(updated 2017)

The Institute of Logic and Intelligence (ILI) at Southwest University was established in May 2005 and officially designated as a Key Research Base in the Humanities and Social Sciences of Chongqing by the Chongqing Municipal People's Government in December 2006. Professor  Xiangdong He served as the founding director of ILI, and currently, Professor Meiyun Guo holds this position. ILI is dedicated to both theoretical and applied research in the fields of logic and artificial intelligence. Its research facilities include the Office for Logic and Cognition, the Office for Modern Logic and Artificial Intelligence, and the Office for Philosophical Logic and Logic Philosophy. With over 20 full-time and part-time researchers, including nationally recognized educators and scholars, ILI has been honored with titles such as National Teaching Team (2010) and Chongqing Graduate Supervisor Team (2022).

ILI traces its roots back to the Logic Research Office of the Philosophy Research Institute of Southwest Normal University, established in the early 1980s. The foundational work of the logic team, led by Professor Su Tianfu, laid the groundwork for the development of logic at the university. In 2003, ILI achieved a significant milestone when Professor He Xiangdong successfully established a doctoral program in logic, marking a breakthrough in doctoral program authorization in literature, history, and philosophy in Chongqing. Embracing its unique characteristics and strengths, ILI actively promotes interdisciplinary collaboration and has excelled in scientific research, teaching innovation, international exchange, talent development, and community engagement.

(1) Scientific Research

Members of ILI have led major research projects in philosophy and social sciences funded by the Ministry of Education (2005), major projects funded by the National Social Science Foundation (2014), key projects funded by the National Social Science Foundation (2011, 2012, 2015, 2021), and annual projects funded by the National Social Science Foundation (more than 10). Additionally, they have undertaken over 50 projects including those funded by the Ministry of Education in Humanities and Social Sciences and Chongqing Municipal Social Science Planning Project, totaling more than 6.6 million RMB in project funding. They have published over 200 high-quality research papers in prestigious domestic academic journals such as "Chinese Science," "Philosophical Research," "Philosophical Trends," "Dialectics of Nature," "Logic Research," as well as in renowned international academic journals such as "Synthese," "Artificial Intelligence," "Journal of Logic, Language and Information," and have presented at more than 200 high-quality academic conferences such as IJCAI and AAMAS. They have also published over ten academic monographs.

(2) Teaching Reform

Members of ILI have led over 10 teaching reform projects in Chongqing and nearly 20 education and teaching reform projects at Southwest University. They have edited a series of textbooks, including the MTC Key Project Textbook "Logic" (1st edition in 2017, 2nd edition in 2018, 3rd edition in 2023), the "Eleventh Five-Year Plan" national planning textbook "Introduction to New Logic" (2009), "Logic Course (3rd edition)" (2010), and the "Twelfth Five-Year Plan" national planning textbook "Discrete Mathematics (4th edition)" (2019). They have developed a series of high-quality courses, including national-level excellent courses "Logic" (2005), national-level excellent resource-sharing courses "Logic" (2016), national first-class undergraduate courses "Logic" (2023), first-class undergraduate courses in Chongqing universities "Logic" (2021), and exemplary cases of first-class undergraduate courses in Chongqing universities (2022). They have won multiple teaching awards, including second prizes of national-level teaching achievement awards (1993, 1997, 2005), first prizes of teaching achievement awards in Sichuan Province (1997), first prizes of teaching achievement awards in Chongqing Municipality (2001, 2005), second prizes of teaching achievement awards in Chongqing Municipality (2022), first prizes of teaching achievement awards at Southwest University (2021), and second prizes of teaching achievement awards at Southwest University (2020). Additionally, they have achieved outstanding results in teaching competitions, with members of ILI winning second prizes in the Chongqing Higher Education Teacher Teaching Innovation Competition (2023), first prizes in the Southwest University Teacher Teaching Innovation Competition (2022), second prizes in the Southwest University Teacher Classroom Teaching Competition (2018), and excellence awards (2020).

(3) International Exchange

ILI has always attached great importance to international exchange. Through sending team members to visit foreign universities, selecting students to pursue doctoral degrees (or joint training) at foreign universities, hosting high-level international academic conferences and international summer camps (LORI-2009, EASLLC 2012, LORI-2019, etc.), and inviting more than 40 world-renowned scholars such as Saul Kripke (USA), Johan van Benthem (Netherlands), Kiyoshi Ono (Japan), Williamson (UK), Susan Haack (USA), to lecture and visit ILI, they have built a good international academic exchange platform for scientific research and talent development. Additionally, ILI has flexibly employed Professor Jeremy Seligman from the University of Auckland, New Zealand (2009-2012), and employed Professor Thomas Ågotnes from the University of Bergen, Norway (2018-2023, National Distinguished Professor), to work at ILI for 2-3 months each year.

(4) Talent Cultivation

In undergraduate teaching, ILI is responsible for teaching logic courses in the Department of Philosophy, Department of Public Administration, Department of Sociology and Social Work, and also teaches logic courses at Southwest University Hanhong College and Marxist College. In addition, they offer general elective courses such as "Logic," "Introduction to Logic" (international credit elective course), and "Critical Thinking" for undergraduate students at Southwest University. In graduate education, since 1981, they have enrolled 214 master's students; since 2004, they have continuously enrolled 53 doctoral students and 6 postdoctoral fellows. Among them, the graduation theses of 2 doctoral students have been awarded the Outstanding Doctoral Thesis of Chongqing, and the graduation theses of 3 doctoral students have been awarded the Outstanding Doctoral Thesis of Southwest University. Graduates of ILI have broad employment prospects, with the majority becoming backbone personnel in their respective units or industries. Most master's graduates pursue doctoral degrees or work in national public security and judicial systems or large enterprises and institutions, such as Peking University, Tsinghua University, Sun Yat-sen University, Zhejiang University, the University of Auckland, the University of Bergen, the University of Western Sydney, and the University of Toulouse. Most doctoral graduates engage in scientific research and education in well-known domestic universities, such as Sun Yat-sen University, Chongqing University, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Heilongjiang University, Yanshan University, Southwest University, Sichuan International Studies University, Chongqing Normal University, Northwest University of Political Science and Law, East China University of Political Science and Law, Jiangsu Normal University, Henan Polytechnic University, Guangxi University of Science and Technology, Southwest University of Political Science and Law, Henan Normal University, Qufu Normal University, Henan University of Economics and Law, Guizhou Minzu University, Guizhou Medical University, and Chongqing Medical University.

(5) Social Services

As the vice chairman unit of the Chinese Society of Logic and the chairman unit of the Chongqin Society of Logic, ILI vigorously promotes the popularization of logical knowledge and social services under the leadership of the Chinese Society of Logic and the Chongqing Municipal Federation of Social Sciences. For example, in cooperation with units such as the Intelligence and Logic Laboratory of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, they jointly organize the journal "Logic, Intelligence and Philosophy" (sponsored by the Chinese Society of Logic). They were invited by the "Chongqing University Alliance" to offer the course "Modern Logic and Critical Thinking" to graduate students at Chongqing University (since 2012, with enrollment of over a thousand students). They have undertaken training for young logic teachers nationwide organized by the National University Teacher Network Training Center of the Ministry of Education (2014, 2018), and have offered dozens of popular lectures on logic knowledge to students and the public at Southwest University affiliated middle school and various sectors of society.

ILI at Southwest University has achieved a series of remarkable results, providing a high-level platform for promoting scientific research and discipline construction, advancing quality education, and improving the quality of talent cultivation. In terms of overall research capacity and academic level, ILI has been widely recognized by domestic and international counterparts and has become one of the main bases for logic education and research in China.

(Information data as of April 2023)