Eminent scholars from academia worldwide shared their insights into challenges and perspectives in advanced electron microscopy and instrumentation and their applications in materials science, biology and physics at a forum hosted by the Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study (HKIAS) at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) from 11 to 14 December. The four-day forum took place at CityU on 11 and 12 December and the CityU Shenzhen Futian Research Institute on 13 and 14 December. It provided a platform for students and the scientific community to discuss the use of combinations of state-of-the-art techniques in electron microscopy and their applications with world-leading scholars, and initiate and strengthen international collaboration.

High performance computing (HPC) stands at the forefront of scientific discovery and commercial innovation, yielding significant economic benefits. In the inaugural Way Kuo Distinguished Lecture at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) on 5 December, Professor Jack Dongarra delved into the transformative nature of HPC over the past decade. As a co-founder of the TOP500 supercomputer list and a renowned expert in HPC, Professor Dongarra explored the profound impact of these advancements on numerical scientific software. He also discussed the future trends, challenges, and opportunities in reinventing HPC, emphasizing its potential to drive breakthrough discoveries and innovation.

Professor Nieng Yan, HKIAS Senior Fellow and Founding President of Shenzhen Medical Academy of Research & Translation, has been elected as a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), in recognition of her contribution to life science.

Our Senior Fellow Professor Enge Wang visits the Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study (HKIAS) at City University of Hong Kong from November 22 to 28, 2023. During his visit to HKIAS, Professor Wang engages in collaborative discussions with scholars, researchers, and students at CityU. This unique opportunity fosters intellectual exchange and innovation within the scientific community.

Professor Jean Salençon, Professor Emeritus at the École Polytechnique, delivered a HKIAS Distinguished Lecture, entitled “1773 About Coulomb’s Seminal Contribution to Soil Mechanics”, on 22 November.

Professor Marc Fontecave, a distinguished member of the French Academy of Sciences and a Professor at the Collège de France, delivered a pivotal lecture on 8 November at the recent France-Hong Kong Distinguished Lecture Series, hosted by City University of Hong Kong (CityU). The lecture highlighted the critical need for a coordinated approach between energetic transition and essential policies to adapt to escalating global temperatures. Titled “Necessities and Challenges of the Energetic Transition”, the lecture marked the revival of the series, which had been on hold since 2019. Among the distinguished guests in attendance were Mrs Christile Drulhe, the Consul General of France in Hong Kong and Macau; Professor Freddy Boey, President of CityU; and Professor Cheng Shuk Han, Associate Vice-President (Research).

Professor Robert Rosner, an eminent theoretical physicist and President of the American Physical Society (APS), visited Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study (HKIAS) at City University of Hong Kong on October 29.

Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study (HKIAS) of City University of Hong Kong congratulates our Senior Fellow Professor Qi-Kun Xue on winning the Oliver E. Buckley Condensed Matter Physics Prize 2024, an accolade that recognizes outstanding theoretical or experimental contributions to condensed matter physics.

Professor Tongyi Zhang, Member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and founding dean of Materials Genome Institute, Shanghai University delivered the HKIAS Distinguished Lecture entitled “Materials-GPT and Domain Knowledge-Guided Machine Learning” on 20 October 2023.

Professor Hong Ding, Chair professor of Tsung-Dao Lee Institute, Shanghai Jiao Tong University delivered the HKIAS Distinguished Lecture entitled “Iron-based superconductors as a new Majorana playground” on 18 October 2023. The event was well-attended by scholars, faculty members, and students across universities in Hong Kong.