Renowned computer scientist Dr. C. Mohan delivered the distinguished lecture titled "State of Public and Private Blockchains: Myths and Reality" for the Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study (HKIAS) at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) on 11 January 2019.

In view of global concerns regarding the environment and sustainable energy resources, the discovery of new green catalytic reactions is desirable. A renowned chemist Professor David Milstein delivered the distinguished lecture titled “Design and Applications of Catalytic Reactions for Sustainable Synthesis and Energy” for the Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study (HKIAS) at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) on 23 January 2019.

To highlight the remarkable technical and conceptual progress across the whole of modern neuroscience and encourage the collaboration of scholars at the forefront of neuroscience research, the Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study (HKIAS) will organize the HKIAS Symposium on Advances in Neuroscience on 25 – 26 March 2019 at the City University of Hong Kong (CityU). The symposium is initiated by Professor Tomas Hökfelt, Professor at the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, and Professor Sir Colin Blakemore, Emeritus Professor of Neuroscience at University of Oxford, UK, both of whom are Senior Fellows of HKIAS; together with Professor Jufang He, Chair Professor of the Department of Biomedical Sciences at CityU.

HKIAS Symposium on Advances in Neuroscience hosted by the Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study (HKIAS) was held at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) from 25 to 26 March 2019. The symposium is organized by Professor Sir Colin Blakemore, Yeung Kin Man Chair Professor of Neuroscience at CityU and Professor Tomas Hökfelt, Professor at the Karolinska Institutet, Sweden, both of whom are Senior Fellows of HKIAS; together with Professor Jufang He, Chair Professor of the Department of Biomedical Sciences at CityU.

Professor Yannis A. Phillis, a renowned engineering scientist, presented a distinguished lecture titled “A Mathematical Model of National Sustainability: Where the World is Heading” for the Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study (HKIAS) at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) on 29 March 2019.

Professor Alain-Sol Sznitman, a renowned mathematician, delivered a distinguished lecture titled “Disconnection, Random Interlacements, and the Gaussian Free Field” for the Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study (HKIAS) at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) on 9 April 2019.

Professor Tai-Wei Kuo, HKIAS Visiting Fellow, has been elected as a Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI) for the 2018 class. The honour is the highest professional distinction accorded to academic inventors who have demonstrated a prolific spirit of innovation in creating or facilitating outstanding inventions that have made a tangible impact on quality of life, economic development and the welfare of society.

Professor Carl C. Koch, an eminent scientist in materials science and engineering, delivered a distinguished lecture titled “Stabilization of Nanocrystalline Grain Size at Elevated Temperatures: Theory and Experiment” for the Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study (HKIAS) at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) on 17 May 2019.