Congratulations on the Opening Ceremony of the 40th Anniversary Commemorative Exhibition of the Founding of Grey System Theory 

(Read out at the opening ceremony by Professor Zhou Su)

28^th November, 2022

Professor Sifeng Liu

Institute for Grey Systems studies

Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics

On the occasion of the grand opening of the "40th Anniversary Exhibition of the Founding of Grey System Theory" held by Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics, I would like to express my warm congratulations to the grey system research team of Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics on behalf of the International Association of Grey Systems and Uncertainty Analysis, express my sincere gratitude to the leaders and guests present, and to the experts who have been engaged in the research of grey system theory for a long time. I would like to express my sincere respect for the fruitful work of scholars!

Since the advent of the grey system theory in 1982, the grey system theory has developed rapidly. A Chinese original theory has successfully stepped onto the international academic stage and has had a major international impact.

In 2007, the IEEE Grey System Technical Committee was formally established. In 2012, the first meeting of the European Grey System Research Cooperation Network was held at De Montfort  University, UK. In 2015, scholars from China, the United Kingdom, the United States, Canada, Spain, Romania and other countries jointly initiated the establishment of the International Association of Grey Systems and Uncertainty Analysis (GSUA). In recent years, scholars from Poland, Pakistan, Turkey and other countries have initiated the establishment of branches of GSUA in their countries. Two international journals edited by Institute for Grey Systems Studies, NUAA and co-edited by scholars from all over the world have become top journals in this field. The series of international conferences of IEEE GSIS and GSUA which organized and hosted by Institute for Grey Systems Studies, NUAA and other Institutions have become influential brand conferences. According to the general recognition of the international academic community, the international academic journals edited by an academic institution, the hosted international academic conferences and affiliated international academic organizations are important symbols of its international academic influence. This is probably the reason why Academician Jinpeng Huai, then Secretary of the Party Group and Executive Vice Chairman of the China Association for Science and Technology, wrote a special letter to Professor Sifeng Liu in December 2018, highly appreciating the important contribution to international cooperation made by him and Institute for Grey Systems Studies, NUAA.

My cooperation with Professor Sifeng Liu of Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics started in 2004 and has lasted for 18 years. We have jointly undertaken and completed a number of projects funded by Marie Curie International Incoming Fellowship of the European Union, the National Natural Science Foundation and the Royal Society of Britain, and the Leverhulme Trust, etc. According to the project plan, we visited dozens of universities in the United Kingdom, Spain, Romania, Poland, Canada and China to disseminate and exchange the research results of grey system theory. In recent years, we have jointly published four works and more than 40 papers, and co-edited the English version of "Grey System Series" (published by Springer-Nature Group); We have jointly guided a number of master's and doctoral students. In the past 18 years, dozens of teachers and students of Institute for Grey Systems Studies, NUAA have visited De Montfort University, UK. My colleagues and students and myself have also visited and communicated in Nanjing many times. We have also jointly facilitated a number of cooperation and exchange projects between China, the European Union and the British government. These projects have played a positive role in the dissemination and development of grey system theory.

Congratulations on the complete success of the commemorative exhibition. We also hope that Nanjing University of Aeronautics and Astronautics and De Montfort University will continue to strengthen exchanges and cooperation, and that all colleagues engaged in the research of grey system theory will continue to work tirelessly in the field of grey system theory, search up and down, and make more new breakthroughs.

Thank you!

                                   Yingjie Yang

                      Professor of Institute of Artificial Intelligence, De Montfort University

                                                       Executive President of International Association of Grey Systems and Uncertainty Analysis (GSUA)                                 and Sponsor of the European Grey System Research Cooperation Network