News & Stories

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has launched a First-Year Experience @ Residence (FYE) Program – a new initiative in residence halls that aims to smooth first-year students’ transition and adaptation to a new university life, and to engage freshmen in residential hall activities to foster an inclusive and caring learning environment. This pilot program is part of the University’s continuing efforts to enhance students’ residential life experience.  Some 500 first-year students, of whom about a quarter are non-local students, will be offered a full year of on-campus residence.  During when they will be taken care of by senior students called SUG (senior undergraduate) mentors, who will take the lead in helping hall mates bond and help freshmen familiarized themselves with the new environment.

Researchers at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have developed a new generation of microscope, which not only could capture 3D live cell videos, but the resulted images are also of much higher quality, greatly enhancing the accuracy and the scope of research on cell biology. While an existing confocal microscope can also capture 3D bio-images, the laser light hitting on the sample is typically one million times that of summer sunlight, such intense light exposure inevitably disrupts cell activities and eventually kills the cell, posing limits to the study of cell biology.

IPO Director Prof King Chow, EVMT Program Co-Director Prof Arthur Lau shared why interdisciplinary BSc in Environmental Management and Technology program (EVMT) became the most popular HKUST JUPAS choice for DSE students in recent years. EVMT graduate Johnny Yeung shared his vision in reducing carbon pollution from air travel by promoting local tourism through his website V'air Hong Kong. Another EVMT graduate Chris Ko shared her story of opening a tea store to promote healthy living after her mother's death from cancer.

In line with its commitment to serving the local community, the Interdisciplinary Programs Office joined hands with The Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups (HKFYG) to launch again the 25th Anniversary event "Innovating Today, Imagining Tomorrow" Mentorship Program in 2016/17. Through interdisciplinary activities and mentoring sessions with faculty, the program aims to broaden local high school students' horizons, and inspire them to unleash their potential and pursue personal goals.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and leading genomics organization BGI Group will establish a joint research center that will set the stage for the next-generation sequencing platform and research efforts that produce novel medical diagnosis and treatments with transformative impact. Witnessed by HKUST President Prof Tony F Chan and BGI Group President and Co-founder Prof Wang Jian, the memorandum of understanding (MoU) was signed by Prof Nancy Ip, HKUST Vice-President for Research and Graduate Studies and Mr Duncan Yu, BGI Group Vice President at the ceremony held on 27 July. The MoU underlines the commitment of establishing a HKUST-BGI Joint Research Center. The center aims to promote mutually beneficial cooperation in biotechnological science and engineering, and benefit mankind by solving problems in areas such as healthcare, conservation and environment.

A research team led by Prof SUN Fei, Assistant Professor of Chemical & Biological Engineering at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST), has created a new protein-based stimuli-responsive smart hydrogel that could open doors for future material biology and biomedical applications. Hydrogels, also known as soft matter in the medical world, are leading materials for biomedical applications such as drug delivery and stem cell therapy. But traditional hydrogels, used in products such as facial masks and contact lenses, are made up of either synthetic polymers or biological extracts such as animal collagen, are likely to cause allergies. They cannot fully mimic the complex biological environment needed for cell growth and development.

Co-hosted by HKUST’s Institute for Public Policy and Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences, the Chinese Academy of Engineering-Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences (CAE-HKAES) Forum on Integrative Development of Innovation and Technology in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta was held on 24 May. The Forum provided a platform for attendees to exchange views upon the findings of an eight-month study of the innovation and technology policy in the region.

Over 900 teams comprising students, startups and professionals participated in the seventh annual One Million Dollar Entrepreneurship Competition organized by The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) in five cities this year, more than doubled over a year ago. The Competition was first extended to Beijing, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and Macau last year. Prof Gary Chan, Director of the Entrepreneurship Center, said it is encouraging to see the Competition, originally an initiative to nurture entrepreneurs at HKUST, to have grown into a regional contest that helps cultivate entrepreneurial spirits and promote exchange of ideas across the border. “We have witnessed not only an increase in scale, but also rising quality of the submitted proposals and depth of market traction,” said Prof Chan. We are particularly excited to see a record-high industrial sponsorship to the event this year.”