Pre-university students with exceptional promise from around the world will be able to flex their intellectual muscles during a 3-week program next summer. Talented Youth Summer Program 2008 (the Program) is co-organized and co-sponsored by The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and Savantas Policy Institute (Savantas), and will be held from 13 July to 3 August, 2008.
Taught by distinguished faculty members and academic experts from HKUST and Stanford University, the Program will carry university credits which could be counted towards future undergraduate studies.
Speaking at a news conference to announce the Program today (Wednesday, 12 December), HKUST Vice-President for Academic Affairs Prof Roland Chin said, “Talented Youth Summer Program will help nurture these extraordinary students by expanding their horizons and challenging them to realize their full potential. Students will be recruited from around the world, in Hong Kong and from the Mainland.”
The Program will help participants achieve the following objectives:
Explore and develop their full potential;
Achieve personal goals while maintaining harmony with others; and
Become global citizens by realizing that the contribution of the whole can be far greater than the sum of its parts.
Mrs Regina Ip, Chairperson of Savantas Policy Institute, said that the core vision of Savantas is to help Hong Kong transform into a knowledge-based economy; and such development will not be possible without an investment in training and education. She is pleased that Savantas and HKUST can work together towards breeding a new generation of local leaders.
“Advancements in science and technology are the driving force for economic growth in recorded history,” said Prof Nelson Cue, Program Director and Professor Emeritus of Physics at HKUST. “New frontiers in biotechnology have now brought the world into the ‘Bioterials Age’. Gifted youngsters, being the potential future leaders of the 21st century, need to equip themselves not just with book knowledge, but the ability to think critically, and the breadth of mind to assume new responsibilities.”
With the theme “Accelerated Societal Development through Science and Technology”, the 2008 program will allow participants to engage in a full array of activities including lectures, laboratory experiments, group projects, discussions, educational tours and recreational programs.
Applicants are to apply with recommendation from their school principals. In addition to taking the core course – Societal Development through Science and Technology, students can opt for electives on Critical Thinking, Global Climate Change and Energy Issues, Introductory Game Theory and Frontier Techniques in Biotechnology. Participants will also have the option of joining a study tour to the Nansha IT Park and manufacturing base in South China.
For media enquiries, please feel free to contact :
Luk Kam Wing
Tel: 2358 6306
Email: kluk@ust.hk
May Cheung
Tel: 2358 6103
Email: mccheung@ust.hk
