Started his research career in the think tank sector, Dr. Lee Chee Leong (Karl) is attracted to the rise of non-traditional diplomacy in the international order today. Such appeal has taken Dr. Lee into new research horizons that started with his Monash University's doctoral research on the Chinese sub-state diplomacy in China-ASEAN economic cooperation. With constructive supervision by Professor Helen Nesadurai and Associate Professor Kuik Cheng Chwee, Dr. Lee completed his doctoral thesis that unravels how a faraway and least developed sub-state of Guangxi managed to overcome its own hurdles, navigate the complexities within the Chinese state and become the frontline actor in China-ASEAN economic cooperation. Following his doctoral completion, Dr. Lee's research on non-traditional diplomacy has expanded into Taiwan’s quasi-state diplomacy in Southeast Asia. Such quest has led him spending at great length in comprehending the concept of soft power, a concept that finds its relevance to Taiwan, which has no official diplomatic with Southeast Asia but is heavily connected to the region and has to rely on soft power in its engagements with these Southeast Asian nations. Taking Malaysia as the first case study of Taiwan's soft power in the region, Dr. Lee is developing the third intervening variable correlating both Taiwanese soft power resources and outcomes, in his course of providing a dynamical explanation for such phenomenon. For the coming years, his research focus and publications will be on the different areas featuring Taiwan-Malaysia and Taiwan-Southeast Asia cooperation such as digital social innovation (DSI) for climate change, industry-based education/training programmes, smart cities, tourism, digital democracy, agriculture, public health and medicine, ornamental aquaculture and aquascape. To date, Dr. Lee was the recipient of several scholarships and fellowships in Malaysia and overseas: University of Malaya’s Graduate Fellowship (2010-2011); Monash University’s Merit Scholarship (2016-2019); Chinese Government Scholarship (2018-2019); and Taiwan Fellowship (2020). Prior to his appointment as Senior Lecturer at the Institute of China Studies (ICS), he was the Visiting Scholar at Guangxi University for Nationalities (GXUN) (2018-10992019), Taiwan Fellow at National Chengchi University (NCCU) (2020) and Associate Fellow at ICS UM (2016-2019).He welcomes any potential PhD candidate who would like to work on Taiwan-Southeast Asia relations, Taiwan's soft power in Southeast Asia and Taiwan-Malaysia DSI cooperation for climate change. He is also willing to discuss with potential doctoral candidates on proposals related to the Chinese sub-state (provincial) diplomacy toward ASEAN, China's soft power in ASEAN, Southeast Asian sub-state diplomacy, comparative cases of sub-state diplomacy around the world and conceptual innovation of sub-state diplomacy as well as soft power. 

I am a senior lecturer at the Department of Science and Technology Studies, Faculty of Science, Universiti Malaya. My expertise lies in climate change education, critical thinking, gamification in education, and science policy. Passionate about empowering youth through innovative pedagogy, I am now leading multiple funded projects such as Superhero Iklim, a gamified campus-wide climate action campaign, and research on enhancing students’ critical thinking skills for sustainable development.  As part of global interests in boosting Halal tourism through aritifical intelligence, I am currently leading a funded project by the Japan Foundation developing a sustainable smart halal tourism framework for South East Asia. I am also a recipient of the UN SDGs Open Pedagogy Fellowship (Asia Chapter), and serves on the National STEM Association committee. My work has been recognized with international awards for teaching innovation, and regularly contributes to public engagement programs on environmental education and sustainability.

Farhad Moradi received his BSc in Applied Physics from the University of Yazd in 2005 and his MSc in Medical Radiation Engineering from the Science and Research Branch of Azad University, Tehran, in 2011. He obtained his PhD in Physics from the University of Malaya (UM), Malaysia, in 2018, with a research focus on radiation dosimeters. He has held several postdoctoral research fellowships at institutions including the University of Malaya (Malaysia), University of Isfahan (Iran), University of Campinas (Brazil), and Multimedia University (Malaysia). Dr. Farhad Moradi is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Biomedical Imaging, Faculty of Medicine, University of Malaya and his research interests include radiation therapy, radiation dosimetry, radiation shielding, and Monte Carlo radiation transport simulations. He is also a member of Iran's National Elite Foundation.