HKUST 2006-2007 Annual Report
37
T
he Institute for Advanced Study (IAS)
is dedicated to the
advancement of knowledge to meet the great challenges of the 21st century
by championing collaborative projects across disciplines and institutions. Located
at the crossroads of the world’s most dynamic region, IAS is bringing together
the most brilliant minds to drive cutting-edge discovery and scholarship.
A major initiative under the University’s Strategic Plan, the IAS aims to be
the premier intellectual center in Asia and beyond through trailblazing in
the frontiers of knowledge, fostering scientific breakthroughs and nurturing
intellectual leaders. It will also provide a platform for innovation, scientific and
economic development in Hong Kong and Greater China.
IAS has secured Government seed funding and support for capital
construction. It has attracted a major endowment from its founding patron,
Dr Lee Shau Kee, as well as generous donations from Dr Helmut Sohmen and
Prof Anna Pao Sohmen, the TT & WF Chao Foundation, the Si Yuan Foundation
and Dr Tin Ka Ping.
A highly successful series of lectures, workshops and panels was organized
this year to foster discussions across disciplines. Following a visit by Prof
Stephen Hawking in June 2006, the IAS Inaugural Series comprised lectures by
Sir Michael Atiyah, Fields Medalist and member of the IAS International Advisory
Board; Prof Xiaodong Wang, Shaw Laureate in Life Science and Medicine;
and Dr Kai-Fu Lee, Vice-President of Google Inc and Co-President, Google
Greater China. These three speakers then took part in a roundtable discussion
with Prof Chen-Ning Yang, Nobel Laureate and Chair of the IAS International
Advisory Board, and HKUST President, Professor Paul Chu.
The IAS Distinguished Lecture Series that followed featured speakers from
various disciplines ranging from biotechnology, information technology,
nanotechnology, energy, environmental studies and economics. They included
Nobel Laureates Aaron Ciechanover, John Polanyi, Edward Prescott, David Gross
and the late Alan G MacDiarmid, as well as Minister Shucheng Wang, from
China’s Ministry of Water Resources and Dr Ya-Qin Zhang, Microsoft’s Corporate
Vice President.
IAS’s championing of collaborative projects across disciplines in high-impact
areas was exemplified in a Workshop on Advanced Materials at HKUST
co-organized with the National Science Foundation-funded International
Center for Materials Research at University of California at Santa Barbara.
The Workshop laid the foundations for further collaboration between the two
research groups and institutions.
Among the renowned researchers who have affiliated with IAS to establish joint
laboratories and research groups with HKUST faculty are Prof Robert Austin
of Princeton; Prof Patrick Lee of MIT; Prof Shuji Nakamura and Prof Steven
DenBaars of UC Santa Barbara; Prof Paul Schimmel of The Scripps Research
Institute; and Prof Yuen-Ron Shen of UC Berkeley.
