Science Faculty 60^th Anniversary Banquet

It was destined to be a night to be remembered, when 400 invited guests, alumni, students, staff, and friends of the Faculty of Science gathered at Convention Hall of the Hong Kong Convention and Exhibition Centre to celebrate the Faculty’s diamond jubilee on 16 September 2023. The Faculty was honoured to receive congratulatory remarks from Chairperson of University Council, CUHK, Professor John CHAI. Dean of Science and Wei Lun Professor of Chemistry Professor SONG Chunshan arranged a special segment dedicated to honouring former Deans of Science, and the Faculty was delighted that former Deans of Science – Professor Thomas MAK, Professor Kenneth YOUNG, Professor KWAN Hoi Shan, Professor Henry WONG and Professor XIE Zuowei (Interim Dean) (in chronological order of Deanship) – could join the Banquet in-person and make a toast together with Professor Song on the stage. It was especially meaningful to invite the former Deans and former Interim Dean to take a stand, as together, they represent more than half a century of history at the Faculty of Science.

Science Faculty 60^th Anniversary Distinguished Science Lecture
Professor YAU Shing Tung: Tolo Homecoming - Reunion for CUHK's Diamond Jubilee

The Faculty was honoured to invite mathematics maestro, Professor YAU Shing Tung, back to CUHK as part of the Science Faculty 60^th Anniversary Distinguished Science Lecture Series to give a talk entitled “Tolo Homecoming – Reunion for CUHK’s Diamond Jubilee”, on 24 April 2023. Around 300 scholars, staff, students and members of the public attended the lecture, with more than 600 online audience members joining live from Mainland China.

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Science Faculty 60^th Anniversary Distinguished Science Lectures cum Research Day 2023

Prof. Randy SCHEKMAN (photo on left) and Prof. David DRUBIN (middle) from the University of California, Berkeley, USA, delivered Keynote Lectures at Distinguished Science Lectures cum Research Day and took group photos with the speakers of CUHK Science.

The Faculty was delighted to host the Science Faculty 60^th Science Distinguished Lectures cum Research Day on 11 June 2023. Apart from the sharing on interdisciplinary research from our faculty members, the Faculty was honoured to have two world-renowned distinguished scholars, Professor Randy SCHEKMAN and Professor David DRUBIN, from the University of California, Berkeley, USA, to deliver Distinguished Science Lectures cum Research Day Keynote Lectures and share their latest discoveries in life sciences.

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Science Faculty 60^th Anniversary Distinguished Science Lecture -
The Transformation from an Ordinary College Student to a Transformative Researcher

As part of the Science Faculty 60^th Anniversary Distinguished Science Lecture Series, the Faculty, Department of Mathematics and The Institute of Mathematical Sciences jointly presented a lecture by world-class applied and computational mathematician, Professor Thomas HOU, of the California Institute of Technology on 9 June 2023.

Professor Hou shared his personal story and inspired young students to go out of their comfort zone and transform themselves to become an original thinker and a transformative researcher in the future.

Science Faculty 60^th Anniversary Distinguished Science Lecture -
Ranking Inferences Based on the Top Choice of Multiway Comparisons

On 10 July 2023, the Faculty and the Department of Statistics jointly presented another Science Faculty 60^th Anniversary Distinguished Science Lecture by Professor FAN Jianqing, Frederick L. Moore '18 Professor of Finance, Professor of Statistics, and Professor of Operations Research and Financial Engineering at Princeton University. In the lecture, Professor Fan shared his research findings on the ranking inference problem based on multiway comparisons.

Science Faculty 60^th Anniversary Alumni Open House

The Faculty’s first-ever Alumni Open House was held on 3 June 2023 where there was a series of activities to welcome alumni, along with their family and friends, back on campus. They engaged in different educational and fun activities and enjoyed themselves at tea gatherings to catch up with old classmates and former teachers. The meaningful occasion was graced by the presence of several Alumni Association leaders at the opening ceremony.

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Dean’s Cup – Badminton, Basketball, and Tennis

Following the Alumni Open House, the Faculty’s “60^th Anniversary Dean’s Cup – Badminton, Basketball, and Tennis” event was held on 4 June 2023. A hundred energetic faculty members, alumni and students gathered for competitive sports tournaments in three sports. The event was a showcase of excellent sportsmanship and team spirit where the competing teams put in their best efforts.

The Faculty is grateful for the enthusiastic participation by the teams, and looks forward to reuniting with all Faculty alumni, students, staff, and friends at the upcoming celebrative activities for 60^th anniversary.

Photo Album (Opening Ceremony, Tennis Tournament)

Photo Album (Badminton Tournament)

Photo Album (Basketball Tournament, Prize Presentation Ceremony)

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Triple Honours for CUHK Science at 48^th International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva

Great ideas should be able to withstand the test of global showcase and competition. This year, three projects from the Faculty of Science participated in the 48^th International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva, going head to head against nearly 1,000 inventions from Asia, the Middle East, and Europe. It was the first time for the Faculty to send an official delegation to the Exhibition, and we are thrilled that three projects won awards:

Congratulations to Professor Ngai, Professor Yam and their project teams!

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Science Faculty All-Staff Meeting 2023

The Science Faculty All-Staff Meeting was held on 28 August 2023. Professor SONG Chunshan, Dean of Science, welcomed all staff members and gave an overview of recent developments in the Faculty. The Deanery also updated faculty members on each of the Faculty’s seven strategic areas.

The Dean expressed his sincere appreciation to all Faculty members for their support and contribution throughout the year and wishes the retiring staff all the best as they embark on their new journey.

Honours & Awards

Inauguration Ceremony for Undergraduates 2023

The Inauguration Ceremony for Undergraduates was successfully held on 4 September 2023. This year, the Faculty is pleased to welcome over 600 local students and around 100 non-local students who have passions in pursuing knowledge and inspiration in science.

Professor SONG Chunshan encouraged our freshmen to dream and think big, retain their curiosity, and to enrich their scientific knowledge and insights. Two senior-year students, Govini ELVITIGALA (Chemistry) and James CHAU (Mathematics) also shared their rewarding university life with our freshmen, which was followed by a series of interactive games helping the new comers to familiarise themselves with the university and the Faculty. Following the ceremony, students had a great time meeting their prospective teachers from their major programme over light refreshments.

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Two CUHK Science Students Receive Innovation and Technology Scholarship

The Faculty of Science is proud of two undergraduates who received the Innovation and Technology Scholarship 2023, one of the most prestigious academic awards for students in Hong Kong, in recognition of their tremendous innovation and technology (InnoTech) talent. The recipients from CUHK Science this year are LAI Lok Kan (Physics) and TSOI Lu Yi Lucky (Biochemistry).

CUHK Science Students Shine at CUHK Research Poster Exhibition 2023

Between 17 May to 30 June 2023, CUHK Library, the Graduate School and the Independent Learning Centre (ILC) jointly present Research Poster Exhibition 2023 for current postgraduates to showcase their research. Participants will present their research to an audience spanning various disciplines, cultivating cross-disciplinary understanding and giving postgraduates a great opportunity to improve their presentation and communication skills.

The Faculty of Science is excited to learn that among the 61 submissions this year, two students received awards. Alissa BASS (PhD student in Environmental Science) was crowned the Champion of the Best Poster Presentation Awards this year, presenting her work on the impact of marine heatwaves on species interactions. Meanwhile, Leo LEE (MPhil student in Physics) received Honourable Mention Award for his work on finding the source of ionization in passive galaxies.

Job well done to both award recipients, and thank you to all students for their hard work.

Student Exchange Programme

Alumni Sharing Session - The Becoming of A Forest Scientist in this Concrete Jungle: Curiosity, Compassion, and Commitment

On 19 September 2023, the Faculty of Science invited Dr. HUNG Tin Hang Henry (Biology alumnus), a Postdoctoral Researcher in Forest Science at the Department of Biology and a Retained Lecturer in Biology at Magdalen College, University of Oxford, to speak on the topic “The Becoming of A Forest Scientist in this Concrete Jungle: Curiosity, Compassion, and Commitment”. Dr. Hung shared with the participants how he finds his place as a young scholar in academia and briefly introduced his research areas on critically endangered rosewood trees.

The 12^th ICSA International Conference

The 12^th ICSA International Conference was held by the Department of Statistics and International Chinese Statistical Association (ICSA) from 7 to 9 July 2023. More than 450 scholars and researchers from various countries participated in the conference, including three keynote speakers – Professor CHEN Song Xi from Peking University, Professor SHAO Qi Man from Southern University of Science and Technology, and Professor ZHU Ji from University of Michigan. The opening ceremony was officiated by Professor Alan CHAN, Provost of CUHK, Professor LI Gang, President of ICSA, Professor SUN Jianguo, Chair of Executive and Scientific Program Committees and Professor SONG Xinyuan, Chair of Local Organising Committee.

The International Conference on New Trends in Computational and Data Sciences

The International Conference on New Trends in Computational and Data Science, jointly organised by the Departments of Mathematics of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and The Chinese University of Hong Kong, in Honour of Professor Tony CHAN’s 70^th Birthday, was successfully conducted from 26 to 27 August 2023.

The Conference attracted more than 110 participants and 15 invited talks were conducted on the two days. It was not only well-received but also brought leading researchers in areas of scientific computing, optimization, image processing, and data science together to exchange ideas and discuss their latest research developments, which would substantially strengthen the tie between institutions in Hong Kong and Mainland China. These meaningful exchanges would surely benefit in stimulating new ideas and interdisciplinary collaborations, as well as emphasis on the crucial and unique role of mathematical insights in advanced algorithm design and novel real-world applications.

The Second HKSIAM Biennial Meeting

Organised by the Department of Mathematics, the Second Hong Kong Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (HKSIAM) Biennial Meeting was successfully conducted at CUHK from 28 August to 1 September 2023. The Conference attracted a total of 270 participants.

During the five-day conference, a total of 11 plenary lectures and 19 mini-symposium were conducted. Through discussions from a wide array of perspectives, the Conference enabled the participants to exchange the most up-to-date developments in applied mathematics and industrial applications, stimulate new mathematical ideas, initiate and enhance existing collaborations between the researchers in different regions.

The Organising Committee of the Second HKSIAM Biennial Meeting is grateful for the support it received for this event and wishes to thank wholeheartedly all contributors, sponsors and participants of this event for making this 5-day conference informative, inspiring as well as enjoyable.

International Symposium on Agricultural Genomics for Food Security and Plant-Environment Interaction in a Changing Climate

Accredited as a CUHK 60^th anniversary celebratory event, The International Symposium on Agricultural Genomics for Food Security and Plant-Environment Interaction in a Changing Climate, organised from 9 to 11 August 2023 jointly by the State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology (CUHK), the RGC-AoE Center for Genomic Studies on Plant-Environment Interaction for Sustainable Agriculture and Food Security and Institute of Environment, Energy and Sustainability with Faculty of Science as one of the event sponsors, was a resounding success.

The three-day symposium, well received by over 150 attendees from six continents, has successfully nurtured the foundation of International Consortium for Research and Applications of Legumes on 11 August 2023. Jointly founded by Professor LAM Hon Ming (Choh-Ming Li Professor of Life Sciences), Professor Henry NGUYEN (University of Missouri) and Professor Rajeev VARSHNEY (Murdoch University), the newly formed consortium aimed for international cross-disciplinary and cross-boundary collaborations on legume research and applications for advancing science and agriculture. This international consortium is expected to drive the momentum of the symposium further through joint research addressing environmental sustainability.

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