Singapore Management University (SMU) and the Australian National University (ANU) have launched two new joint research projects that will apply multidisciplinary and cross-regional perspectives to tackle some of today’s most pressing geopolitical, technological and environmental challenges.
These projects mark the latest milestone in the strategic partnership between the two universities and are supported under the ANU-SMU Joint Research Grant.
Stewarded by SMU’s Yung Pung How School of Law (YPHSL) and the ANU College of Law, Governance and Policy, the two-year collaborations, running through 2027, adopt legal and regulatory lenses to address policy dilemmas confronting governments and industry.
One project, co-led by Associate Professor Liu Han-Wei, Deputy Director of the SMU Centre for Digital Law (CDL), and Associate Professor Anton Moiseienko, Research Director at ANU Law School, examines how countries are increasingly using export controls, trade sanctions, and investment restrictions as tools of economic statecraft.
Drawing on comparative insights from Asia, Oceania, and the Middle East, including contributions from Professor Lin Ching-Fu of National Tsing Hua University and Professor Georgios Dimitropoulos of Hamad Bin Khalifa University, the study aims to inform thinking on international economic governance, national security regulation and rule-making in high-technology sectors.
The second collaboration focuses on the intersection of artificial intelligence and climate governance, led by SMU YPHSL Assistant Professor Dirk Hartung and Professor Wang Heng, alongside ANU Law School academics Dr Hina Aslam and Associate Professor Emma Aisbett.
Addressing the twin challenges of measuring the environmental footprint of AI and deploying AI to manage increasingly complex environmental compliance regimes, the project combines legal analysis, empirical research and interdisciplinary methods to deliver policy-relevant frameworks for more sustainable and accountable AI governance.
Together, these projects build on more than eleven years of collaboration between SMU and ANU, reinforcing a shared commitment to research that is regionally grounded, globally relevant and designed to inform policy and practice.