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            HKUST 2011-2012 Annual Report
          
        
        
          RESEARCH
        
        
          DEVELOPMENT
        
        
          
            HKUST has a clear positioning
          
        
        
          
            as a focused e l i te research
          
        
        
          
            and edu c a t i on i n s t i t u t i on
          
        
        
          
            with an international outlook,
          
        
        
          
            emphasizing interdisciplinary
          
        
        
          
            studies, entrepreneurial spirit
          
        
        
          
            and innovation.  The University’s
          
        
        
          
            achievements in research and
          
        
        
          
            innovation encompass world-
          
        
        
          
            class knowledge breakthroughs,
          
        
        
          
            as well as business, industry and
          
        
        
          
            government partnerships which
          
        
        
          
            facilitate the transformation
          
        
        
          
            o f d i s c o v e r i e s i n t o n o v e l
          
        
        
          
            technologies and solutions.
          
        
        
          
            Fostering research
          
        
        
          
            excellence and culture
          
        
        
          In the year under review, the University
        
        
          continued to support research excellence
        
        
          via a number of internal funding initiatives
        
        
          which included the reorganized Special
        
        
          Research Funding Initiative and Research
        
        
          Project Competition to support group and
        
        
          interdisciplinary research.  Thematic group
        
        
          projects were developed in areas ranging
        
        
          from novel wave functional materials,
        
        
          structural biology, multi-scale and multi-
        
        
          field mechanics, to visual computing.
        
        
          The HKUST Research Forum Series was
        
        
          launched where internationally renowned
        
        
          scholars and HKUST academics share their
        
        
          vision.
        
        
          Energy and environment are major
        
        
          driving forces of technology development
        
        
          in the 21st century; most new
        
        
          engineering projects will need to take
        
        
          into consideration carbon reduction and
        
        
          energy conservation, new materials,
        
        
          micro-climate and impact on environment
        
        
          and health.  The Energy Institute
        
        
          was formally established to promote
        
        
          interdisciplinary collaboration and provide