The world today is facing unprecedented challenges arising from climate change, food safety, ageing population, COVID-19, energy shortage, and sustainable development and growth, etc. Those grand problems that universities are poised to tackle cannot be solved with traditional discipline-specific research. The solutions needed are new discoveries and keys that require game-changing research accomplished by a diverse team effort with a convergence of disciplines. At the same time, the Fourth Industrial Revolution, which is characterised by emerging technologies such as Artificial Intelligence (AI), data science, Internet of Things (IoT), and robotics, is changing the way we live and work, presenting both challenges and opportunities.
As a university with a strong emphasis on societal impact, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is inspired, more than ever, to address the ever-challenging problems in the world through advancing impactful interdisciplinary research and encouraging innovations. Interdisciplinary research as a mode of discovery can be one of the most productive and inspiring of human pursuits to produce solutions to the profound issues the society is facing and can create a sustainable environment and healthier and more prosperous lives. The new discoveries, technologies, and innovations developed through interdisciplinary research can inspire young minds and have a deeper understanding of our place in space and time.
The faculty members, researchers, and graduate students at PolyU are expanding knowledge and solving challenging problems through basic and applied interdisciplinary research, which integrates disciplines not only from science, technology, engineering, and mathematics, but also from business, design, social science, humanities, and management.
The PolyU Academy for Interdisciplinary Research (PAIR) is a hub to facilitate interdisciplinary research, transfer technologies to stakeholders, inspire innovations across disciplines, and collaborate with top institutions in the world. The effort is to develop impactful solutions for the greater good of society, harnessing the strengths of PolyU’s research capability and world-class scholars.
Qingyan CHEN
