Asia is recovering from the global pandemic quicker than any other region, and knowledge exchange at the Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study (HKIAS) at CityU has not been hampered. Embracing the new normal, the institute has taken advantage of the internet to connect scholars and stakeholders worldwide.

Professor Xun-Li Wang, a renowned scholar in neutron scattering, presented a lecture titled “Structure and Dynamics of Metallic Glass – Atomistic Insights from Neutron and Synchrotron Scattering Experiments” at the online talk of the Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study (HKIAS) Lecture Series on Physics at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) on 14 April 2021. Close to 300 online participants joined this virtual lecture.

Following the success of the Distinguished Lecture series last semester, HKIAS has introduced three distinguished online lectures on the Chemistry series with support in part by Kwang Hua Educational Foundation.

A renowned scholar, Professor Chun-Sing Lee, the Head of Department of Chemistry of the City University of Hong Kong (CityU), delivered an online lecture titled “Charge-Transfer Complexes and their Applications” for the Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study (HKIAS) Distinguished Lecture Series on Chemistry at CityU on 8 April 2021.

A specialist in the field of nanomaterials, Professor Hua Zhang, the Herman Hu Chair Professor of Nanomaterials in the Department of Chemistry of the City University of Hong Kong (CityU), delivered an online lecture titled “Phase Engineering of Nanomaterials (PEN)” for the Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study (HKIAS) Distinguished Lecture Series on Chemistry at CityU on 31 March 2021. Over 300 online participants joined this virtual event.

The article “About Tresca’s Memoirs on the fluidity of solids (1864–1870)”, by Professor Jean Salençon, Senior Fellow of HKIAS, was published on Comptes rendus de l'Académie des Sciences in January 2021.

Thirty-eight world-leading scholars, industry leaders and policy-makers from around the world debated recent advances in low-carbon energy technology and nuclear safety in a specially convened online Forum on clean energy and nuclear safety on 10 March, titled “Clean Energy and nuclear safety – 10 years after Fukushima”. The Forum offered two streams, namely clean energy and nuclear safety, and approximately 2,500 participants from over 20 countries and territories participated.

Powering the world while preserving the planet is a rising concern. A renowned scientist, Professor Alex Jen, the Lee Shau-Kee Chair Professor of Materials Science of the City University of Hong Kong (CityU), presented an online lecture titled “Printable Solar Cells for Transformative Clean Energy and Sustainable Society” for the Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study (HKIAS) Distinguished Lecture Series on Chemistry at CityU on 3 March 2021. Over 330 online participants joined this virtual lecture.

According to metrics compiled by Stanford University, over 140 full-time faculty members at the City University of Hong Kong (CityU) are listed among the top 2% of the world's most highly cited scientists, including eight Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study (HKIAS) members. Professor Sir Colin Blakemore, Professor Philippe G. Ciarlet, Professor Way Kuo, Professor Chain-Tsuan Liu, Professor Jian Lu, Professor David J. Srolovitz, Senior Fellows of HKIAS*; Professor Tei-Wei Kuo, Former Visiting Fellow of HKIAS; and Professor Jacob C. Huang, Executive Director of HKIAS are among those eminent scholars.

World-renowned academics in Hong Kong addressed key academic questions as they participated in the virtual HKIAS Distinguished Lecture series in November 2020. During two lectures delivered as the second half of a four-part series, senior fellows from the Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study (HKIAS) explored advanced mathematical analysis as well as pioneering approaches to materials science and engineering.