education (MOE) Key Laboratory of Brain-Computer Intelligence Technology and co-established multiple key laboratories with other colleges, including:
- The Ministry of Industry and Information Technology (MIIT) Key Laboratory of Pattern Analysis and Machine Intelligence with the College of Computer Science and Technology;
- The National Key Laboratory of Microwave Photonics with the College of Electronic and Information Engineering;
- The MOE Key Laboratory of Nanointelligent Materials and Devices with the College of Aerospace Engineering.
The college has forged international partnerships with top-tier universities and research institutions worldwide. It has hosted and participated in major international academic conferences and symposiums on AI, providing global platforms for information exchange among leading experts and scholars in the AI sector.
