News & Stories

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) is hosting the grand physics competition in Asia – the 17th annual Asian Physics Olympiad (APhO) – for the first time in Hong Kong in the largest scale ever.  This is also one of the many activities celebrating HKUST’s 25th Anniversary.

"Hold On, Put Efforts" (HOPE) aims at assisting students to relieve examination stress and challenges in a more adaptive and soothing manner.

Sleep plays a vital role in good health and well-being. There are several factors that could affect the quality of your sleep. Among all, snoring can affect the quality of your sleep and that of your family members and roommates. A HKUST professor recently invented an adjustable pillow to monitor sleep quality, helping people sleep well without interruptions. According to Professor Zhang Qian, Tencent Professor of Engineering and Chair Professor of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at HKUST, snoring could indicate sleep apnea. More than 3,000 people worldwide die of sleep apnea-related issues every day. More than 90% of people who snore have breathing issues at night and could develop sleep apnea, which is a sleep disorder in which a person has one or more pauses in breathing or shallow breathing while asleep.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) announced the appointment of Prof Kar Yan Tam as Dean of the School of Business and Management (HKUST Business School). Prof Tam, a top-notch information systems scholar specializing in big data and electronic commerce, firmly believes that academic research should be intellectually challenging and practically relevant. He has been playing an active role in promoting academia-business collaboration projects and start-ups at the University. Among the founding faculty members of the HKUST Business School, Prof Tam has demonstrated a strong spirit of innovation at HKUST, pioneering signature initiatives including the highly acclaimed Global Business (GBUS) Program and taking the lead in launching the Undergraduate Research Opportunities Program – the largest undergraduate research program in Hong Kong.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) expressed deep sorrow over the passing of Mr Ian Francis Cluny Macpherson, CBE, OBE, OStJ – Secretary-General of the University’s Planning Committee in its incipient stage, and Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Administration and Business following its establishment – on 14 April 2016 in Hong Kong. Mourning the passing of Mr Macpherson, HKUST President Prof Tony F Chan said, “Mr Macpherson was a devoted contributor to HKUST in its embryonic stage, a strong pillar in the early days of our University’s development, and for sure, will always be a forever friend of HKUST. Without the culmination of his unfailing efforts with other key founding members of the University, HKUST will not possess what we have achieved today. The University and I would like to extend our deepest condolences to Mr Macpherson’s family.”

HKUST scientists along with colleagues from the Institute of Neuroscience in Shanghai and Sun Yat-Sen University in Guangzhou have discovered a strategy for repairing injured neurons through the regeneration of axons, a normally rare occurrence. This raises the exciting possibility of reversing injuries to the central nervous system. Led by Dr. Kai Liu, Assistant Professor at HKUST’s Division of Life Science, the team recently demonstrated that damaged optic nerves that transmit visual information from neurons in the eye to other neurons in brain could regenerate when treated with either an optical or a chemical stimulant. In mouse experiments they achieved this through the overexpression of both the light-sensing molecule melanopsin and that of Designer Receptor Exclusively Activated by Designer Drugs (DREADD), a tool normally used to enhance neuronal activity.

A research team led by scientists from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has discovered that a protein found in the human body could be potentially developed as an effective treatment for Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The team, led by Prof Nancy Ip, Dean of Science, Director of the State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience and The Morningside Professor of Life Science at HKUST, in collaboration with Prof Eddy Liew from the University of Glasgow and Prof Baorong Zhang from Zhejiang University, has found that the protein interleukin-33 (IL-33) ameliorates cognitive decline and Alzheimer's disease-like pathology. The groundbreaking study was conducted at HKUST and the results have just been published in the prestigious scientific journal, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA (PNAS).

To celebrate its 25th anniversary, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) holds an exhibition that tells the stories of the University’s impactful inventions and innovative ideas in teaching, research and societal engagement. Titled “Transforming Lives”, the exhibition features science discoveries, objects, videos and materials of over 50 stories under six categories: building capacity, developing talents; enhancing communication technology; innovating materials; solving medical mysteries; sustaining environment, renewing energy; and engaging society, nourishing culture.