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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

Professor Wei Bao, Chair Professor of Department of Physics at City University of Hong Kong (CityU), delivered a lecture titled “Lattice, Charge, Spin and Orbital Aspects of the Iron Chalcogenide Superconductors” at the last online talk of the Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study (HKIAS) Lecture Series on Physics at CityU on 12 May 2021.

On 14 May 2021, Professor Lain-Jong Li, Chair Professor in Nanomaterials for Future Electronics of the Department of Mechanical Engineering at The University of Hong Kong, delivered a presentation titled “Materials Innovation for Future Electronics” for Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study at the City University of Hong Kong (CityU). All participants were inspired by the speaker and conducted vigorous discussions during the Q&A session.

The most pressing task to take the COVID-19 response to the next phase is vaccination. One of the world’s leading molecular virologists, Professor Nikolaus Osterrieder, Dean of Jockey Club College of Veterinary Medicine and Life Sciences of the City University of Hong Kong (CityU), presented a virtual talk titled “COVID-19 Vaccination - A One Health No-Brainer” for the Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study (HKIAS) Distinguished Lecture at CityU on 3 June 2021.

“Locally Convex Spaces and Harmonic Analysis: An Introduction” by Professor Philippe G. Ciarlet, Senior Fellow of Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study at City University of Hong Kong (CityU), was published by Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics (SIAM) in July 2021.