52
香港科技大學
2010-2011
年報
HKUST 2010-2011 Annual Report
研究與發展
RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT
53
S
cholarship, research and development are core
elements of HKUST’s mission and strategy and the
University has continued to forge ahead as a research
intensive University in 2010-11.
From its establishment in 1991, the University has sought
to attract the best faculty and students, to facilitate their
best performance in research, to assist economic and
social development through knowledge transfer, and to
stimulate entrepreneurship. The success that HKUST has
enjoyed as a result, and the speed with which it has been
achieved, have given the University a special place in the
annals of academia.
HKUST has played a key role in redefining the academic
and R&D culture of Hong Kong. It has served as a catalyst
in Hong Kong’s transition to a knowledge economy. The
University has also become recognized globally in just two
decades. An indication of the comprehensive nature of
its accomplishments is that HKUST has been ranked 26th
in the World’s Top 100 Universities in Engineering and
Technology according to
QS World University Rankings
2010
. In Hong Kong, HKUST excelled in the last Research
Assessment Exercise (RAE), retaining the highest overall
research index.
RESEARCH AND SCHOLARSHIP
Over the year, significant research has been ongoing.
Faculty members are actively involved in interdisciplinary
and theme-based research, bringing their combined
talents and perspectives together to find innovative
solutions to help address the major challenges facing the
world, advance Hong Kong and the region, and improve
people’s lives. The following research highlights show
how HKUST is contributing to change locally, regionally
and globally through its world-class research, ranging
from basic research to commercialization and business
development.
•
Prof Nancy Ip, Dean of Science, made breakthrough
discoveries in understanding how brain cells
communicate with each other, in addition to
unraveling signaling mechanisms that have far-
reaching implications in biomedicine. Her team has
successfully identified a novel role for a cell surface
protein EphA4 in the regulation of brain plasticity.
They found that EphA4 regulates the distribution of
neurotransmitter receptors on neurons and is essential
for efficient communication between neurons through
controlling the degradation of these neurotransmitter
receptors. In addition, they found that the signaling
pathway that controls a cellular process known as
autophagy is aberrant in Parkinson’s disease, which
contributes to brain degeneration. They identified two
proteins, Cdk5 and endophilin B1, as mediators of the
aberrant autophagy observed in the diseased brain.
Their intriguing findings, which have been published
in the prestigious journals
Nature Neuroscience
and
Nature Cell Biology
this year, will shed new light on
the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders such as
Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease.
•
Prof Mingjie Zhang, Division of Life Science, and
his team of researchers have achieved a significant
breakthrough in explaining how genetic mutations of
Motor Protein Myosin VIIa leads to hereditary deaf-
and-blindness. This is excellent news for the medical
profession in the quest to develop preventive and
remedial measures against hereditary deaf-and-
blindness. The research paper on this work was
published in top scientific journal
Science
in February
2011.
•
In addition, Prof Mingjie Zhang and his research group
have made a significant discovery in understanding
how animal photoreceptors can detect light signals
with very broad intensity ranges and at very rapid
speed, and how human eyes regulate light intake
in response to varying lighting conditions. The
breakthrough was the cover story in
Cell
, a leading
journal in biomedical sciences, in June 2011. It has
broad implications for cancer, neurodegenerations and
various immune disorders.
•
Prof Ping Sheng and Prof Weijia Wen, Department
of Physics, both presented Plenary Lectures at the
12th International Conference on Electrorheological
Fluids and Magnetorheological Suspensions, held in
Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA in August 2010.
•
The HKUST optics groups led by Prof Shengwang
Du, Prof Michael Loy and Prof George K L Wong,
Department of Physics, reported the direct observation
of the optical precursor of a single photon and proved
that single photons cannot travel faster than
c
, the
speed of light in vacuum. HKUST’s study reaffirms
Einstein’s theory that nothing travels faster than light
and closes a decade-long debate about the speed of
a single photon. This breakthrough was published
and selected as an Editor’s Suggestion in
Physical
Review Letters
, one of the most prestigious journals in
physics. It was also highlighted as a Physics Synopsis
by the American Physical Society and brought to wide
attention as a feature article on PhysOrg.com.
學
術、研究及發展是科大使命及策略的核心。
2010-2011
年，科大繼續穩步發展，鞏固卓越研究型大學的地位。
自
1991
年創校以來，科大致力招攬頂尖的教授及學生，協
助他們在研究領域中爭取佳績，透過知識轉移推動經濟與社
會發展，同時鼓勵創業，在學術界穩佔重要席位。
科大在短短
20
年間已得到國際認同，在推動香港的學術
及研發文化以及香港轉型為知識型經濟方面肩負重任。於
2010
《
QS
全球大學排名》中，科大名列全球頂尖
100
所工程
及科技大學第
26
位。在最新的香港研究評審工作報告中，
科大整體研究指數繼續處於最高水平，表現優秀。
研究與學術
過去一年，科大一直進行重要的研究項目。科大教授積極參
與跨學科及以主題為本的研究，匯聚力量和思維，為全球面
對的主要挑戰尋找創新方案，推動香港及區域發展，改善人
類生活。下列科研亮點展示科大透過基本研究、產業化及商
務發展等世界級研究項目，促進本地、區域及世界的轉變。
•
理學院院長葉玉如教授對於人類腦部細胞如何傳遞信息
有突破性發現，成功解開腦部神經信號傳導之謎，對生
物醫學的發展帶來深遠影響。葉教授的研究團隊發現細
胞表面受體蛋白
EphA4
在調控腦部可塑性方面的新作
用。他們指出
EphA4
能夠透過控制神經遞質受體的降解
過程，調節神經元之間的信號傳遞效率。此外，他們也
發現
Cdk5
和
endophilin B1
蛋白介導細胞自體吞噬作用
在帕金遜病患者的腦中出現異常，導致腦部功能退化。
這些研究成果今年分別發表於著名學術期刊《
Nature
Neuroscience
》及《
Nature Cell Biology
》，為治療老年痴
呆症及帕金遜症等神經退化性疾病提供了重要線索。
•
生命科學部張明傑教授及其團隊研究肌動蛋白
7a
基因突
變如何導致先天性失聰失明，並取得了重大突破，有助
研發預防和治療先天性失聰失明的方法，是醫學界一大
喜訊。有關的研究論文已於
2011
年
2
月在世界頂尖科學
期刊《科學》上發表。
•
此外，張明傑教授及其研究團隊亦在了解動物感光細胞
如何以極高速度偵測強度差異極大的光信號，以及人類
眼睛如何因應不同光度調節光的接收量有重大發現。
這項突破性發現成為領先生物醫學期刊《細胞》雜誌於
2011
年
6
月號的封面故事，有助了解癌症、神經退化及
各種免疫力障礙。
•
2010
年
8
月，物理學系沈平教授及溫維佳教授在美國
賓夕凡尼亞州費城舉行的
12th International Conference
on Electrorheological Fluids and Magnetorheological
Suspensions Plenary Lectures
作主題演講。
•
由科大物理學系杜勝望教授、雷明德教授和王克倫教授
領導的光學團隊，成功對單一光子光前驅波進行直接觀
察，證明單一光子的傳導速度不能高於
c
（光速在真空條
件下的傳導速度）。科大這項研究肯定愛因斯坦的理論，
結束長達
10
年有關單一光子速度的爭論。這項突破性發
現已於著名物理期刊《物理評論快報》上發表，並獲選為
編輯推薦論文。美國物理協會在其物理學綱要中以此研
究作為重點推介，並獲
PhysOrg.com
選為專題文章。
