News

A warm reunion for RS alumni and students

RS 9th Elite Alumni Seminar was held successfully on 24 November 2022. After adhering to social distancing measures for a long period of time, RS alumni and students were delighted to meet their friends and teachers face to face at the event. They grabbed the opportunity to catch up on each other and enjoyed a delicious dinner together. Prof. Kwok-yin Wong, Vice President (Education) of PolyU, delivered an opening speech to kick off the seminar, which was followed by an encouraging speech by Prof. Hector Tsang, Chair Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences and Head of RS. The event was also graced by our special guest, Dr Katherine Ngan, Chairman of the University Court.  We were pleased to have invited three elite alumni, Mr Bronco But, Mr Cap Chan and Ms Grace Cheung, to share their success stories with the attendees. Mr Bronco But has been admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong, United Kingdom, and Australian Capital Territory and New South Wales of Australia, and is currently Consultant at Messrs. Li & Partners. Mr Cap Chan is a solicitor and the sole proprietor of Cap Chan & Co. Ms Grace Cheung is a final-year student studying medicine at The Chinese University of Hong Kong. Thanks to their interesting talks, the evening was filled with laughter and unforgettable memories for the attendees.  

Three RS scholars have been ranked among top 2% of scientists in the world

We are delighted to share the good news that three RS scholars (listed below) have been ranked among the world’s top 2% most-cited scientists. They were named, along with more than 200 PolyU scholars, in the latest “Updated science-wide author databases of standardised citation indicators”, compiled by Stanford University. To group and rank over 100,000 top scientists across the world into 22 subject fields and 176 sub-fields, the Stanford research team led by Prof. John Ioannidis used an array of standardised citation indicators including information on citations, an individual’s scientific research output, co-authorship and a composite indicator for career-long citation impact up to the end of 2021.  Name of Scholar Subject Field Prof. Hector Tsang (Chair Professor) Psychiatry Prof. Marco Pang (Chair Professor) Rehabilitation Prof. Benjamin Yee (Professor) Neurology and neurosurgery

Congratulations to Miss Karen Tam on breaking USFHK’s swimming record

Miss Karen Tam, a student of our Master in Physiotherapy programme, won the Gold medals in Women’s 50m Freestyle and Women’s 50m Butterfly at the Annual Aquatic Meet of The University Sports Federation of Hong Kong, China (USFHK) on 30 October 2022. She also set a new USFHK’s record in Women’s 50m Freestyle with 25.86s (the old record was 26.69s). 

Agreement Signing Ceremony between RS of PolyU and Jiangbin Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region

A ceremony to record the moment on signing an agreement between RS of PolyU and Jiangbin Hospital of Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region (the Hospital) was held on 14 October 2022, signifying a closer and more concrete collaborative relationship between RS and the Hospital, and at the same time strengthening ties and co-operation with the Mainland China. In delivering the speeches of the event, Dr Miranda Lou (Executive Vice President of PolyU), Prof. Hector Tsang (Cally Kwong Mei Wan Professor in Psychosocial Health, Chair Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences and Head of RS) and Mr Joseph Zeng mentioned the main purpose of the agreement was to provide training to the healthcare staff of the Hospital and equip them to be the international qualified professionals in the field of rehabilitation services, and facilitate the development of the rehabilitation services in the Mainland China.  It has been one of the major objectives of our University to actively promote exchanges and co-operation in various aspects of expertise and management between different industries of the two places.  This collaboration between RS of PolyU and the Hospital is expected to promote the rehabilitation education in the Mainland China and enhance the professional skills in rehabilitation services of the healthcare staff.

RS year-one students have won PolyU entry scholarships with their outstanding academic achievements

Since its inception, RS has been admitting elite students from Hong Kong and elsewhere into its programmes. We are proud to announce that RS admittees in this academic year perform very well in winning nearly 40% of the JUPAS and non-JUPAS entry scholarships offered by the University, an achievement as impressive as that of our past admittees in preceding academic years. PolyU offers altogether 511 entry scholarships for new admittees with outstanding academic achievements this year. Out of these 511 scholarships, 134 go to PT freshmen and 67 go to OT freshmen. These two figures make up a total of 201, or nearly 40% of all entry scholarships offered to all academic departments of PolyU.

Congratulations to four RS academics on being conferred Endowed Professorships!

We are delighted to announce that four RS academics, Prof. David Shum (Chair Professor of Neuropsychology and Dean of Faculty of Health and Social Sciences), Prof. Hector Tsang (Chair Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences and Head of RS), Prof. Margaret Mak (Associate Dean of Faculty of Health and Social Sciences and Professor of RS) and Prof. Amy Fu (Associate Head and Professor of RS), have been conferred Endowed Professorships by the University. The inauguration ceremony (i.e., The Fourth Inauguration of Endowed Professorships) was held on 31 August 2022, and RS faculties and colleagues attended the ceremony to share the joy and glory of the four Endowed Professors. An Endowed Professorship represents the highest honour that a university can bestow upon their eminent academics and an enduring tribute to the donor who has established it. PolyU established the Endowed Professorship Scheme in 2012 to honour distinguished scholars for their outstanding academic and research achievements. With extra resources from the Scheme, Endowed Professors will be able to step up their excellent work in research and education. We are proud that at RS, the percentage of attaining Endowed Professorships by our academics is rather high compared to other schools/departments of PolyU. Our heartfelt congratulations to the four RS academics on receiving such a prestigious honour! They have set a good example and a target for achievement for other RS and PolyU scholars. Please see below for the four Endowed Professorships as well as the vision of the four Endowed Professors and their donors for the endowment. (Source: https://www.polyu.edu.hk/giving/priorities/research-and-innovation/endowed-professorship-scheme/endowed-professorships/?sc_lang=en)   Yeung Tsang Wing Yee and Tsang Wing Hing Endowed Professorship in Neuropsychology “The Endowed Professorship will enable me to further promote the important role of neuropsychological research in understanding and preventing age-related decline in human brain functions.” ― Prof. David Shum (Yeung Tsang Wing Yee and Tsang Wing Hing Professor in Neuropsychology) “Our family hope that PolyU can advance and transfer knowledge for the benefit of mankind, specifically encouraging study and pioneering research in the realm of neuroscience and neurological rehabilitation.” ― Madam Yeung Tsang Wing-yee Winnie & Ms Tsang Wing-hing   Cally Kwong Mei Wan Endowed Professorship in Psychosocial Health (Successive Endowed Professorship) “Appointed as the Cally Kwong Mei Wan Professor in Psychosocial Health, I will further the study in mind-body exercises and other East meets West approaches, especially the application to elderly. I will also promote the development of assistive technologies to improve psychosocial health of people in Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland.” ― Prof. Hector Tsang (Cally Kwong Mei Wan Professor in Psychosocial Health) “By establishing this Professorship, I hope to promote the research, development and application of new therapies and assistive technologies to improve people’s mental health, especially amongst the elderly, and to promote the importance of psychosocial health.” ― Miss Cally Kwong Mei-wan, JP (Chairman, Cally K Jewellery Limited)   Shun Hing Education and Charity Fund Endowed Professorship in Rehabilitation Sciences (Converted from Endowed Fellowship) “I will perform research to understand the brain changes underlying the functional improvement of people with Parkinson’s disease after rehabilitation. Based on these findings, more advanced physiotherapy treatment can be developed to promote patients’ mobility and to delay disease progression.” ― Prof. Margaret Mak (Shun Hing Education and Charity Fund Professor in Rehabilitation Sciences) “As the only tertiary institution in Hong Kong to offer Master’s programmes in physiotherapy and occupational therapy, PolyU has cultivated a group of professional and dedicated therapists. We hope to promote further development of rehabilitation sciences for the benefit of patients.” ― Dr David Mong (Chairman and Group CEO, Shun Hing Group)   Peter Hung Endowed Professorship in Pain Management “The Endowed Professorship is an encouragement that truly fuels my academic passion. I believe more people will benefit from further research on pain management.” ― Prof. Amy Fu (Peter Hung Professor in Pain Management) “We wish to contribute to the development of pain medicine by promoting high quality pain education and pain treatment training, conducting innovative research, and offering the best integrated holistic practices of pain medicine in an affordable way to the general public.” ― Mr Peter Hung (Founder, H H Hung Charitable Foundation)

RS held i-CREATe for the first time with HKOTA and CREATe Asia

RS held the 15th International Convention on Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology (i-CREATe 2022) on 26-28 August 2022, together with the Hong Kong Occupational Therapy Association (HKOTA) and the Coalition on Rehabilitation Engineering and Assistive Technology, Asia (CREATe Asia).  The i-CREATe, initiated in 2007 as one of the Thai-Singapore collaboration projects by Her Royal Highness Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn of Thailand, aims to serve as a platform for assistive and rehabilitation technologies in ASEAN countries. It has become an annual conference of the CREATe Asia since 2016 and been held every year in different Asian countries or regions. It is the first time for i-CREATe to be organised in Hong Kong this year and RS was honoured to host it as one of the anniversary events to celebrate PolyU’s 85th birthday. With the theme “Enabling All with Assistive Technology”, the 3-day conference was run in a hybrid mode due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Around 200 local and overseas participants from the fields of occupational therapy, engineering, and rehabilitation engineering joined the conference enthusiastically and enjoyed its rich, well-planned programme in person or online. The conference programme featured six keynote speeches by highly qualified international speakers, four plenary sessions by 12 well-respected local specialists, 36 free paper presentations by experienced clinicians and researchers, as well as round-table discussions for speakers, scholars, experts, teachers and students to exchange knowledge, information and experiences pertinent to the development of assistive and rehabilitation technologies.  At the opening ceremony on 27 August, there were the pre-recorded opening speech by HRH Princess Maha Chakri Sirindhorn and another pre-recorded speech by Mr Chapal Khasnabis from the World Health Organization. We had also invited Mr Chua Hoi Wai, Chief Executive of The Hong Kong Council of Social Service, and Prof. Christopher Chao, Vice President (Research and Innovation), PolyU, to deliver an informative speech separately. The opening ceremony was graced by the representatives from 26 supporting organisations of the conference, including six PolyU and CUHK academic departments/units, three professional organisations, 16 NGOs and the Hospital Authority.  The Global Student Innovation Challenge (gSIC), an iconic annual event at i-CREATe, was held all day on 26 August. This year we had 40 student teams from different Asian countries/cities such as China, Thailand, Singapore, Taiwan and Hong Kong competing closely with each other in two categories, the Design Category (17 teams) and the Technology Category (23 teams). We are happy that our OT students have won several awards in the contest with their innovative devices and solutions, including three Merit, the Best Video Presentation and the Best Onsite Exhibition-1st awards in the Design Category, as well as the Best Onsite Exhibition-2nd award in the Technology Category. A detailed list of awardees is shown here.  Near the end of the conference, Prof. Kenneth Fong (Professor at RS and Co-chair of i-CREATe 2022’s Organising Committee) delivered a closing address, in which he thanked all the attendees for participating in the 3-day conference. He also acknowledged the devotion and efforts of his colleagues at RS and the two co-organisers, HKOTA and CREATe Asia. Finally, he expressed his gratitude to the supporting organisations for their great help and support.   Please visit our photo gallery (click here) for more snapshots of the event.

Two RS students won The Hong Kong Jockey Club Scholarships – Undergraduate Scholarship

We would like to share the good news that Miss Angel Tam, year 3 student of BSc (Hons) in Physiotherapy programme, and Miss Sarah Lee, year 3 student of BSc (Hons) in Occupational Therapy programme, were selected to be the recipients of The Hong Kong Jockey Club Scholarships – Undergraduate Scholarship. The HKJC Scholarships are highly competitive and dedicated to nurture local talents to contribute to society. The two students share their happiness below: Miss Angel Tam It is my great honour to be awarded The Hong Kong Jockey Club Scholarships this year. Thanks to the unconditional love and support from my family and teachers, I have been granted many opportunities to learn and explore different things, which allow me to reflect deeply on what I can do for the community and serve as a future leader. I have also been motivated to participate in different kinds of community work, through which I was able to understand the life and difficulties of different groups of people. All these opportunities have equipped me with various life skills and empowered me to work towards the goal of being a caring leader. Again, I want to express my deepest appreciation to all the teachers and friends who have provided me with endless support throughout my study over the past few years. Furthermore, I owe a deep debt of gratitude to The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust for this scholarship, which has allowed me to explore more and different extracurricular activities and contribute to the local community. In the future, I wish to equip myself with more knowledge and skills so as to become a successful and caring physiotherapist who can help patients regain their health and recover fully.Miss Sarah Lee It is my great honour to receive this special award. I wish to take this opportunity to express my heartfelt thanks to my family for their unconditional love and support, which has helped nurture my personal growth and broaden my horizons throughout these years. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, PolyU, and my teachers for providing me with the precious opportunities to explore my potential, challenge myself and contribute my knowledge and skills to the community. Through joining the Hong Kong Jockey Club Induction Programme a month ago, I realised that there were limitless possibilities for us as young people to create a positive impact on society. I was also encouraged by my peers who were striving very hard to make a change in the community. As an occupational therapy student, I wish to become a more competent, all-round person with a compassionate and caring heart to serve others. With these qualities, I hope in the future I can help improve people’s health and wellbeing and enhance their quality of life, so that they can live a meaningful life.   Prof. Hector Tsang, Chair Professor and Head of the Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, met Angel and Sarah to express his congratulatory message to them. He was proud of their achievement and hoped they could inspire their fellow students to contribute to society in a similar manner.

RS Inauguration Ceremony 2022/23

To welcome the new academic year with a new cohort of physiotherapy (PT) and occupational therapy (OT) students, RS held the Inauguration Ceremony 2022/23 on 19 August 2022. The ceremony was arranged in a hybrid mode, and the guests and participants, including RS colleagues and students, joined the event in-person or virtually to share the excitement in kicking off a new academic year. The ceremony was graced by Prof. Kwok-yin Wong, Vice President (Education) of PolyU, and Dr Lam Ching-choi, Non-official Member of the Executive Council of HKSAR Government and Chief Executive Officer of the Haven of Hope Christian Service, who delivered a speech separately. They congratulated the freshmen on being admitted into the BSc (Hons) in PT and BSc (Hons) in OT programmes, which are among the most competitive programmes at PolyU. They also encouraged the freshmen to take an active part in different local and international competitions as well as helping the needy in society especially in times of crisis. After that, Prof. Hector Tsang (Cally Kwong Mei Wan Professor in Psychosocial Health, Chair Professor of Rehabilitation Sciences and Head of RS) gave an inspirational speech to the new students. He briefly reviewed the current development of healthcare and rehabilitation in Hong Kong, and explained how this affected the education and professional development of the OT and PT disciplines. He then summarised the achievements of RS last year and offered helpful guidance to the freshmen on how to prepare themselves in the coming four years and beyond. Afterwards, there was the announcement and presentation of a series of awards and scholarships to our distinguished students and colleagues. Before the ceremony came to a close, Prof. Hector Tsang delivered a few final remarks and a vote of thanks to the guests and participants.

Our warmest congratulations to Ruby Kwok Wing Yan, a year-4 PT student of RS, on being selected as “The Outstanding Tertiary Student of Hong Kong”

Ruby Kwok Wing Yan is a year-4 student of the Bachelor of Science (Honours) in Physiotherapy programme at RS. She is the first PolyU student to be selected as “The Outstanding Tertiary Student of Hong Kong”. We are proud of her for being able to stand out among more than 100 participants in the selection. The Outstanding Tertiary Students Award of Hong Kong 2022, organised by the Hong Kong Youth & Tertiary Students Association, is an accredited event that celebrates the 25th anniversary of the establishment of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR). The event is supported by the Department of Educational, Scientific and Technological Affairs of the Liaison Office of the Central People’s Government in the HKSAR, the Department of Media and Public Relations of the Office of the Commissioner of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China in the HKSAR, the Education Bureau and the Home Affairs Bureau (now renamed “Home and Youth Affairs Bureau”) of The Government of the HKSAR. It aims to discover, praise and nurture potential tertiary students who care about society and the future development of their motherland, so as to promote their whole-person development as well as inspiring more tertiary students to follow the example of the selected students and get ready to dedicate themselves and contribute to society.