Academic & research partnerships
SUFN works with eight universities, research bodies and industry organisations. The collaborations land in four checkable forms: study programmes, co-designed products, joint research and standards drafting.
Eight institutions work with SUFN: the Academy of Arts & Design at Tsinghua University, Politecnico di Milano, the School of Art at Soochow University, Qingdao University of Technology, the School of Psychology and Cognitive Science at Peking University, the team of CAS Academician Zhang Hongjie, Beijing Friendship Hospital and the Beijing Lighting Electrical Appliances Association. Collaboration takes five forms: academic study programmes, product co-design, joint research and data, standards drafting and shared talent development.
| Institution | What is done together | What it produces |
|---|---|---|
| Tsinghua, Academy of Arts & Design | An interior light-environment study class and joint international design study | Study courses for designers and distributor management |
| Politecnico di Milano | International design study and exchange | Overseas study and a reference for design method |
| Soochow University, School of Art | Co-design of the Chunxiao lamp series with Professor Zhang Xin | The Chunxiao series, winner of the 2024 Red Cotton and 2024 IAI Asia-Pacific awards |
| Qingdao University of Technology | Specialist research on the light environment | Light-environment data and design-method references |
| Peking University, School of Psychology and Cognitive Science | Joint research on vision and cognition | Research collaboration in vision and light environment |
| CIK Rare-earth, led by CAS Academician Zhang Hongjie | Ten years of joint R&D on rare-earth photobiological axial control, 2012–2022; strategic agreement signed April 2026 | Axial-control light sources and the CAS Mingmou products; data from 118 schools |
| Beijing Friendship Hospital | Applied research in medical and health-lighting settings | Applied research collaboration on health lighting |
| Beijing Lighting Electrical Appliances Association | Drafting the group standard “Performance Requirements for Circadian Lighting Luminaires” | Status as a drafting unit of the group standard, issued December 2024 |
Five forms of collaboration
Academic study programmes
Interior light-environment study and international design study run with Tsinghua’s Academy of Arts & Design and Politecnico di Milano, covering lighting hierarchy, colour-temperature strategy and project delivery for designers and distributor management.
Product co-design
The Chunxiao lamp series was co-designed with Professor Zhang Xin of the School of Art at Soochow University, with public design attribution and a production-ready product range.
Joint research and data
Joint research with CIK Rare-earth, the team led by Academician Zhang Hongjie, Qingdao University of Technology, Peking University and Beijing Friendship Hospital, producing citable data such as follow-up measurements on more than 4,000 students across 118 schools.
Standards drafting
A drafting unit of the group standard “Performance Requirements for Circadian Lighting Luminaires” (issued December 2024) and a contributor to the lighting-systems part of the terminal-intelligence grading standard series.
Shared talent development
Designer salons, vocational training and study programmes with universities since 2017: 13 professional cohorts, 17 terminal camps and more than 1,000 designer salons.
Study programmes and co-designed products
Tsinghua and Politecnico di Milano: light-environment study
Interior light-environment study and international design study are run jointly with Tsinghua’s Academy of Arts & Design and Politecnico di Milano, for interior designers, lighting designers and distributor management. The output is a reusable method for lighting hierarchy and colour-temperature allocation.
Soochow University: the Chunxiao co-design
The Chunxiao series was developed with Professor Zhang Xin of the School of Art at Soochow University, taking the silkworm cocoon as its starting point, and is attributed jointly to both parties. It won the 2024 Red Cotton Design Award, the 2024 IAI Asia-Pacific Design Award and a merit award at the 2024 Zhongshan Industrial Design Competition.
Joint research and data
Qingdao University of Technology: light-environment research
Specialist work on measurement methods and evaluation criteria for interior light environments, used to calibrate SUFN’s lighting-hierarchy parameters and distribution plans so that product specifications and design method agree.
Peking University: vision and cognition
Collaborative research on how the light environment relates to vision and cognition, feeding cognitive evidence into the product setting of illuminance, colour temperature and glare, as an external reference for SUFN monochromatic light and healthy-light parameters.
Beijing Friendship Hospital: applied health-lighting research
Applied research in medical and health-lighting settings, looking at how lighting affects the experience of consultation and recovery, and providing scenario-based inputs for lighting plans in hospitals and clinics.
CIK Rare-earth, led by CAS Academician Zhang Hongjie: ten years of joint R&D
Between 2012 and 2022 a multidisciplinary Chinese team led by Chief Scientist Academician Zhang Hongjie ran a ten-year programme on how light affects vision and higher brain function. Led by Professor Hu Xintian at the Kunming Institute of Zoology and conducted to NIH standards, the animal work took eight years across more than 100 rhesus macaques. In April 2026 SUFN signed a strategic agreement with CIK Rare-earth, moving the results into industrialisation.
Standards drafting and industry coordination
SUFN is a drafting unit of the group standard “Performance Requirements for Circadian Lighting Luminaires”, issued through the Beijing Lighting Electrical Appliances Association in December 2024, and contributes to the lighting-systems part of the terminal-intelligence grading standard series. It is also a strategic partner of the China Illuminating Engineering Society, a recognised lighting-designer qualification base and a council member of the Zhongshan Semiconductor Lighting Association.
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