Newsletter - HKU Graduate School

THE
GRADUATE
SCHOOL
Newsletter
S E P T E M B E R 2 01 3
HKU PhD student wins Hong Kong National Championship
and International Award in science presenting
As a doctor, educator and researcher, communicating
with patients, students and academic peers is a vital
everyday skill. I had a great chance to develop this by
taking part in Famelab, an international science presenting
competition run by Cheltenham Science Festivals in the
UK. Academics and students are given just 3 minutes to educate, engage and
entertain a public audience and an expert panel of academics in a research
or science topic of their choice. 21 countries compete, with each holding a
national championship before sending their representatives to the semi-finals in
the UK.
Our national championships were held at the Hong Kong Science Museum, and
drew a large public audience, giving quite a nerve-wracking setting! My talk
was on the role of neurotransmitters in a phenomenon known as ego-depletion,
and how this applies to everyday life. I won first place and the chance to
represent Hong Kong in England.
At the international semi-finals in the UK, I met fierce competition from an
Oxford University PhD candidate, a Polish satellite engineer, a post-doctoral
neuroscience researcher and a particle physicist working on the Large Hadron
Collider in CERN. I made it through to the Grand Finals on June 7, and gave a
talk on probabilities in kissing, and how a virus spread through saliva can cause
a type of cancer known as nasophyrangeal carcinoma.
I won the International Vote Award,
which was presented by Professor
Kathy Sykes, noted UK physicist and
BBC television presenter. Following
my performance, I have been invited
to speak at the national science
festival in Prague, and to host my own
show here at the Hong Kong Science
Museum in 2014.
As a research community, our support,
both financially and politically, comes
from the public. As well as engaging in
the highest quality of research, I hope we at
HKU can continue to reach out and engage
the public to drive home the importance of
our under takings, thereby securing more
support for our academic futures. Activities
such as Famelab help to develop these skills,
and I hope that many other HKU research
students will take the wonderful opportunity
and enjoy their 3 minutes of fame!
STUDENT PROFILE
Dr See Christopher Yew Hong
Graduated in Medicine from
Trinity College, Cambridge
PGCE in clinical education from
Edinburgh University
PhD Student in Li Ka Shing
Faculty of Medicine, under
IMHSE (Institute for Medical and
Health Sciences Education) and
Department of Family Medicine
and Primary Care
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Medical education using digital
methods
Triumph again for HKU in RGC-Fulbright Hong Kong
Dissertation Research Programme
Having achieved the most outstanding results among all local
universities in the last two years, PhD candidates from HKU
continued their impressive accomplishments this year as they
captured six of the eight awards of the RGC-Fulbright Hong Kong
Dissertation Research Programme 2013-14, securing 75% of the
total funding.
The fellowship programme was launched by the Research Grants
Council (RGC) in collaboration with the U.S. Consulate-General in
Hong Kong and it is supported by commercial donors solicited
by the Hong Kong-America Center. The awardees will spend
six to ten months in elite institutions in the United States for their
dissertation research. The six fellowship recipients from HKU are
as follows:
Back row: (from left) Ms Lam Yin Hung and Ms Cui Tao
Front row: (from left) Mr Chan Chun Wang Aaron,
Ms Xie Wensi and Ms Wong Paulina Pui Yan
Name/ Department
Approved
Length of
Fellowship
Affiliated
Institution
Research Title
Award
Mr CHAN Chun Wang
Aaron
PhD Candidate,
Department of
Electrical and Electronic
Engineering
6 months starting
from August
2013
University of
California, Davis
Development of Doppler Frequency
Estimators for use in optical
coherence tomography under
additive and multiplicative noise
HK$74,880
Ms CUI Tao
PhD Candidate,
School of Modern
Languages and Cultures
(Modern China Studies)
10 months
starting from
September 2013
Parsons The
New School for
Design in New
York City
HK$124,800
How China can enhance its
cultural power in the world through
the emerging fashion system in
contemporary China in socio-cultural
context
Ms LAM Yin Hung
PhD Candidate,
Department of
Psychology
6 months starting
from August
2013
University
of Southern
California
The neural network of maladaptive
socio-affective functioning in
schizotypy using Magnetic
Resonance Imaging technique
HK$74,880
Ms WONG Paulina
Pui Yun
PhD Candidate,
Department of
Geography
6 months starting
from September
2013
University of
California,
Berkeley
Use 3-dimensional (3D) spatial
analytical tools to simulate and
present UHI for 3D visualisation
HK$74,880
Ms XIE Wensi
PhD Candidate,
School of Economics
and Finance
8 months starting
from August
2013
Wharton at the
University of
Pennsylvania
Banking survivorship in the recent
financial crisis
HK$99,840
Ms ZHU Shimin
PhD Candidate,
Department of
Social Work and
Social Administration
7 months starting
from July 2013
University of
Michigan
‘Possible Selves and Adolescents’
focusing on developing program to
channel adolescents
HK$87,360
Dean of the Graduate School
receives Endowed Professorship
Congratulations to Professor Paul Tam, Pro-Vice-Chancellor
(Research) and Dean of the Graduate School, who received
an Endowed Professorship as the Li Shu-Pui Professor
in Surger y at the Seventh Inauguration of Endowed
Professorships held on April 19, 2013, where seven new
Endowed Professorships were inaugurated.
Specialising in the surger y, genetics and regenerative
medicine of birth defects such as Hirschsprung's disease,
Professor Tam’s work has been widely recognised. In 2012,
Professor Tam was acknowledged as one of the top 1%
scientists according to ISI's Essential Science Indicators.
In addition to giving keynote lectures such as the Journal
of Pediatric Surgery Lecture and the Suruga Lecture at
international conferences, Professor Tam is also the recipient
of awards including the British Association of Pediatric
Surgery Prize, and the International Outstanding Leadership
Award in Endoscopy from the National Office for Science and
Technology, China.
Dr Walton Li (left) and Professor Tam
For more information and photos, please visit http://www.hku.hk/ephku/
participants via a range of courses capturing cognitive,
universalist, functionalist, socio-cultural and descriptive
approaches to linguistics, as well as practical topics
such as experimental, computational and mathematical
methodologies. Overlapping with the Institute were two
forum lectures, three Institute lectures and twenty-three
workshops mostly over the weekends.
Picnic on Independence Day outside Mason Hall,
The University of Michigan
Photography by Michael Opper
Universality and Variability
in Michigan
How would you say my name ‘Suki’? Generally,
Cantonese friends call me [suk.ki] with a geminated [k];
the Mainland Chinese call me [su.ki]; the Japanese have
the [u] reduced, resulting in [ski]; for friends coming
from other places, it depends. This kind of fascinating
variability in language drove me to visit ‘Linguisticsland’
in the summer.
The 2013 Linguistics Institute at the Univer sity
of Michigan in Ann Arbor covered diverse areas of
linguistics and integrated different approaches and
methodologies, revolving around the theme of
‘Universality and Variability’. This biennial event offered
a four-week intensive training programme to interested
The courses provided me with a more comprehensive
u n d e r s t a n d i n g o f my s p e c i a l i s e d a r e a s, i . e.
phonetics and phonology. It was a precious chance
for international students, especially those who had
not much experience of studying overseas, to have a
taste of the competitive postgraduate life in the States.
Meeting and exchanging ideas with intellectuals also
served as a golden chance to formulate my current
research projects by viewing the same issue from
a diverse range of perspectives and exploring new
methodologies, and to seek opportunities to collaborate
with exper ts across disciplines in languages and
linguistics.
Beyond classes, the culturally vibrant town of Ann Arbor
featuring street festivals, music performances, markets,
museums and restaurants was a desirable environment
to immerse oneself in. During the first two weeks of
the Institute, Top of the Park offered outdoor music and
movies. At the end of the third week, the largest annual
art fairs in the States were held, plus smaller events such
as the weekly Kerrytown Farmers’ Market, Sonic Lunch,
the Ann Arbor Book Festival, and the Fourth of July
Parade.
Yiu Suet Yee, Suki
MPhil Candidate, School of Humanities (Linguistics)
HKU Three Minute Thesis (3MTTM) Competition 2013
Jointly organised by the Graduate
School and the Knowledge Exchange
Office, the third Three Minute Thesis
(3MTTM) Competition was successfully
held on June 11, 2013. Originally
introduced by The Univer sity of
Queensland (UQ), Australia in 2008,
3MTTM celebrates the discoveries made
by research students and encourages
skills development in communicating
the impor tance of research to the
broader community. In the competition,
par ticipants take the challenge of
presenting their research to a general
audience in 3 minutes with the
aid of only one single static PowerPoint slide, with no
animations, electronic media or additional props being
allowed.
The adjudicating panel included Mr Man Cheuk Fei,
HKU Council Member, and Ms Linda Yeung, Education
Editor of the South China Morning Post, as external
members. The internal members of the adjudicating
panel were Professor John Bacon-Shone, Associate
Director of the Knowledge Exchange Office (Chairman
of the adjudicating panel), Dr Danny Chan, Associate
Professor of the Department of Biochemistry, Professor
Ying Chan, Director of the Journalism and Media Studies
Centre, Professor Nirmala Rao, Associate Dean of the
Graduate School, and Professor Ben Young, Assistant
Dean of the Graduate School. Professor Becky Loo,
Assistant Dean of the Graduate School, has helped
adjudicate at one of the parallel heats.
The champion, 1st runner-up and 2nd runner-up
were determined by the adjudicating panel based on
criteria such as comprehensibility of the presentation,
presenter’s engagement with the audience, and
communication skills of the presenter, and the People’s
Choice Award was decided by audience ballot. The
finalist who obtained the most ‘LIKE’ votes on YouTube
was awarded the Online People’s Choice Award. This
year’s winners were as follows:
Champion (awarded research travel support or a book prize of HK$7,000)
Name: Ms Chu Cassini Sai Kwan (PhD Candidate, Faculty of Social Sciences)
Title of Presentation:Compensated Dating
Primary Supervisor: Professor Karen Joe Laidler
1st Runner-up (awarded research travel support or a book prize of HK$5,000); and
People’s Choice Award (awarded research travel support or a book prize of HK$3,000)
Name: Ms Tang Yin Hang Phoebe (MPhil Candidate, Faculty of Arts)
Title of Presentation:Selling Skylab: Dreams and Challenges
Primary Supervisor: Professor Charles Schencking
2nd Runner-up (awarded research travel support or a book prize of HK$3,000)
Name: Mr Ho King Yan (PhD Candidate, Faculty of Science)
Title of Presentation:Ecological and Human Health Risks Associated with Organotin Contamination
in the Marine Environment of Hong Kong
Primary Supervisor: Dr. Kenneth M. Y. Leung
Online People’s Choice Award (awarded a book voucher of HK$800)
Name: Ms Wong Sze Wah Sarah (PhD Candidate, Faculty of Dentistry)
Title of Presentation:Discovery of a ‘Magic Bullet’ for a Deadly Fungus
Primary Supervisor: Prof. Lakshman Perera Samaranayake
The presentations made by the 3MT awardees and finalists can be viewed at http://www.ke.hku.hk/hku3mt/index.php/
competition/2013/2013-videos-of-finalists-and-awardees. The Champion of HKU 3MT 2013 is going to represent HKU
at the Trans-Tasman 3MT Competition to be held in October 2013 at The University of Western Sydney, Parramatta.
Congratulations again to all the winners!
International Research Skills Development Programme 2013
A total of 47 research postgraduate students from
19 countries joined the International Research Skills
Development (IRSD) Programme 2013 at HKU from July
16 to July 19, 2013. The 4-day residential programme
was of fered by HKU in conjunction with Imperial
College London (ICL) and Shanghai Jiaotong University.
With the objective to enhance both the personal and
research effectiveness of participants, the programme
is specifically designed for early stage PhD students and
MPhil students who are about to embark on their PhD
studies.
Based on the award
winning transferable skills
programme that is regularly
run at ICL, the IRSD adopts
a n i n t e r a c t i ve t e a ch i n g
mode w hich exposes
students to a novel learning
environment. The programme
of fer s an unparalleled
oppor tunity for students
to develop awareness and
skills that are significant
and directly applicable to
their postgraduate study,
career and whole person development, and to broaden
their horizons academically, culturally and socially by
meeting people with different academic and cultural
backgrounds.
Some Comments from
Participating Students:
In this IRSD programme, our early-stage postgraduate
students came from 4 institutes, 19 countries and diverse
cultural backgrounds. With this cultural diversity, we got
together here in Hong Kong, the most international city
in the world, and shared 4 unforgettable and valuable
days. During this programme, we learnt not only from the
course itself but also from our friends; all of us tried to
understand and learn from each other.
By completing this challenging but fun programme,
I truly got some inspiration on research and international
cooperation. Thanks to this programme for providing
us with a harmonious environment to promote research
skills, while letting us gain knowledge from different
cultural issues.
Zeng Qiongyu
PhD Candidate, Shanghai Jiaotong University
The four-day IRSD programme in HKU
is the most exciting event I have ever
attended. I found the courses are
really helpful to my PhD study. Team
cooperation, inter-discipline research
skills, presentation techniques, giving
and receiving feedback﹣everything
was exactly what I need for the
current stage of my research. After
the training, I have really learnt a lot,
which definitely makes me much more
confident to face my future research
jobs. In addition, I have made lots of
good friends: PhD students from
19 countries. I cannot imagine what
other kind of event could lead to this
opportunity to meet so many brilliant
people.
Li Lianbo
PhD Candidate, Imperial College London
This programme provided us an opportunity to build our
understanding, skills and confidence in the respective
research areas by team work and cooperation. The
courses allowed students to discover their strengths
and also understand their weaknesses. They also allowed
me to understand the importance of collaborations in
research and academia. During this course participants
were also trained in the presentation skills for promoting
their field. By attending this course we also came to know
how to deal with stressful situations during the course
of our postgraduate studies by motivation and effective
strategies. In all, IRSD helped its participants in overall
personal development.
Subham Badhyal
PhD Candidate, Indian Institute of Technology Ropar
I am glad that I have participated in the IRSD
Programme this summer. I have never thought
that the programme could be so impressive
and useful. Through different interactive
activities, the programme let us reflect on our
research life and we were able to learn from
different research postgraduates from all
over the world. It also provided insights for
RPG on how to become a better researcher in
the future. And I have made numerous friends
and built up networks with them. We have
experienced a lot together in just the few
days of the programme. It was so fun and we
all enjoyed it!
Leung Man Hong
MPhil Candidate, HKU
The Inaugural Ceremony and the First Annual Forum of
the Asia-Pacific Alliance of Postgraduate Student Associations
The for um star ted with a dinner to welcome
representatives from the United States, Singapore,
Malaysia, Taiwan, Macau, Mainland China and Hong
Kong. The programme over the following days included
a leadership camp, parallel forums, keynote speeches
and a High Table Dinner. Lively discussions arose in
three parallel forums that focused on
the ‘Management and Succession of
Postgraduate Associations’, ‘Social
Responsibility of Postgraduates’,
and ‘Regional Collaborative Models
of Postgraduate Associations’
respectively.
Th e I n a u g u r a l C e r e m o ny a n d t h e F i r s t
Annual Forum of the Asia-Pacific Alliance of
Postgraduate Student Associations (APA-PSA)
was held at HKU from June 12 to June 15,
2013. This 4-day event was held in conjunction
with the celebration of the HKU Postgraduate Student
Association (PGSA) 20th Anniversary. Representatives
from 26 universities along with postgraduates of HKU
participated in the forum.
APA-GSA was formed as part of the effort to facilitate
the communication and cooperation among the graduate
student associations in the Asia-Pacific region. The
alliance aims to build a dynamic and harmonious AsiaPacific graduate student community by promoting and
accelerating source integration, encouraging academic
communication, enhancing the welfare of postgraduates,
and facilitating a favourable and sustainable cooperation
platform.
In the keynote speech session,
Mr Richard Fong, the Chair man
of Hong Kong Affairs HKCTC and
Adjunct Professor of CityU, and
Mr Adolf Ho, the CEO of Classic
Management Consultants Ltd and
Associate Adjunct Professor of
HKUST, gave speeches on social
networking and career development for postgraduates.
Anna Pechenina, the Director of Finance from the
National Association of Graduate-Professional Students
(NAGPS) of the USA, shared the experience of running
a regional postgraduate students’ organisation.
As the grand finale of the APA-PSA event, the High
Table Dinner was held in Loke Yew Hall on the evening
of June 15. Professor Lap-Chee Tsui (Vice-Chancellor),
Dr Albert Chau (Dean of Student Affairs), Professor Billy
Chow (Master of Graduate House), and Ms Irene Yeung
(Senior Student Advisor) attended the High Table Dinner
as honourable guests, and Professor Tsui gave a toast to
draw the fruitful forum to a close.
Xu Siyang, Cayman
PhD Candidate, Department of Urban Planning and Design
President of Postgraduate Student Association 2012-2013
Outreach Visit to India
In August 2013, members of the Faculties of Arts, Social
Sciences and Medicine joined hands with the Graduate
School for an outreach visit to India. Although HKU is
well known in South-East Asia, we wanted to enhance
our visibility in the Indian subcontinent. In keeping with
the internationalisation strategy of the University, the
visit allowed us to explore oppor tunities for fur ther
internationalising our student body and to establish
academic links with esteemed research institutions in
India.
The HKU delegation comprised Professor Malik Peiris
(Tam Wah-Ching Professor in Medical Science, Chair
Professor in Virology of the School of Public Health and
Director of the Centre of Influenza Research), Professor
Shu Leong Ho (Henry G Leong Professor in Neurology
and Chief of Division in Neurology of the Department
of Medicine), Professor Tatia Lee (May Professor in
Neuropsychology, Chair Professor of Psychology and
Honorary Professor of the Department of Psychiatry and
Department of Medicine), Professor Li-hai Tan (Professor
of Linguistics and Brain and Cognitive Sciences of the
School of Humanities
(Linguistics) and Founder
and Director of the State
Key Laboratory of Brain
and Cognitive Sciences),
Professor Nirmala Rao
(Associa te Dean and
Director of Gradua te
Studies of the Graduate
School), and Professor
Jo h n S p i n k s ( S e n i o r
A dv i s o r t o t h e Vi c e Chancellor). Members of
the delegation gave talks
at the Indian Institute of
Science (IISc), National
Institute of Mental Health
and Neurosciences
(NIMHANS), St. John’s
M e d i c a l C o l l e ge a n d
Mount Carmel College, all
in Bangalore, India.
Highlights of the trip included the IISc public lecture,
which was given by Professor Peiris on August 19
and entitled ‘The Legacies of SARS, “Bird-flu” H5N1
and Other Emerging Viral Diseases’. The lecture was
very well attended by Faculty members, postdoctoral
researchers, and doctoral students from the Institute
and different medical colleges and research institutes in
Bangalore.
Another highlight was the Meeting of Minds symposium
held on August 20, 2013 at NIMHANS, which included
talks entitled ‘Disease Progress Modification in
Parkinson’s Disease’ by Professor Ho, ‘Social Affective
Neuroscience: Emotion Recognition and Regulation’
by Professor Lee and ‘Brain Mechanism of Language:
Universal or Culture-specific’ by Professor Tan. The
audience included researchers and staff from NIMHANS
and teachers from different colleges of Bangalore
University.
National Institute of Mental Health and Neurosciences
(NIMHANS), Bangalore, August 20, 2013.
Produced by:
The Graduate School,
P403, Graduate House,
The University of Hong Kong,
Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong.
EDITORIAL TEAM
Professor Nirmala Rao (Associate Dean and Director of
Graduate Studies, Graduate School)
Mrs Betty Tsui (Graduate School)
Ms Vicki Geall (Technical Writer, Research Services)
Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore, August 19, 2013.
Tel: 2857-3470 Fax: 2857-3543
E-mail: [email protected] Url: http://www.hku.hk/gradsch/