News & Stories

Researchers from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have decoded for the first time the genome of Scaly-foot Snail, a rare snail inhabited in what scientists called ‘the origin of life’- deep-sea hydrothermal vents characterized with impossible living condition. Unraveling the genome of this unique creature will not only shed light on how life evolved billions of years ago, but will also lay foundation for the discovery of potential remedies offered by these ancient creatures. 

From fundamental discoveries to knowledge transfer and application, you can find all the latest breakthroughs we have done in this issue of Research@HKUST.

An international research team led by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has demonstrated that cooling by internal waves could potentially create thermal refuges for coral reefs, and may help prevent and more accurate predict locations of coral bleaching. Coral reefs around the world are threatened by pan-tropical bleaching events caused by rising seawater temperatures linked to ongoing climate change and extreme conditions like El Niño.  However, bleaching patterns can be hard to predict, especially in deeper water.  Currently, most bleaching predictions are based on surface estimates of seawater temperatures gathered with satellites.  While satellite observations are important for understanding large-scale patterns and studying remote locations, they are only able to detect temperatures at the very surface of the ocean and provide averages over relatively large scales.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has started a new chapter as The State Ministry of Education (MoE) has approved its application for proceeding to establish The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) (HKUST (GZ)). The new campus will synergize with and maintain the same academic standard as that of its Clear Water Bay (CWB) counterpart.  HKUST (GZ) will nurture talent and facilitate collaboration amongst Hong Kong, the Greater Bay Area (GBA) and beyond on education, research and commercialization, while strengthening knowledge transfer to bridge Hong Kong’s gap in high-tech manufacturing.

An inter-disciplinary team of researchers at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) unraveled how a toxin released by Escherichia coli (E. coli) – a human gut bacteria, is connected to colorectal cancer, offering new insights to the health impact of this prevalent bacteria and facilitating future research on the prevention of this third most common cancer worldwide*. 

Researchers from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) have developed the world’s first all-optical neural network for deep machine learning – bringing artificial intelligence a step closer to matching human brains in tackling complex problems such as pattern recognition or risk management, and at much lower energy consumption at the speed of light.

School of Business and Management, School of Engineering, and School of Science of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) are jointly offering the inaugural university-wide Master of Science in Financial Technology (MSc Fintech) Program in Hong Kong. The MSc Fintech program at HKUST is a one-year full-time or two-year part-time program that aims to bridge the talent gap in the Fintech industry. The Program leverages the diverse expertise of professors in the three schools to provide students with the fundamental knowledge and skills related to popular financial technologies and their engineering and financial principles. Students will enhance their market competitiveness in the multi-disciplinary and booming Fintech space. The first cohort welcomes 60 professionals with backgrounds mainly in finance and technology.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) received a HK$500 million donation from Li Ka Shing Foundation (LKSF) yesterday for the establishment of Hong Kong’s first institute of synthetic biology – a best-in-class research platform focuses on synthetic biological technologies.   The new academic and research building of the “Li Ka Shing Institute of Synthetic Biology” (The Institute) will provide the most advanced facilities, aiming to attract the world’s top scholars in a move to steer Hong Kong into a global pioneer in synthetic bio-technologies.