中文版

16 March 2005

Senior Research Fellowships of Croucher Foundation 2005-2006
Cum MOU Signing with INRIA
-- Three CUHK Scholars Awarded Fellowships

　　A total of eight top research academics from four local universities were presented the prestigious Senior Research Fellowship of The Croucher Foundation today (March 16), in recognition of their outstanding research. Awards were presented by Mr Andrew K N Li, Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal of The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region to these eight distinguished individuals.

　　The Croucher Senior Research Fellowships scheme was first introduced in 1997/98 academic year. The value of each Senior Research Fellowship is about US$100,000. It is awarded to local academics who have excelled in scientific research work. In recognition of their success and to encourage their further achievement in their given fields, funds will be awarded to the respective institution for recruiting an academic to take over the fellow's duties for the period of the fellowship. The fellow will then be relieved from teaching tasks for half year or one year and in turn can devote more time and effort to research work. Each winner will also receive a cash award of HK$40,000.

　　Of the eight recipients of the fellowships awarded this year, three academics are from The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), two from the University of Hong Kong (HKU), two from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and one from the City University of Hong Kong (CityU). They are:

1. Professor ZHOU Xunyu, Department of Systems Engineering and Engineering Management, CUHK
2. Professor WEI Juncheng, Department of Mathematics, CUHK
3. Professor XIA Keqing, Department of Physics, CUHK
4. Professor Irene NG Oi-Lin, Department of Pathology, HKU
5. Professor Joseph Sriyal Malik PEIRIS, Department of Microbiology, HKU
6. Professor Maria LI LUNG, Department of Biology, HKUST
7. Dr Hannah XUE Hong, Department of Biochemistry, HKUST
8. Professor LI Ping, Department of Electronic Engineering, CityU

　　Among the recipients, Professor Irene NG Oi-Lin and Professor Joseph Sriyal Malik PEIRIS, both from the University of Hong Kong, were awarded the Medical Research Fellowships. This is the fourth time the Medical Research Fellowship was awarded since its launch in 1998.

　　At the Ceremony, a Memorandum of Understanding was signed between The Croucher Foundation and the Institut National de Recherche en Informatique et Automatique (INRIA), a leading French technological institution renowned for its research and development expertise in the field of information, communication science and technology.

　　Under the terms of this MOU, both sides agree to strengthen relationship between Hong Kong and France by selecting outstanding young scientists from Hong Kong to gain exposure and experiences at doctoral or postdoctoral levels in INRIA research institutes in France.

　　INRIA will ensure that those selected to maximize their opportunities by guiding and assigning them to the best laboratories in their specialized fields under the INRIA system. The Croucher Foundation will financially support selected Hong Kong candidates with relevant fees, airfare, living expenses and allowances during their entire period of study in France.

　　A spokesman for the Croucher Foundation said there was plenty of room for the development of scientific relationships between Hong Kong and France, and indeed the European Union. Such a relationship will bring about long-term collaborative opportunities and experiences such as technology transfer are of direct relevance in Hong Kong's developments. As a cosmopolitan city Hong Kong has everything to gain also culturally.

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