The spirit of international collaboration continues to thrive at the City University of Hong Kong (CityU), a fact that was highlighted last month during an important conference honoring the 80th birthday of Professor Philippe G. Ciarlet, a senior fellow with the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) at CityU. He has devoted himself to connecting its students and faculty with some of France’s greatest minds.

From mathematics and quantum physics to chemistry, six world-renowned scholars, members or foreign members of the French Academy of Sciences, gathered at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) to discuss blue sky science development in their fields. The event, initiated by CityU’s Institute for Advanced Study (IAS), was held to celebrate productive scientific cooperation between France and Hong Kong.

A research team led by CityU HKIAS Senior Fellow Professor Liu Chain-tsuan has worked out a novel strategy for developing new super alloys that are extremely strong, yet ductile and flexible. The breakthrough solution addresses a daunting, decades-long dilemma in materials science.

Professor Shie-Ming Peng, a renowned pioneer in molecular wire synthetic chemistry, delivered a distinguished lecture titled “From Homonuclear Metal String Complexes to Heteronuclear Metal String Complexes” for the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) on 30 November 2018.

City University of Hong Kong (CityU) conferred honorary doctorates on four distinguished persons including IAS Senior Fellow Professor Alain Aspect in recognition of their significant contributions to education and the well-being of society.

A finding by Professor Chain-Tsuan Liu and Professor Ke Lu, IAS Senior Fellows and their team was featured on Science. The materials scientists report a strategy to enhance the performance of complex alloys by controllably introducing high-density ductile multicomponent intermetallic nanoparticles (MCINPs) in complex alloy systems. This MCINP strategy offers a paradigm to develop next-generation materials for structural applications.

Earlier on Nov 12, Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) of CityU invited 6 renowned speakers, all Senior Fellows of IAS, to share at the IAS Conference. Held in honour of Prof. Philippe G. Ciarlet's 80th birthday, the conference celebrated the France-Hong Kong Scientific Cooperation, and CityU's unwavering effort in promoting scientific cooperation between the two places in the past 15 years.

A finding by Professor TG Nieh, IAS Visiting Professor and his team was featured on Nature. The materials scientists proposed that oxygen can take the form of ordered oxygen complexes, a state in between oxide particles and frequently occurring random interstitials. These results provide insight into the role of interstitial solid solutions and associated ordering strengthening mechanisms in metallic materials.

On 12 November 2018, Instituted for Advanced Study (IAS) organized a full-day conference in celebrating the major role of City University of Hong Kong (CityU) in developing scientific cooperation between France and Hong Kong, in honour of the 80th Birthday of the renowned Mathematician Professor Philippe G.c, Senior Fellow of IAS and University Distinguished Professor at CityU.

Professor Peter Glynn, a recognized scholar in management science and the IAS Senior Fellow, delivered a lecture on 29 October for the Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) Distinguished Lecture Series: Frontiers in Operations Research / Operations Management at City University of Hong Kong (CityU).