| Overview
of Research Activities of The University
of Hong Kong 2010-11
Major
Institutional Policy Developments
The University of
Hong Kong (HKU) seeks to sustain and enhance its excellent reputation
as an institution of higher learning through outstanding teaching
and world-class research, so as to produce rounded graduates with
life-long abilities to provide leadership within the society they
serve.
The University's research
policy flows directly from this institutional vision. Its aim
is to strengthen its capabilities in both basic and applied research
within a culture that strives for excellence and relevance as
well as collaboration. The University emphasises innovative, high-impact
and multidisciplinary research, and believes that a fine research
record enhances the quality of research postgraduate education.
It recognises that it must be fully accountable for the effective
management of the public and private resources it deploys towards
its research aims, and welcomes the opportunity to act in partnership
with the wider community to generate, disseminate and apply knowledge.
To further develop
the University's research excellence and to realise its vision
to be recognised as one of the top research-led universities in
Asia and in the world, the University Research Committee has developed
the following five strategies:
(a) to develop strategic
research areas and themes;
(b) to support 'blue-sky' and curiosity-driven research;
(c) to nurture next-generation scholars and researchers;
(d) to encourage knowledge transfer to community and society;
and
(e) to enhance international and Mainland collaborations.
The University places particular emphasis on strategic interdisciplinary
research in selected fields for the valuable synergies it can
produce. The second round of the Univeristy's Strategic Research
Themes (SRTs) was launched in 2008, with themes grouped under
5 areas of interdisciplinary research for focused support for
a three-year period. The 5 areas are
Biomedicine
China
Community
Environment
Frontier technology
As well as focusing
on creating critical mass and synergies in these themes and areas,
the University also strives to provide a conducive research environment
for new and important niche areas of research to develop. Four
emerging research themes have also been named in this cycle: Communication
Disorders, Diversity Studies, Earth as a Habitable Planet, and
Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine.
While strengthening
its research focus in this way, the University is also investing
in the human resources necessary to sustain a research culture
dedicated to excellence. As reported previosuly, it intends to
(a) recruit 200 additional
professoriate faculty members internationally by the 2012–13 academic
year;
(b) increase the proportion of full professors to attain a minimum
of 30% of academic staff, with funding for at least 50 endowed
professorships; and
(c) triple the number of postdoctoral fellows (from 100 to 300)
and more than double the number of research postgraduate students
(from 1,500 to 3,600).
Within this broad
strategic framework the University continues to encourage research
excellence in a number of important specific areas. It continues
to fund curiosity-driven research with small project grants, and
to incubate new research initiatives with seed-funding grants.
It continues, through its RPg reform policies, to develop a culture
of student-centred, performance-based, and shared-responsibility
research.
The following institutional policy developments took place during
the report period.
Strategic Research
Areas and Themes
Collaborative, interdisciplinary
research continues to receive prioritised support from the University
through its strategic research areas and themes. The current cycle
focuses on 5 areas—Biomedicine, China, Community, Environment,
and Frontier Technology—which incorporate 19 themes.
There are also four emerging themes. This strategic research areas
approach strives to provide the research environment for new and
important niche areas to develop. HKU's performance in, for example,
the first round of the RGC's Theme-based Research Scheme (TRS)
has demonstrated the success of adopting such focused investment
for strategic interdisciplinary collaborative research. As part
of the ongoing process of improving communication between the
theme members and providing opportunities for progress overviews
and cross-fertilisation of ideas, a series of five Strategic Research
Themes Forums (one for each area) were held over the Spring of
2011. The three-year funding cycle for the themes is coming to
a close in 2011, and a process of final reporting and detailed
review will then be undertaken to inform future funding rounds.
Research Integrity
Promotion of responsible
academic conduct has been made a top priority of the research
management at the University. While achieving excellence, HKU
hopes to establish a culture of upholding research integrity among
the university community. In addition to three retreat-like seminars
for non-clinical Faculties promoting responsible conduct of research
(RCR) held in 2010, two more seminars were organised in January
and April, 2011 for HKU's two clinical Faculties and new staff,
respectively. More than 260 academics at all grades from Postdoctoral
Fellows to Chair Professors have attended these five RCR seminars.
In addition, to familiarise research students and staff members
with the operational guidelines and procedures of the Human Research
Ethics Committee for Non-Clinical Faculties (HRECNCF), a workshop
was organised in December 2010.
Following the retirement
of the Research Integrity Liaison Officer, Professor Brian Duggan,
in August 2011, Professor Frederick KS Leung has succeeded him
with the new title of Director of Education and Development for
Research Integrity with effect from June 2011 for two years. His
remit includes looking into areas covering RCR training and education
for staff and students, as well as the latest developments in
research and good practice elsewhere, while research ethics compliance
will continue to be handled by the relevant ethical approval bodies,
namely the Human Research Ethics Committee for Non-Clinical Faculties
(HRECNCF), the Institutional Review Board of the University of
Hong Kong/Hospital Authority Hong Kong West Cluster (HKU/HA HKW
IRB, the ''IRB"), and the Committee for the Use of Live Animals
in Teaching and Research (CULATR).
In the past year,
HKU has taken a number of measures such as a compulsory plagiarism
checking on RPg students' theses before submission and a compulsory
registration requirement for RPg students to take a core course
on ethics and research on or after September every year. The Graduate
School has put together a Research Integrity handbook for RPg
students, launched in October, 2011.
The University was also involved in the global dialogue on research
integrity by sending a team to attend the 2nd World Conference
of Research Integrity held in July 2010 in Singapore. The conference
focused on four key areas: national and international policies,
codes of conduct, training and education to promote research integrity,
and author-editor issues.
HKU–SPACE Research Fund
An HKU SPACE Research
Fund has been established to support research activity at the
University since 2007–08. A sum of HK$2.5 million is made available
every year to all newly appointed staff within the first twelve
months of assuming duties to apply for a top-up grant of up to
HK$104,800 to support a Type B RPg place. All awards are made
on a first-come-first-served basis on condition that the top-up
grant will be matched dollar-for-dollar by the applicant's Faculty/Department,
and the associated Type B RPg quota place should be from the Faculty's
main pool allocation for the current quota year. Some available
funding of the HKU SPACE Research Fund was also deployed to support
around 50 projects this year under the Small Project Funding programme,
which aims at maintaining the research vitality of staff through
conducting low budget projects with high impact.
Collaborative Research
The increasing importance
of collaboration in research is fully recognised by the University's
management and by individual researchers. Internationalisation
has been a key feature embedded in many aspects of the University's
strategic development. HKU has positioned itself to be a globally
competitive, regionally engaged university, and in the face of
the challenges ahead, we very much value the enhancement of collaboration
with our international and Mainland partners. In addition to joining
forces with local institutions, the University is an active participant
in Universitas 21 (U21), a consortium of leading universities
around the world dedicated to the internationalisation of higher
education. On April 6-8, 2011, the PVC (Research) attended the
annual U21 PVC (Research) Meeting, which was held at the University
of Auckland. It provided an opportunity for the delegates to understand
more about each others' views and strategies on particular aspects,
to identify best practice in research organisation, management,
performance assessment and portfolio development, and to promote
best practice in nurturing the next generation of researchers.
HKU is also a member of the Association of Pacific Rim Universities,
a regional network of 42 world-class institutions.
The University also collaborates with a number of leading institutions,
laboratories, pharmaceutical companies, research institutes and
government bodies, both in mainland China and overseas. We have
4 Partner State Key Laboratories (Partner SKLs), the most of any
local institution. We will continue to make good use of the prestigious
status of Partner SKLs to reinforce our research collaborations
with Mainland partners for greater impact. Partnership with industry
has also been reinforced to promote the application of research
results.
New initiatives for
international collaboration during the reporting year include
a partnership forged between HKU and McGill University, Canada,
in biomedical science research, aimed at providing improved support
for students and professors in both institutions, as well as joint
grant applications and other activities that will build on their
respective strengths as leaders in this important emerging field.
As a first step, the two universities have agreed to develop their
collaborative work by providing seed funding for a number of joint
research initiatives. HKU also signed a Memorandum of Understanding
(MoU) with the University of Latvia in seeking to strengthen bilateral
relations in the field of education and scientific research. HKU
is also partnering with the Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology
(SIAT) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) to train PhD students.
The HKU Faculty of Engineering and the SIAT of CAS signed an MOU,
and 10 Mainland students selected will study at SIAT and HKU each
for two years to obtain an HKU PhD degree.
In the reporting year
the University has made further progress with its developments
in Shenzhen and the Pearl River Delta, a strategic region for
the University to establish a research and development base and
to foster much closer collaboration with the Government, industry,
education and research communities in the Mainland. Following
the University's decision in April 2010 to go forward with a project
to establish the HKU Shenzhen Institute of Research and Innovations
(HKU-SIRI) in the Shenzhen Virtual University Park (SVUP), a university
task force managed the complex application, negotiation and approval
processes necessary for establishing a wholly owned foreign enterprise
and a research institute in SVUP. HKU researchers are now eligible
to apply for mainland research grants as Principal Investigator
/ Chief Scientist under the aegis of HKU-SIRI, with initial applications
coming from Engineering, Medicine and E-Business fields. In the
reporting year, successful funding has been sought through the
''973" Program by HKU academic Professor L.H. Tan, receiving
RMB 39 million for a project entitled ''Brain mechanisms underlying
Chinese language processing and the neurogenetic basis for its
disorders". In addition, an HKU-Zhejiang Institute of Research
and Innovation (HKU-ZIRI) initiated by the Faculty of Engineering
provided the University a unique opportunity to set up an R&D
base in the Yangtze River Delta Region, thus opening up further
possibilities for HKU researchers to tap into funding opportunities
and partners in the Mainland.
Large numbers of individual
researchers undertook collaborative projects during the report
period with researchers in the PRC or elsewhere in the world across
a wide range of activities, including joint research projects,
co-authoring of papers, teaching or lecturing, providing consultancy
or peer review services, supervising research students, and serving
as external examiners.
Over the past few
years, HKU has introduced a number of initiatives to help increase
research competitiveness and international collaboration. These
schemes are running smoothly, with further application rounds
during the reporting period.
(a) Visiting Research
Professors Scheme
The Visiting Research
Professors Schemes (VRP) has attracted 23 leading scholars from
around the world since its inception in 2009. This year, 18 nominations
were received, and 7 awards were made to prominent professors
from Harvard Medical School, UCLA, etc. The University Research
Committee reviewed the first batch of mid/final reports on VRP
appointments from Faculties and was impressed by the VRPs' valuable
contributions in enhancing the research profile and international
collaborations of Faculties through co-authoring papers and collaborating
in projects, giving feedback on research proposals, and strengthening/developing
links between HKU and their host institutions.
(b) King's/HKU
Fellowships
To strengthen the
partnership between HKU and King's College London, both universities
have launched reciprocal King's/HKU Fellowships to enable their
academic staff members to visit the partner institution. In the
reporting period, 4 HKU members visited King's and reciprocally,
2 King's scholars visited HKU. In the 2011–12 application round,
2 Fellowships were made to HKU staff who will visit King's within
the academic year 2011–12.
(c) HKU Overseas Fellowships
The HKU Overseas
Fellowship awards were established to support academic staff members
to visit overseas institutions over a period of one to two months
for research collaborations. During 2010–11, 6 HKU staff visited
overseas universities, including Johns Hopkins School of Medicine
and the University of Wisconsin-Madison, while 8 awards were freshly
given to support 8 HKU staff to visit overseas institutions within
the 2011–12 academic year.
(d) Doris Zimmern
HKU-Cambridge Hughes Hall Fellowship
To forge closer ties,
and foster cultural exchange and academic excellence, between
HKU and Hughes Hall, University of Cambridge, HKU offers co-funding
alongside the Doris Zimmern Charitable Foundation to enable teaching
and research staff of the University to spend a period of time
at Hughes Hall, as visiting fellows, for research collaboration
and other academic exchange. The cost of the accommodation and
a pro-rata College fee in respect of individual fellows is covered
by the University. Since its inception in 2009, 8 HKU members
have been awarded the Fellowships to reside at Hughes Hall, University
of Cambridge, for research collaboration and academic exchange,
and 4 of them paid their visits in 2011.
University–Industry Partnership
The University encourages
the commercialisation of its intellectual property through technology
transfer, as the practical application of technological advances
benefits both the University and the community as a whole. The
Technology Transfer Office (TTO) was established in September
2006 to carry out technology transfer, legal, and liaison operations,
while commercial operations come under Versitech, a wholly-owned
subsidiary of the University.
TTO continues to strengthen
professional capabilities in technology transfer in support of
the University's mission of knowledge exchange. In the past reporting
year, two intensive training courses were organised as follows:
(a) For the second
year, TTO has partnered with The Fédération of Internationale
des Conseils en Propriété Industrielle (FICPI) to run the South
East Asian Drafting (SEAD) patent prosecution and drafting training
course in Hong Kong. In addition to Hong Kong Cyberport Management
Company Limited, this year support was also enlisted from the
Innovation and Technology Commission and that of the Intellectual
Property Department as principal sponsors. The first segment of
the course was held from April 11–15, 2011. It was attended by
participants from Hong Kong, Mainland China, India, Malaysia,
the Philippines, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam. Participants returned
in September 2011 to attend the third and final segment.
(b) TTO also initiated
the Entrepreneurship Academy in 2010–11, through which an eight-week
workshop series in Entrepreneurship was organised each semester
for research staff, RPg students and alumni of related postgraduate
programmes of the University. The invited speakers were either
seasoned practitioners or academics specialising in entrepreneurship.
The Entrepreneurship Academy received an enthusiastic response
from staff and RPg students, with over 100 participants in each
semester. The excellent feedback evaluations received indicated
that there is ample demand for entrepreneurship training in HKU.
Both training courses
emphasised practical skills and provided guidance to avoid common
pitfalls in managing TT activities, contract research, consultancies,
and so on, which participants have found valuable.
The report period
has seen a number of examples of successful university-industry
partnership. Versitech Ltd undertook a total of 30 contract research
projects within 2010–11 with various industrial sectors. As of
2010–11, Versitech Ltd has licensed a cumulative total of 78 inventions
and know-hows to industry, representing 28.4% of all the University's
inventions and know-hows. The Faculty of Engineering has licensed
46.2% of its inventions and know-hows, the Faculty of Science
has licensed 25.4%, the Faculty of Architecture has licensed 20.0%,
and the Medical faculty has licensed 18.4%
The University has
been active in bidding for funds under the Innovation and Technology
Fund's University-Industry Collaboration Programme (UICP) and
the Innovation and Technology Support Programme (ITSP). Since
the inception of the programmes in 1999, the University has received
total funding of just under HK$26.84 million for 27 approved projects
under UICP and HK$341.3 million for 108 approved projects under
ITSP.
RESEARCH HIGHLIGHTS
Significant
Research Achievements
A number of research
highlights in 2010–11 are listed below:
Theme-based Research
Scheme
The Theme-based Research
Scheme, launched by RGC in 2010, aims to focus academic research
efforts of the UGC-funded institutions on themes of strategic
importance to the long-term development of Hong Kong. The themes
in the first round of the scheme were Promoting Good Health, Developing
a Sustainable Environment, and Enhancing Hong Kong's Strategic
Position as a Regional and International Business Centre.
The results of this
first round of the TRS were announced on July 13, 2011, just outside
of the reporting period. HKU is the co-ordinating institution
of 3 of the 6 funded projects as follows:
(a) 'Personalized
Medicine for Cardiovascular Diseases: From Genomic Testing and
Biomarkers to Human Pluripotent Stem Cell Platform', HK$40 million*,
Project Coordinator: Professor H.F. Tse (Department of Medicine),
in collaboration with CUHK and HKUST;
(b) 'Cell-based Heart
Regeneration', HK$60 million*, Project Coordinator: Professor
R.A. Li (Department of Medicine), in collaboration with CityU,
CUHK and HKUST; and
(c) 'Challenges in
Organic Photo-Voltaics and Light Emitting Diodes—A Concerted Multi-Disciplinary
and Multi-Institutional Effort', HK$57.407 million*, Project Coordinator:
Professor V.W.W. Yam (Department of Chemistry), in collaboration
with CityU, HKBU, PolyU and HKUST.
* including 15% on-costs
2011–12 GRF Exercise
In the 2011–12 GRF
exercise—the results of which were announced in June 2011— HKU
once again received the largest share of the funding (now for
fourteen of the last fifteen exercises), securing just over a
quarter (27%) of the total number of projects supported. In this
exercise, the University submitted 634 applications, of which
216 were approved, representing a success rate of 34.1%. As with
the 2010–11 exercise, HKU received the largest amount of funds
for projects under the Physical Sciences Panel and the Biology
and Medicine Panel. The University also came top in the newly
organised Humanities and Social Sciences Panel. In total, HKU
was awarded HK$183.763 out of HK$639.480 million (including the
15% on-cost from the RGC; the figures excluding the on-cost are
HK$159.794 and HK$556.07 million respectively).
2010–11 CRF Exercise
HKU was awarded the
largest amount of funding in the 2010–11 round of the RGC's Collaborative
Research Fund (CRF). The University is lead institution of 4 of
the 10 projects funded and participating in a further 3 projects
as a collaborating institution, making it the most successful
university in terms of the number of projects as lead and collaborating
institution. HKU is lead institution of the following four projects:
(a) 'Programming the
Second Generation Tumor-targeting Bacteria', HK$7.22 million*,
Project Coordinator: Dr J.D. Huang (Department of Biochemistry),
in collaboration with HKBU;
(b) 'A Multi-disciplinary
Approach to Investigate Vascular Dysfunction in Obesity and Diabetes:
From Molecular Mechanism to Therapeutic Intervention', HK$7.28
million*, Project Coordinator: Dr A. Xu (Department of Medicine),
in collaboration with CUHK;
(c) 'Self-Assembled
Synthetic Ion Channels: Design, Characterization and Biomedical
Applications', HK$4.14 million*, Project Coordinator: Professor
D. Yang (Department of Chemistry), in collaboration with CUHK
and HKUST; and
(d) 'Smart Grid',
HK$5.58 million*, Project Coordinator: Professor V.O.K. Li (Department
of Electrical and Electronic Engineering), in collaboration with
CityU and HKUST.
* including 15% on-costs
Innovation Technology Support Programme (ITSP)
Awards from the Innovation
and Technology Fund under ITSP have been an increasingly important
source of funding for the University since the programme's introduction
in 1999. The University had 108 projects approved from 1999 until
the end of June 2011 (representing 21% of the 523 projects approved
under ITSP), and has been granted funding of $341.3 million for
these projects.
NSFC/RGC Joint Research Scheme
In 2010–11, HKU also
did well in bidding for funds under the National Natural Science
Foundation of China/Research Grants Council (NSFC/RGC) Joint Research
Scheme. Funding of HK$15 million was awarded to 23 projects submitted
by six UGC-funded institutions. The University submitted 78 preliminary
proposals, of which 14 were shortlisted and 8 funded. It received
funding of HK$5.45 million, representing 36.33% of the total allocation,
a 38% increase on last year's HK$3.94 million funding and 26.27%
share.
HK Scholars Program
The Hong Kong Scholars
Program—a cross-border initiative—was launched by the Society
of Hong Kong Scholars and the Office of the National Administrative
Committee of Postdoctoral Researchers under the Ministry of Human
Resources and Social Security in December 2010 to nurture outstanding
postdoctoral fellows from the Mainland in Hong Kong. Eight HKU
researchers have been selected by the Program to supervise PDFs
for a period of two years.
Croucher Foundation ASIs
The Croucher Foundation
sponsors a number of Advanced Study Institutes (ASIs) each year,
to enable experts in a particular field to meet and conduct advanced
tuition on a defined topic.
An ASI on ''Molecular
Genetics and Clinical Advances in the Study of Esophageal and
Gastric Cancers" took place on January 23–27, 2011. It was organised
by Professor S.Y.K. Law (Department of Surgery) with funding of
$600,000.
Three follow-up ASIs
were organised by the University's researchers during the report
period:
(a) November 2, 2010,
Biomarkers for Early Detection of Cancers: Technological Advances
and Clinical Readiness by Professor R.T.P. Poon (Department of
Surgery) with funding of HK$74,182;
(b) January 5–6, 2011,
Fundamental Biology of Aging and Aging Disorders by Dr. Z. Zhou
(Department of Biochemistry) with funding of $270,000; and
(c) April 29, 2011,
Mitochondrial Stress in Diabetes and Aging by Professor S.K. Chung
(Department of Anatomy) with funding of $65,359.
In May 2011, two grants
of HK$600,000 each were awarded to the University for the ASIs
below:
(a) Tumour Microenvironment—New
concepts and molecular mechanisms, by Professor A.N.Y. Cheung
(Department of Pathology), scheduled to be held in January 2012;
and
(b) Stem cells: Niches,
Regeneration and Repair, by Professor K.S.E. Cheah (Department
of Biochemistry), scheduled to be held in late 2012.
Croucher Foundation International Conferences and Seminars
The Croucher Foundation
also provides sponsorship for international conferences and seminars
in the fields of natural science, technology or medicine. Such
events must be of direct benefit to Hong Kong, and preferably
have a strong research emphasis. Two such conferences, each with
sponsorship of HK$100,000, were organised by the University's
researchers during the report period:
(a) December 10–13,
2010, 10th Asia-Pacific International Symposium on Microscale
Separations and Analysis (APCE 2010) by Dr. Y.S. Fung (Department
of Chemistry); and
(b) May 26–27, 2011,
Alzheimer's Disease Conference 2011: From Public Health, Basic
and Clinical Sciences to Therapeutic Insights, by Dr. R.C.C. Chang
(Department of Anatomy).
During the report
period the Croucher Foundation also approved three sponsorship
grants for the following events:
(a) The 4th Asian
Symposium on Plant Lipids, by Professor M.L. Chye (School of Biological
Sciences), to be held on December 2–4, 2011 with funding of HK$100,000;
(b) 3rd International Symposium on Development of the Enteric
Nervous System: Cells, Signals and Genes, by Dr. M.H. Sham (Department
of Biochemistry), to be held in March 2012 with funding of HK$100,000;
and
(c) Days of Molecular
Medicine, by Professor P.K.H. Tam (Department of Surgery) and
Professor R.A. Li (Department of Medicine), to be held in late
2011 with funding of HK$702,000.
External Academic Honours
HKU has a proud record
of academic recognition. The University has been awarded more
Croucher Foundation Senior Research Fellowships (35 out of a total
of 87 fellowships awarded since 1997, including Senior Medical
Research Fellowships) than any of its sister institutions.
A number of the University's
researchers have received important academic awards and honours
over the reporting period, including the following:
(a) Professor L. Samaranayake,
Dean of the Faculty of Dentistry, received the 2010 Oral Medicine
and Pathology Research Award from the International Association
for Dental Research (IADR), the world's largest non-government
dental research organisation. The award comes with the title of
IADR Distinguished Scientist, and is one of only 16 such awards
granted by IADR.
(b) Professor V.W.W.
Yam, Department of Chemistry, was named Laureate of the 13th L'Oreal-UNESCO
Women in Science Awards 2011 in recognition of her work in light-emitting
materials and innovative ways of capturing solar energy. The L'Oreal-UNESCO
Women in Science Awards honour five outstanding female scientists,
one per continent, annually for their research contributions,
commitment, and impact on society.
(c) Professor S.P.
Lee, Dean of the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, was selected
by the American Association for the Study of Liver Diseases (AASLD)
as the recipient of the 2010 AASLD Distinguished Achievement Award.
Apart from being the first Asian to receive this prestigious award
in scientific research, Professor Lee, as a dedicated clinician,
was also conferred with a Master award by the American College
of Gastroenterology (ACG).
(d) Professor D.
Yang, Department of Chemistry, was awarded the 7th Chinese Young
Women in Science Fellowship, making her the first woman scientist
in the Hong Kong and Macau region to receive the honour. Professor
Yang was honoured in recognition of her contributions in the field
of Chemical Biology.
(e) Dr E.H.Y. Ng,
Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, together with five scientists
from the Mainland were awarded a second-class award of the 2010
Higher Education Institution Scientific Research Outstanding Achievement
Award.
(e) Professor F. Dikötter
was awarded the 2011 BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction
for his book Mao's Great Famine: The History of China's Most Devastating
Catastrophe, 1958–62. The BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction
is one of the UK's most prestigious literary prizes.
Outstanding Researcher Award Scheme
To encourage and reward
distinguished research achievements by its staff, HKU gives internal
awards annually for research excellence, presented each year at
a well-attended ceremony. The most recent ceremony was held on
February 17, 2011, and the University conferred the following
awards in respect of research achievements during and prior to
the report period:
(i) Outstanding
Research Student Supervisor Award
Professor Y.S. Chan (Department of Physiology)
Professor M.M. Kumaraswamy (Department of Civil Engineering)
Dr Y.F. Yeung (School of Chinese)
(ii) Outstanding
Young Researcher Award
Dr B.P. Chan (Department of Mechanical Engineering)
Professor C. Cheng (Department of Psychology)
Dr X. Cui (Department of Physics)
Dr J.C. Kuehn (School of English)
Ms R.W.C. Lee (Department of Law)
Dr E.W.C. Tse (Department of Medicine)
Dr Y. Wang (Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy)
(iii) Outstanding Researcher Award
Professor C.M. Hutton (School of English)
Professor H. Sun (Department of Chemistry)
Professor E.X. Wu (Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering)
Professor R.M.F. Yuen (Department of Medicine)
The University's Research
Output Prize, included in the Outstanding Researcher Award Scheme
since 2005, aims to reward the authors of outstanding individual
publications such as refereed journal papers, books, or CD-ROMs.
Faculties select an output item each year for the prize, and they
can determine the research output form that best represents their
research achievement. Ten Research Output Prizes were awarded
at the ceremony in February 2011 for the following items of research
output:
Faculty of Architecture:
'Sick Building Syndrome and Perceived Indoor Environmental Quality:
A Survey of Apartment Buildings in Hong Kong', Habitat International,
33 (4) (2009), 463-471 by Siu-Kei Wong*, Lawrence Wai-Chung Lai*,
Daniel Chi-Wing Ho*, Kwong-Wing Chau*, Cindy Lo-Kuen Lam*, Chris
Hung-Fai Ng
Faculty of Arts:
Contact Languages: Ecology and Evolution in Asia, New
York, Cambridge University Press, 2009, 257pp by Umberto Ansaldo*
Faculty of Business
and Economics: 'The Effect of Regulatory Orientation and Decision
Strategy on Brand Judgments', Journal of Consumer Research,
35 (April 2009), 1026-1038 by Echo Wen Wan*, Jiewen Hong, Brian
Sternthal
Faculty of Dentistry:
'Microbiology of Odontogenic Bacteremia: beyond Endocarditis',
Clinical Microbiology Reviews, 22 (2009), 46-64 by N.B.
Parahitiyawa*, L.J. Jin*, W.K. Leung*, W.C. Yam*, L. P. Samaranayake*
Faculty of Education:
'From the Horse's Mouth: What Scientists Say About Scientific
Investigation and Scientific Knowledge', Science Education,
93 (1) (2009), 109-130 by Siu Ling Wong*, Derek Hodson
Faculty of Engineering:
'Site Response to Multi-directional Earthquake Loading: A Practical
Procedure', Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering,
29 (2009), 710-721 by J. Yang*, X.R. Yan*
Faculty of Law: 'Customary
Non-Refoulement of Refugees and Automatic Incorporation into the
Common Law: a Hong Kong Perspective', International and Comparative
Law Quarterly, 58 (April 2009), 443-468 by Oliver Jones*
Li Ka Shing Faculty
of Medicine: 'A Mutation in Ihh that Causes Digit Abnormalities
Alters Its Signaling Capacity and Range', Nature, 458
(April 2009), 1196-1200 by Bo Gao*, Jianxin Hu*, Sigmar Stricker,
Martin Cheung*, Gang Ma, Kit Fong Law*, Florian Witte, James Briscoe,
Stefan Mundlos, Lin He, Kathryn S.E. Cheah*, Danny Chan*
Faculty of Science:
'Secretin as a Neurohypophysial Factor Regulating Body Water Homeostasis',
Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA (PNAS),
106 (37) (September 2009) by Jessica Y.S. Chu*, Leo T.O. Lee*,
C.H. Lai*, H. Vaudry, Y.S. Chan*, W.H. Yung, Billy K.C. Chow*
Faculty of Social
Sciences: 'Invigorating the Content in Social Embeddedness: An
Ethnography of Life Insurance Transactions in China', American
Journal of Sociology, 115 (3) (November 2009), 712-54 by
Cheris Shun-ching Chan*
* HKU members
Major International Research Events
A number of important
international research conferences were organised during the report
period by the University including the following examples:
(a) October 14–16,
2010—Research Directions for a Globalised Public Management, a
research conference of the Public Management Research Association
in Asia and jointly co-sponsored by the International Research
Society on Public Management, was hosted by the Faculty of Social
Sciences and Department of Sociology at HKU.
(b) November 4–6,
2010—the 17th Hong Kong International Cancer Congress with the
theme of Advances in Technology and New Perspectives in Cancer
brought together renowned international speakers, including from
Australia, China, Japan, India, and the US.
(c) December 15–17,
2010—the 13th International Symposium on Tubular Structures was
attended by about 150 academics, researchers and engineers from
22 countries across 5 continents. It is considered the principal
showcase for tubular structures and the prime international forum
for discussion of research, developments and applications in this
field.
(d) March 18–19, 2011—a
high profile global conference on competition law was held by
HKU in association with University College London. ''A Global Competition
Law and Economics Series Conference: Competition Law and the State"
brought together competitive law experts from nine countries,
the European Union and the Organisation for Economic and Co-operation
and Development.
(e) May 6¬¬–7, 2011—the
International Conference on Healthy Longevity: The Emergence of
Oldest-Old and Centenarians was the first meeting in Hong Kong
to gather overseas scientists and local researchers for intellectual
exchanges on issues including demography, psycho-social, behavioural,
functioning, and geriatrics of the oldest-old across Asian and
Western countries. Over 20 internationally renowned scholars,
professionals, and policy-makers from Australia, Belgium, Hong
Kong, Japan, South Korea and the United States shared their research
and experience on healthy longevity
Centenary Distinguished Lectures
As part of its 100th
anniversary celebrations, HKU is presenting a series of Centenary
Distinguished Lectures. Delivered by Nobel Laureates and distinguished
scholars from a wide range of disciplines, the lectures bring
some of the most brilliant minds of today to HKU to share their
expertise, experience and world-class scholarship with the University
community and the public. Launched in September 2010, the following
lectures took place within the reporting period:
(a) Professor Gary
S. Becker, Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences;
(b) Professor Françoise Barré-Sinoussi, Nobel Laureate in Physiology
or Medicine;
(c) Professor Sir Andrew Motion, Poet Laureate of Britain;
(d) Professor Kurt Wüthrich, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry;
(e) Professor Wu Jinglian, Renowned Economist in China;
(f) Professor Elinor Ostrom, Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences;
(g) Professor Peter C. Doherty, Nobel Laureate in Physiology or
Medicine; and
(h) A Centenary Dialogue with Aung San Suu Kyi.
These distinguished
speakers also spared their time to meet with HKU staff and researchers
and to receive media interviews, as well as meeting with selected
secondary school students through the 'Lunch with a Laureate'
element. Further lectures are planned over the coming year.
Published Research
The University has
an excellent record of published research, both in discipline-specific
journals and in more high-profile publications such as Science,
Nature, and The Lancet. As far as its academic publishing is concerned,
it has the highest number of refereed publications, both in absolute
terms and expressed as a ratio of publications per staff member,
of any UGC-funded institution. According to the latest available
statistics, for 2009–10 (see RGC Annual Report 2010) the University
had 6,540 peer-reviewed refereed publications.
The University does
particularly well in scientific publications. According to statistics
published by the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI), there
were a total of 265,996 citations of 20,942 HKU papers in journals
tracked by the ISI between January 2001 and June 2011. This was
the highest number of citations of any UGC-funded institution.
In 2010 the University had 3,143 publications in journals tracked
by the ISI, again more than any other UGC-funded institution.
The ISI also ranked 105 HKU professoriate staff among the world's
top 1% of scientists.
Patents
Since 1998, HKU has
filed 1067 patents in various parts of the world, mostly in the
United States (518), the European Union (171) and Greater China
(152 in China, including Hong Kong, and 17 in Taiwan). During
the same period 287 patents were granted, principally in the United
States (130). The University filed 93 patents in the 2010–11 academic
year. During the same period, 31 patents were granted and 32 patent
applications were abandoned.
Agreements/Legal Documents
During 2010–11, the
University has handled 490 technology/knowledge transfer related
agreements/legal documents—such as licensing, consultancy and
materials transfer agreements—with counter signing parties mostly
in Hong Kong (207), North America (124), the European Union (49)
and the People's Republic of China (78). The total of 490 represents
an increase of more than 13.7% on the figure for 2009–10.
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