News & Stories

Prof Alan Heeger, Nobel Laureate in Chemistry in 2000, today (Friday) unveiled to a packed lecture hall at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology the secrets of "plastic solar cells" with the world's highest energy efficiency rating for such cells made with organic materials. This was part of a series of Distinguished Lectures hosted by the University's Institute of Advanced Study. "I am excited to have led a research team that created a new low-cost 'tandem' organic solar cell with 6.5% efficiency, the highest record for solar cells made with organic materials. This technology is now under active development toward commercialization, and is expected to have significant contribution to meeting the energy needs of our planet in the future." said Professor Heeger.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has today (Wednesday) conferred Honorary Fellowship on four distinguished community leaders in recognition of their contributions to Hong Kong. The four are: Dr James William Hayes, Mr Hui Hok-Chee, Ir Dr Lo Wai-Kwok and Dr Tam Wai-Ho Samson. HKUST Pro-Chancellor Dr the Honorable Sir Sze-Yuen Chung, Council Chairman Dr the Honorable Marvin Cheung, and President Paul Chu officiated at the conferment ceremony.

Dr Minoru Etoh, Deputy Managing Director of NTT DoCoMo Research Laboratories and Vice President of NTT DoCoMo, a leading mobile communications company in the world, delivered a distinguished lecture today (Friday) on "Insights into Mobile Applications beyond 3G" at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). This was the first lecture given by Dr Etoh at a Hong Kong university. In his lecture, Dr Etoh shared with the audience the current progress of mobile multimedia applications in Japan's broadband cellular environment. He explored the potential expansion of wireless broadband to "fixed-line" internet applications, in addition to the capacity of music download and video clip delivery. Dr Etoh also identified how mobile specific aspects such as mobile multimedia area, mobile advertisement and e-commerce have enriched our daily life and gave his insights into the future development of mobile internet.

HKUST is hosting Hong Kong’s first Frontiers of Science Symposium jointly sponsored by the Royal Society of Britain and the Croucher Foundation, covering key research areas such as stem cell research and infectious diseases.The conference organizers invited 70 of the best and brightest young scientists from the UK and from local universities for three days (16-18 January) of scientific dialogue and discussions.The Frontiers of Science is an important platform for bilateral sharing of major scientific ideas and techniques between countries, cities or regions. The US and the UK have each organized a series of such bilateral conferences with other countries or regions in recent years.

International library and learning support experts from more than 10 countries attended an International Conference on Information and Learning Commons hosted by the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, the first of its kind in the territory.The 2-day Conference, started today (Monday 10 December) at HKUST’s Lee Wing Tat Lecture Theatre, was held to mark the anniversary of launching Information Commons by HKUST’s Lee Shau Kee Library.Integrating reference services and technical support, the Information Commons aims to foster continued learning outside the classroom. It provides students and faculty with a creative, flexible, technology-rich environment to use electronic information resources effectively, to experiment with new information technology, and to enhance collaborative learning and group presentations. Library users, especially students, have responded enthusiastically to the service since its introduction last fall.