HKUST Annual Report 2019-2020

LAB TO MARKET The University’s research endeavors, partnerships, and development of facilities continued to extend its capabilities for discovery and innovation during challenging times RESEARCH FUNDING TO ADVANCE UNDERSTANDING Despite the challenges of the year, HKUST boosted its research endeavors to deliver novel knowledge and technology by gaining cumulative external funding of $ 1.1 billion for 1,469 new and on-going projects in 2019-20. RGC Funding Schemes Hong Kong’s Research Grants Council (RGC) and its wide- ranging funding schemes provided an overall total of $197.6 million for 233 new projects. The General Research Fund and Early Career Scheme attracted the most proposals from HKUST faculty and researchers, with 357 and 38 applications respectively. The University’s success rates for the two schemes were 45% and 58%, remaining the highest among all local institutions. Under the RGC’s prestigious Theme-based Research Scheme, Prof. CHEN Guanghao (Civil and Environmental Engineering) and his interdisciplinary teamgained approval for total fundingof $30millionover fiveyears for aparadigm- shifting, fully integrated, compact wastewater-to-resource facility. The Collaborative Research Fund exercise saw five University group proposals and two equipment proposals approved for a total of $35.5 million. The group grants will drive life science, chemistry, and physics research spanning muscle stem cells, Alzheimer’s disease, organic solar cells, antibiotics, and superconductors. The equipment grants will enable Prof. QU Jianan (Electronic and Computer Engineering) to build a high-resolution two-photon microscope with adaptive optics for in vivo imaging of brain structures in animals, and Prof. HUANG Xuhui (Chemistry, Chemical and Biological Engineering) to set up a cluster of over 460 state-of-the-art Graphics Processing Units (GPUs) or molecular dynamics simulations, whole-genome sequencing analyses, and other applications requiring single-precision calculations. Meanwhile, Prof. CHEN Lei (Computer Science and Engineering) received $5.6 million under the Research Impact Fund to develop a product- oriented, domain-specific knowledge base fromwhich both e-commerce firms and customers can benefit. InnoHK Research Scheme Through the InnoHK research scheme, a major initiative of the Hong Kong government to turn the city into a hub for global research collaboration, HKUST proposals for two research centers were awarded a total of $805 million. Within the scheme’s Health@InnoHK research cluster, Prof. Nancy IP (Life Science) is set to receive $503.5 million over five years to jointly establish the Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases in Hong Kong with top- notch institutions including Stanford University of Medicine and University College London. The center will focus on Alzheimer’s disease, a prevalent form of dementia affecting almost 47 million people worldwide. Under AIR@InnoHK, Prof. LI Zexiang (Electronic and Computer Engineering) will be awarded $301.5 million for his five-year project to set up the Hong Kong Center of AI, Robotics, and Electronics (HK CARE) for Prefabricated Construction with University of California, Berkeley and Tsinghua University. billion $ 1 . 1 of external funding granted to projects 1 , 496 Innovation and Technology Fund Showing significant strides made by faculty in advancing their creativity and enterprise, HKUST submitted 139 proposals to the Hong Kong government’s Innovation and Technology Fund. One third of them, 44 proposals received funding, totaling $ 194.5 million. Among these, Prof. Nancy IP (Life Science) was awarded $12.4 million to comprehensively analyze biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease in the Chinese population and Prof. FU Kit-Yu (Life Science) attracted $9 million to explore the inhibition of EphA4 signaling for the prevention and treatment of neurological disorders. Prof. YU Weichuan (Electronic and Computer Engineering) will receive $9.5 million to investigate the use of imaging and genomic data to predict metastasis of breast cancer after treatment. Hong Kong Public Policy Research Funding Scheme Among HKUST proposals supported by the Hong Kong Public Policy Research Funding Scheme were two topical projects on Hong Kong society and social media, respectively. Prof. Jean HONG (Social Science) received $0.39million to examine the origins of distrust in a study looking at Hong Kong citizens with different experiences of violence related to the city’s social incidents while Prof. Franziska Barbara KELLER (Social Science) was awarded $0.44 million to study information sharing on social media platforms. Outside Hong Kong Funding from beyond Hong Kong was also obtained for individual projects, with Prof. CHEN Yu (Life Science) being awarded $12.3 million from the Ministry of Science and Technology to perform multidimensional analysis of biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease in the Chinese population. On a collective basis, the University’s established mainland research platforms in Nansha and Shenzhen secured numerous projects. HKUST Shenzhen Research Institute (SRI) was awarded 28 projects, with total funding of RMB68.4 million. Fok Ying Tung Research Institute (FYTRI) in Nansha received funding for 38 government projects and 39 commercial research projects, with a total contract value of RMB57.8 million and RMB44.5 million, respectively. HKUST ANNUAL REPORT 2019-2020 19 18 Lab to Market