ABCT alumni, Dr. Franco King-Chi Leung, receives Croucher Fellowship from Croucher Foundation

Congratulations to Dr. Franco King-Chi Leung, graduate of ABCT, for receiving the 2017 Croucher Fellowship from Croucher Foundation at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. The Croucher Foundation awards provide financial support for promising students in Hong Kong to pursue scientific research at the doctoral or postdoctoral levels. The foundation aims to enable young scientists to devote themselves to a period of full-time research in natural sciences, medicine or technology in approved academic institutions outside Hong Kong. After a series of competitive review processes, 21 recipients were chosen and they are heading out to all over the world including the U.S., Australia, the Netherlands, France and the U.K.. Dr. Leung graduated from ABCT with his BSc in Chemical Technology and he carried out his Master's research in catalysis and chemical biology under the supervision of Dr. Man-kin Wong. He then expanded his research to supramolecular chemistry and material science scopes in his PhD studies under the guidance of Prof. Takanori Fukushima in Tokyo Institute of Technology (Japan). In April 2017, he joined Prof. Ben L. Feringa's group (2016 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry) as a postdoc fellow at the University of Groningen. Dr. Leung's main research interests are dynamic supramolecular polymers, functional molecular assembly, and biocompatible functional materials. He is currently working on the development of photo-responsive soft materials of molecular motors and switches. Let us take this opportunity to congratulate Dr. Franco King-Chi Leung again on receiving this remarkable award.

ABCT postgraduate awarded Travel Award in The Liver Week 2017, Annual Meeting of Korean Association for the study of liver

Miss Pui Yu Ho, Mphil student of Dr. Terence Lee, received prestigious Travel Award of USD1000 in The Liver Week 2017, Annual meeting of Korean Association for the study of liver held in Seoul, Korea, from 22 to 24 June 2017. The Liver Week 2017 was held by Korean Association for the study of the Liver (KASL), jointly with the Korean Association of HBP Surgery (KAHBPS), the Korean Liver Cancer Association (KLCA), and the Korean Liver Transplantation Society (KLTS). This conference aims to bring all participants from the fields of clinical medicine and basic science to associates from pharmacy and medical equipment, with hope to eradicate liver diseases. As a delegate of Hong Kong, Miss Ho has gained recognitions from the judges with her oral presentation in plenary session on the research topic "Interleukin-1 receptor-associated kinase 1 augments cancer stemness and drug resistance via the AP-1/AKR1B10 signaling cascade in hepatocellular carcinoma". In this project, she has found targeting IRAK4/IRAK1/AP-1/AKR1B10 signaling pathway may be a potential therapeutic strategy against liver cancer. With her outstanding research presentation at the conference, Miss Ho was the only awardee in Hong Kong to receive The Travel Award in The Liver Week 2017. Let us congratulate Miss Ho on receiving this honour!

Best Poster Award and Oral Presentation Award at the 24th Symposium on Chemistry Postgraduate Research in Hong Kong

The 24th Symposium on Chemistry Postgraduate Research in Hong Kong was completed smoothly on May 6th 2017 in CityU, with over 600 faculty members and research postgraduate students from the six local institutions participated in the event. This annual symposium is an important event for the Chemistry community in Hong Kong dedicated to offer postgraduate research students a platform to present their research findings and groom local research talents. The poster section showcased 333 posters in five areas including Analytical & Environmental Chemistry, Biological Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, Organic Chemistry and Physical Chemistry. ABCT has won 2 awards in the Symposium including the 1st Runner-up of the Best Oral Presentation Award by Mr. Deng Jieren (MPhil student of Dr. Man-kin Wong) with winning presentation entitled "Development of Quinolizinium-Based Fluorophores via Photosensitizer-Free Visible Light-Mediated Gold-Catalyzed Alkyne Difunctionalization and Applications in Photoredox Catalysis and Cellular Imaging"; and the Best Poster Award in Organic Chemistry by Mr. Fu Wai Chung (PhD student) with winning poster entitled "En Route to Regioselective Synthesis of Polycyclic and Heptagon-embedded Aromatic Compounds with A Versatile p -Extension of Aryl Halides ". Let us take this opportunity to congratulate Mr. Deng Jieren and Mr. Fu Wai Chung on receiving the honors!

Best Poster Award and Oral Presentation Award at the 23rd Symposium on Chemistry Postgraduate Research in Hong Kong

The 23rd Symposium on Chemistry Postgraduate Research in Hong Kong was completed smoothlyon 23rd April 2016 in PolyU, involving 596 participants from the six local institutions. This 1-day Symposium is an important annual event for the Chemistry community in Hong Kong dedicated to offer postgraduate research students a platform to present their research findings and groom local research talents. The poster section showcased 295 posters in four areas including Analytical & Environmental Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, Organic Chemistry and Physical Chemistry. The organizing committee has the honor to have invited Prof. John Hartwig, Henry Rapoport Professor of Chemistry at the University of California at Berkeley, to be the Keynote Speaker to give a plenary lecture and share his insights on his new research direction in catalysis. ABCT has won 3 awards in the Symposium including the Best Poster Award in Analytical & Environmental Chemistry by Mr. Wong Ho Yi (PhD student of Dr. Zhong-ping Yao) with winning poster entitled "Rapid Analysis of Traditional Chinese Medicines by Direct Ionization Mass Spectrometry"; the Best Poster Award in Organic Chemistry by Mr. Fu Wai Chung (PhD student of Prof. Fuk-yee Kwong) with winning poster entitled "Palladium-Catalyzed Phosphorylation of Aryl Mesylates and Tosylates"; and Champion in Oral Presentation by Mr. Chan Chun Ming (PhD student of Dr. Michael Yu) with winning presentation entitled "Transition Metal-Catalyzed Carbenoid Cross Coupling Reactions for Cascade C-C and C–X Bond Formations".). Let us take this opportunity to congratulate Mr. Wong Ho Yi, Mr. Fu Wai Chung and Mr. Chan Chun Ming on receiving the honors!

Asian Core Program / Advanced Research Network Lectureship Awards from Japan, Korea and Taiwan (27-30 Oct 2016)

We are proud to announce that Prof. Michael Fuk-yee Kwong and Dr. Man-kin Wong have received the Asian Core Program / Advanced Research Network Lectureship awards in the ACP-2016-Korea: the 11th International Conference on Cutting-Edge Organic Chemistry in Asia (ICCEOCA-11) & the 2nd Advanced Research Network on Cutting-Edge Organic Chemistry in Asia (ARNCEOCA-2)), held in Daejeon, Korea from 27 to 30 October, 2016. This conference program brings together outstanding researchers in the field of organic chemistry in Asia and serves as a major annual forum to showcase high-quality scientific achievements. It offers an excellent opportunity for the exchange of the most up-to-date science knowledge, as well as to nurture close relationships and collaborations between top organic chemists in the Asia region. This year, Prof. Michael Fuk-yee Kwong has gained the recognition from the Japanese representatives with his presentation entitled "Palladium-Catalyzed Three Component Cross-Coupling: Facile Access of Phenathrenes Using Norbornadiene as Ethylene Surrogate". Other than that, Dr. Man-kin Wong's presentation on "Development of (N^C, C^O) Cyclometallated Gold(III) Catalysts and Visible Light-Gold Catalysis for Organic Synthesis" has attracted the recognitions from both the Korean and Taiwanese representatives. The two awardees will be invited to deliver a series of lectures during their one-week visits to Japan, Korea and Taiwan in 2017 respectively. Congratulations to Prof. Kwong and Dr. Wong on receiving these prestigious awards!

ABCT postgraduate awarded The Best Oral Presentation in the 6th JICCEOCA (24-26 Oct 2016)

Mr. Wai Chung FU, PhD student of Prof. Fuk Yee KWONG, received The Best Oral Presentation Award in The 6th Junior International Conference on Cutting-edge Organic Chemistry in Asia (6th JICCEOCA) held in Fukuoka, Japan, from 24 to 26 October 2016. The Junior ICCEOCA is part of the Asian Core Program (ACP) and its aim is to create a new set of well-trained young organic chemists working in cutting-edge research as well as enabled them to begin networking early in their career. The conference fosters the next generation of leading researchers by establishing sustainable collaborative relations among research/education institutions in Asian countries. 51 postgraduate students from the countries of Japan, Korea, China, Thailand, Taiwan, Malaysia and Hong Kong presented their work at the conference. As a delegate of Hong Kong, Mr. FU has gained recognitions from the judges with his oral presentation on the research topic "Palladium/Norbornadiene-Catalyzed Three-Component Synthesis of Phenanthrene Derivatives: A Combination of C-H Activation, Decarboxylation and Retro-Diels-Alder Strategy". In this project, a novel approach was developed to make use of low-cost and easily available starting materials and provide regiospecific polyaromatic compounds that cannot be easily accessed by traditional methods or present transition metal catalysis. This method also allows for the rapid assembly of polyheteroaromatics and unusual heptagon structures, which are highly important in material science, pharmaceutical industry and organic synthesis. With his outstanding research presentation at the conference, Mr. FU was the first in Hong Kong to receive The Best Oral Presentation Award in JICCEOCA. Let us congratulate Mr. FU on receiving the honour!

ABCT students awarded a Merit Prize in the 2016 Lee Kum Kee Innovation Competition

Sauce is one of the seven necessities in a Chinese household, and what if we get it out from the kitchen and put it in research? It has led to the winning of a merit prize in the 2016 Lee Kum Kee Innovation Competition by four PolyU undergraduate students. The four students (Li Chung Pang and Cheng Shing Sau from Chemical Technology, Lai Sin Ting from Food Safety and Technology and Liu Chun Ming from Computing) have spent three months to research on the making of snack with distinctive regional flavor, and the winning snack, named the Magic Trio, is composed of scallop, pig ears and chicken tendons, representing creatures from the sea, land and air, respectively. The Lee Kum Kee Innovation Competition was co-organized by CIFST and LKK (China) with the aim to provide a practical platform for undergraduates of food science or related subjects to conduct innovative research in food with the use of Chinese condiments. Students from 10 Universities took part in the competition, with the PolyU being the only representative from Hong Kong. Let us take this opportunity to congratulate the students on receiving the award!

ABCT New Chair Professor named among World’s Most Influential Scientific Minds

Congratulations to Professor Raymond Wong, the new Chair Professor of Chemical Technology in ABCT, who was named in the list of Highly Cited Researchers 2015 published by Thomson Reuters. The award ceremony of The World's Most Influential Scientific Minds 2015 was held this morning at the Sheraton Hong Kong Hotel & Towers. The "World's Most Influential Scientific Minds 2015" is a citation analysis identifying scientists who have made the most significant global impact in their respective fields of study determined by their fellow researchers in the form of citations. The identification of these awardees is rooted in the collective, objective opinions of the scientific community. The longer-range study, widely known as the Highly Cited Researchers, included an 11-year assessment of research paper citations to determine the leaders within 21 broad fields of science and social sciences. The fields included clinical medicine, biology & biochemistry, chemistry, engineering, geosciences, materials science, physics, immunology, computer science, mathematics, microbiology, space science, economics & business. The study recognised around 3,000 scientists who published the greatest number of articles ranking among the top one percent by citations received in their respective fields in each paper's year of publication. The analysis covered over 120,000 papers indexed between 2003 and 2013 for each specialty. Professor Wong's research focuses on the development of sustainable energy sources and improvement in light/electrical energy conversion technologies. He produced more than 500 research papers in leading international scientific journals. Professor Wong is featured among the world's top 1% in the Institute for Scientific Information (ISI) list of most cited chemists and materials scientists. He was recognized as one of the world's top 130 researchers in materials science, and one of only two scholars in this field who come from universities in Hong Kong. Please join me in welcoming Professor Raymond Wong to the ABCT family and let us congratulate him again for this remarkable achievement. To download the full report of "World's Most Influential Scientific Minds 2015", please visit: http://stateofinnovation.thomsonreuters.com/worlds-most-influential-scientific-minds-report-2015 To read more about Professor Raymond Wong's background and research, please click here

Best Poster Award and Oral Presentation Award at the 23rd Symposium on Chemistry Postgraduate Research in Hong Kong

The 23rd Symposium on Chemistry Postgraduate Research in Hong Kong was completed smoothly on 23rd April 2016 in PolyU, involving 596 participants from the six local institutions. This 1-day Symposium is an important annual event for the Chemistry community in Hong Kong dedicated to offer postgraduate research students a platform to present their research findings and groom local research talents. The poster section showcased 295 posters in four areas including Analytical & Environmental Chemistry, Inorganic Chemistry, Organic Chemistry and Physical Chemistry. The organizing committee has the honor to have invited Prof. John Hartwig, Henry Rapoport Professor of Chemistry at the University of California at Berkeley, to be the Keynote Speaker to give a plenary lecture and share his insights on his new research direction in catalysis. ABCT has won 3 awards in the Symposium including the Best Poster Award in Analytical & Environmental Chemistry by Mr. Wong Ho Yi (PhD student of Dr. Zhong-ping Yao) with winning poster title "Rapid Analysis of Traditional Chinese Medicines by Direct Ionization Mass Spectrometry"; the Best Poster Award in Organic Chemistry by Mr. Fu Wai Chung (PhD student of Prof. Fuk-yee Kwong) with winning poster title "Palladium-Catalyzed Phosphorylation of Aryl Mesylates and Tosylates"; and Champion in Oral Presentation by Mr. Chan Chun Ming (PhD student of Dr. Michael Yu) with winning presentation title "Transition Metal-Catalyzed Carbenoid Cross Coupling Reactions for Cascade C-C and C–X Bond Formations".). Let us take this opportunity to congratulate Mr. Wong Ho Yi, Mr. Fu Wai Chung and Mr. Chan Chun Ming on receiving the honors!

ABCT winning the Champion and 2nd runner-up of the Most Favourite PolyU Research News of 2015

In 2015, CPA publicized in media more than 30 PolyU research findings which are of interest to the public. The innovative researches publicized have generated positive impact on many fronts, attracting attention and funding from government, industry collaborators, potential commercial partners and the public alike. A campaign to "Vote for the Most Favourite PolyU Research News of 2015" was launched in PolyU Facebook in early January 2016 for PolyU community and the public to vote for their most favourite PolyU research news. After counting the votes, our Department is honoured to announce that two of our research teams have won the Champion (Project: Hong Kong's First Breast Milk Nutrient Database led by Dr. Man-sau Wong) and 2nd runner-up (Project: Catalyst for Green Biodiesel Production from Unrefined Feedstock led by Prof. Wing-tak Wong and Dr. Joseph Yung), showing the impacts of our research on the community. The awardees were invited to a celebration luncheon hosted by the President and joined by Vice President (Research Development) on 2 February 2016, and were presented the certificates for recognizing their efforts during the luncheon. Congratulations to our awardees and thank you all for participating in media publicity which helped showcase PolyU's research excellence and quest for innovative solutions to problems!