First Research Centre for Immersive Learning and Metaverse in Education Established in Hong Kong and Faculty Dean Prof. Li Ping Spearheads the Effort

PolyU has joined forces with The Education University of Hong Kong to establish the Centre for Immersive Learning and Metaverse in Education (CILME)—the first of its kind in Hong Kong. Spearheaded by Prof. Li Ping, CILME Co-Director, Faculty Dean and Sin Wai Kin Professor in Humanities and Technology, the collaboration aims to develop a collaborative infrastructure for conducting interdisciplinary research to impact education. “With CILME, researchers and educators will work closely together to develop technological applications and solutions for immersive and active learning. At PolyU, we have sophisticated interdisciplinary research capabilities, a centralised teaching facility in VR/AR, and an extensive connection with industry. Capitalising on our strengths and the collaboration with EdUHK, we are looking to push new frontiers in education and technology to benefit learners, educators and society,” said Prof. Li. [Read More]

Research Projects Received Over HK$10 Million Donation and RGC Grant

The Sin Wai Kin Foundation Limited has generously donated HK$7 million to support three FH research projects in the areas of (1) Language and Cognitive Neuroscience and Speech Therapy and (2) Chinese Culture and Technology. The Faculty has successfully matched a total of HK$3.5 million from the RGC Research Matching Grant Scheme (RMGS) to support these three projects. Details can be found here. The donation and the grant enable the Faculty and researchers to explore innovative ideas and conduct research projects with high social impact. This will contribute to a healthy community and promote research in the area of Chinese Culture and Technology.

Opening Ceremony of the Research Centre for Chinese History and Culture

PolyU held the Opening Ceremony of the Research Centre for Chinese History and Culture on 17 January 2023 and signed a memorandum of understanding with the Institute of Humanities of Tsinghua University. The Opening Ceremony was officiated by Mr Kevin Yeung Yun-hung, Secretary for Culture, Sports and Tourism, and Mr Zhang Guoyi, Deputy Director-General of the Department of Publicity, Cultural and Sports Affairs of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. They were joined by Dr Lam Tai-fai, Council Chairman of PolyU, Prof. Jin-Guang Teng, President, Prof. Wing-tak Wong, Deputy President and Provost and Prof. Li Ping, Dean of the Faculty of Humanities. The Research Centre aspires to become an influential academic institution in humanities, endeavours to support the Hong Kong SAR Government’s efforts in promoting Chinese culture. Read more

EAC Team Wins 2022 QS Reimagine Education Award

The inter-institutional English Across the Curriculum Team led by Dr Julia Chen, Director of Educational Development Centre and Associate Professor (courtesy) of the Department of English and Communication with Dr Grace Lim from the English Language Centre wins the international QS Reimagine Education Award in the category of Breakthrough Technology Innovation in Education, Silver Prize, with their app “Capstone Ninja”. Nicknamed the Oscars of Education and organised by Quacquarelli Symonds and Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, the Reimagine Education Awards seek to offer global higher education a platform through which outstanding pedagogical innovation can be identified and rewarded.

The FH MOOC – “Humanities in Focus” Is Now Open for Registration

Are you interested in learning more about the importance of the humanities in our lives today? Look no further than the FH MOOC, "Humanities in Focus." This online course, created by top scholars within the Faculty of Humanities, offers an in-depth exploration of various subjects within the humanities and how they can help answer the big questions we face in our world today. Don't miss out on this opportunity to delve into the fascinating world of the humanities. Register today at https://www.edx.org/course/Humanities-in-Focus and begin your journey.

FH Scholars Invited to Deliver RGC Public Lecture

Prof. William Shiyuan Wang, Chair Professor of Language and Cognitive Sciences, and Dr Manson Cheuk Man Fong, Research Assistant Professor, of the Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, delivered a Research Grants Council Public Lecture entitled “A Journey into Language: Evolution, Cognition, and Neuroscience” at the Hong Kong Science Museum on 12 November 2022. Prof. Wang and Dr Fong talked about the evolutionary history of human beings that has made language possible, the cognitive and neural bases of language, the brain changes in normal and pathological ageing, and how they impact our language functions. Along the way, the speakers also shared their related ongoing research projects on brain age estimation, language comprehension, foreign language learning, etc. The Research Grants Council (RGC) has been organising regular public lectures to introduce to the public the achievements of the Hong Kong higher education sector, and let the community know about the importance and values of the work of our researchers. Please click here to review the lecture in Cantonese.

Dr Elaine Kwong Awarded Health and Medical Research Fund

Dr Elaine Kwong, Assistant Professor of CBS, has been funded by the Health and Medical Research Fund (HMRF) on the project “The temporal profiles of swallowing events in healthy adults: a pilot study using ultrasound imaging”. The project is an interdisciplinary collaboration with Prof. Yong-Ping Zheng of the Department of Biomedical Engineering (BME). It aims to obtain some normative ultrasonographic data from healthy individuals and lay the groundwork for swallowing examination in individuals with swallowing disorders. It is hoped that ultrasound can be applied clinically as an alternative imaging tool for swallowing assessments in the future.

CBS Joined the Gerontech and Innovation Expo cum Summit 2022 (GIES 2022)

Following the success last year, the Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies (CBS) was invited to participate in the Gerontech and Innovation Expo cum Summit (GIES), the largest gerontechnology public education event in Hong Kong, again on 2-5 November 2022. During the 4-day exhibition, the Speech Therapy team illustrated the application of the ultrasound imaging technology in the assessment and treatment of dysphagia to policymakers, stakeholders of rehabilitation service sector and the general public. A total of 23,000 visits was recorded in GIES this year.

CBS Undergraduate Student Won the Outstanding Service Award for Tertiary Students

Miss Kitty Law Lai Ping, a CBS student, was selected for the Outstanding Service Award for Tertiary Students 2021/22! With a strong commitment to the society, Kitty organised nine activities during 2021-22 to raise the public awareness of various social issues such as ocean environment preservation and stray animals. Her dedication to the community makes her become one of the two PolyU students receiving the award this year. The Outstanding Service Award for Tertiary Students is granted by the Hong Kong Student Services Association and the Hong Kong Outstanding Tertiary Students’ Services Association. The prestigious award was introduced in 1991 to recognise tertiary students with outstanding leadership and significant contribution to the community.

CBS Postgraduate Student Has Been Awarded the 2022 LSHK Outstanding Thesis Award

Dr Feng Yan, the PhD graduate of CBS in 2022, has been awarded the 2022 LSHK Outstanding Thesis Award under the category of PhD thesis. The award was offered by LSHK 香港語言學學會 The Linguistic Society of Hong Kong to encourage young scholars at local tertiary education institutions to conduct linguistics research. The LSHK Outstanding Thesis Award recognises the outstanding theses which contribute to any area in linguistics, including MA thesis, MPhil thesis, PhD thesis and Doctorate thesis. Entitled “Categorical Speech Perception Across the Lifespan”, Dr Feng’s thesis presents a comprehensive research work on the categorical perception of Mandarin Chinese speech sounds for native speakers at different ages from toddlers, teenagers, young adults, to elderlies with normal cognitive function and mild cognitive impairment. Here is the link for review Dr Feng's thesis.