HKUST Annual Report 2017-18

A N N U A L R E P O R T 2 0 1 7 - 1 8 51 HKUST CREATIVE VISION The Institute strives to bring together renowned researchers and scholars from institutions worldwide to interact, exchange, and develop research ideas at HKUST. IAS Helmut & Anna Pao Sohmen Professor-at-Large Bright SHENG and IAS Sin Wai Kin Professor-at-Large of Chinese Culture YAN Lianke were appointed to the Institute in 2017-18, enabling it to expand support for music and Chinese literary activities alongside its frontier work in science, engineering, and technology. IAS faculty and their outstanding research contributions were honored locally and globally. IAS Bank of East Asia Professor Ching W. TANG was awarded a Doctor of Science honoris causa from the University of Hong Kong for his notable invention of Organic Light Emitting Diode (OLED) technology. In May 2018, Prof. Tang was also inducted into the US National Inventors Hall of Fame. IAS Si Yuan Professor Gunther UHLMANN received the Solomon Lefschetz Medal from the Mathematical Congress of the Americas “for his universally recognized leadership of the rich and difficult field of inverse problems”. IAS Director and Lam Woo Foundation Professor Andrew G. COHEN, IAS Helmut & Anna Pao Sohmen Professor-at-Large Sir Christopher PISSARIDES, IAS TT & WF Chao Foundation Professor George SMOOT and IAS Professor Henry TYE continued to share their scientific knowledge and ideas with members of the University, local community, and international researchers through lectures, participation in conferences and seminars, and scholarly events. Fourteen HKUST faculty members are now IAS Senior Fellows, sparking fresh research avenues and links. Younger scholars are also encouraged to become part of the IAS family. There were 31 Junior Fellows and 23 Postdoctoral Fellows affiliated with the Institute in 2017-18. To foster synergy globally, leading academics from institutions around the world are appointed as IAS Senior Visiting Fellows, Visiting Professors and Visiting Fellows. Over the year, 16 Senior Visiting Fellows, 14 Visiting Professors and 5 Visiting Fellows came to HKUST, adding to the innovative environment on campus. IDEAS HUB The Institute held around 150 academic events, including 40 distinguished lectures and 36 joint school lectures in 2017-18, drawing more than 7,000 participants in total. Topical programs on specialized subjects fostered the formation of new research groups while conferences, workshops, seminars, and short courses provided deeper understanding of the most recent breakthroughs. Eight Gordon Research Conferences took place at the Institute in Summer 2017. The conferences, which draw world-renowned international scholars to the campus, focused on life science, engineering, and physical sciences. Four were chaired/ vice-chaired by HKUST faculty. The Institute also hosted four affiliated Gordon Research Seminars for young researchers. The Institute deepened its frontier research associations with the HKUST community and international counterparts while its eminent faculty received further global recognition