Professor Ferrante Neri is Dean of the Faculty of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (FLASS) and Chair Professor of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence at The Education University of Hong Kong (EdUHK).

Prior to joining EdUHK, Professor Neri was Professor of Machine Learning and Artificial Intelligence at the University of Surrey, United Kingdom, where he also served as Associate Dean (International) at the Faculty of Engineering and Physical Sciences. In this role, he led the faculty’s internationalisation strategy, overseeing the development of transnational education initiatives, strategic partnerships, and global academic collaborations across Europe and Asia. Earlier in his career, he held academic positions at the University of Nottingham and De Montfort University in the United Kingdom, and the University of Jyväskylä in Finland, contributing to research and teaching in machine learning and computational intelligence.

Professor Neri’s research lies in machine learning and artificial intelligence, with a particular focus on neural architecture search, evolutionary computation, and optimisation. His work centres on the design of efficient and scalable learning systems, including surrogate-assisted methods and training-efficient approaches to deep learning. He has published extensively in leading international venues and has made sustained contributions to the fields of computational intelligence and automated machine learning. He also serves in editorial and associate editorial roles for major journals in the area, reflecting his standing within the international research community.

Professor Neri has established extensive international collaborations, particularly with institutions in the Chinese Mainland, where he has been active for over a decade. He has held distinguished academic appointments, including a Jiangsu Distinguished Professorship, and has received senior-level academic recognition within the Chinese higher education system. He has developed long-standing research partnerships leading to joint publications and sustained academic exchange. His international engagement spans Europe and Asia, reflecting a consistent commitment to global collaboration.

In his academic leadership roles, Professor Neri has contributed to the strategic development of research and education portfolios through the design of scalable academic structures and interdisciplinary initiatives. His work has focused on strengthening the integration between research and teaching, particularly in data science and artificial intelligence, and on supporting institutional growth through the development of new programmes and cross-border academic initiatives in diverse regulatory environments, including applications in business and financial technologies.

At EdUHK, Professor Neri’s work centres on advancing artificial intelligence and data science across a broad range of disciplines at FLASS, and on supporting their meaningful application in education and society. He fosters interdisciplinary collaboration, strengthens research capacity, and contributes to the development of innovative programmes, while supporting wider university initiatives that extend the impact of AI across institutional boundaries.