Rising Stars of Innovation
CUHK attaches great importance to innovation and dedicates efforts to nurture and support new generations of innovators. In the past three years, three of our young scientists were awarded with the prestigious Croucher Innovation Award, which acknowledges exceptionally talented early-career scientists working at an internationally competitive level.
Small Particles, Big Impact
Prof. Jonathan Choi specializes in the interactions of biomolecule-containing nanoparticles (or bionanomaterials) with the body across the length scales of organ, tissue, cell, and organelle. His research informs rules to design bionanomaterials for delivery to different biological destinations. Recently, his team has demonstrated the use of a DNA coating to enhance and accelerate the delivery of nanoparticles to atherosclerotic plaques, which underpin cardiovascular diseases such as stroke and ischemic heart disease.
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New Blood for Heart Regeneration
Prof. Kathy Lui conducts research in cardiovascular development and regeneration using technologies including human pluripotent stem cells and modified mRNA. She has derived methods to generate human heart progenitors, cardiac muscle and blood vessels from human pluripotent stem cells. Prof. Lui also identified an angiogenic factor as a cell fate switch for heart progenitors, and one that is responsible for heart regeneration delivered in the form of modified mRNA. Her work has contributed to the launch of the world’s first clinical trial for testing the therapeutic efficacy of VEGF modified mRNA in patients with cardiovascular diseases.
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Prof. Tjonnie Li works on astrophysics and gravitational waves. He participates in major gravitational-wave experiments such as the Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) and Virgo. His team has been a member of the LIGO Scientific Collaboration, analyzing and interpreting data from the LIGO and Virgo detectors. Prof. Li hopes to unveil the nature and origin of compact objects, enhancing the understanding of the fundamental forces of nature and their role in shaping the universe.
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Distinguished Scholars
In the past five-and-a-half decades, CUHK has been advancing the frontiers of knowledge and technology by hosting and nurturing a galaxy of distinguished scholars, innovators and researchers. Some of them include:
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Prof. Chen-ning Yang Nobel Laureate in Physics In collaboration with Prof. Tsung-dao Lee, Prof. Chen-ning Yang made significant contributions to the theory of weak interactions by proposing that parity may not be conserved in weak interactions—the forces long thought to cause elementary particles to disintegrate. Their work had a major impact on particle physics in the ensuing decades. As one of the first Chinese to receive the Nobel Prize, Prof. Yang contributed to the improvement of ties between China and the US, especially between their scientific communities. |
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Prof. Shing-tung Yau Fields Medallist, Wolf Prize Laureate in Mathematics As one of the most influential mathematicians in the world, Prof. Shing-tung Yau is the founder and leading figure of geometric analysis and solved the Calabi conjecture in algebraic geometry and positive mass conjecture in general relativity, which have had a profound influence on a wide range of scientific disciplines. Prof. Yau is the first Chinese scholar who receives two highest honours in mathematics, the Fields Medal and the Wolf Prize in Mathematics. A graduate of CUHK in the 1960s, Prof. Yau established the Institute of Mathematical Sciences at his alma mater in 1993. |
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Prof. Andrew Yao Turing Award Winner A world-renowned computer scientist, Prof. Andrew Yao is the first Chinese scientist to receive the prestigious Turing Award in recognition of his fundamental contributions to the theory of computation, including the complexity-based theory of pseudorandom number generation, cryptography, and communication complexity. His research activities are in the design of efficient computer algorithms, and complexity theories in emerging new areas of theoretical computer science, such as quantum communication and computing. |
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Prof. Sir Charles K. Kao (1933-2018) Nobel Laureate in Physics Known as the “Father of Fibre Optics”, Prof. Sir Charles K. Kao was awarded the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physics for his ground-breaking accomplishments in the area of fibre optics, which brought forth the development of the internet and opened a new page in the history of telecommunications. His visionary insight during his vice-chancellorship at CUHK during 1987-1996 resulted in the establishment of the Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Education and a number of research institutes, laying a firm academic infrastructure for CUHK to develop into a world-class comprehensive research-driven institution of higher learning. |
International Recognition
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CUHK’s innovative spirit is well recognized internationally. In addition to being ranked by Reuters as the most innovative university in Hong Kong for three years in a row since 2016, CUHK has also been constantly ranked prominently by various university league tables. The University is ranked 53rd in the world (2019) and 7th in Asia (2018) in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings, together with high rankings in the subjects of Computer Science (37th), Clinical, Pre-clinical and Health (49th) and Physical Sciences (49th).
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