Dean's Message 3 Overview Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology 4 Department of Applied Mathematics 6 Department of Applied Physics 8 Department of Food Science and Nutrition 10 Our Achievements Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology 12 Department of Applied Mathematics 13 Department of Applied Physics 14 Department of Food Science and Nutrition 15 List of Grants/ Donations 16 List of Awards/ Honours 18 Our Research Collaborations with Industry Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology 20 Department of Applied Mathematics 21 Department of Applied Physics 22 Department of Food Science and Nutrition 23 Our Research Platforms Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology 24 Department of Applied Mathematics 25 Department of Applied Physics 26 Department of Food Science and Nutrition 27 Our Researchers Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology 28 Department of Applied Mathematics 69 Department of Applied Physics 113 Department of Food Science and Nutrition 139 Index 165
Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology Department of Applied Mathematics Department of Applied Physics Department of Food Science and Nutrition
3 The renaming of the Faculty of Science (FS) marks a milestone in our Faculty’s history. FS is composed of four academic departments, namely Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology (ABCT), Department of Applied Mathematics (AMA), Department of Applied Physics (AP), and the newly established Department of Food Science and Nutrition (FSN). We are a hub of great minds with 160 academic staff, over 360 research students and over 1,700 undergraduate and taught postgraduate students. Our Faculty is committed to conducting cutting-edge research and dedicated to engaging in innovative projects, and our core belief is to create positive impact with our innovations and creativity. Our Faculty brings a lot of technological innovations that can benefit the industry and the economy while address substantive issues encountered on public health in the recent years. For example, our colleagues developed a drug that starves cancer cells, which has been approved by the US Food and Drug Administration for clinical trials. To help formulate policies to prevent the spread of COVID-19, our colleagues developed mathematical models to understand the COVID-19 transmission pattern for effective control measure. Our colleagues’ retinainspired machine vision work was selected by the BeijingHong Kong Academic Exchange Centre as one of the “Top 10 Hong Kong Innovation and Technology News 2022”. We also have colleagues who employed traditional Chinese medicine for disease management, which had received the Scientific and Technological Progress Award and the Ministry of Education Award. All these latest research activities, achievements and collaborations with the industry in both scientific discoveries and technological innovations will be introduced to you in this brochure. Over the years, FS has established pioneering platforms for world-class research, including State Key Laboratory, CAS-PolyU Joint Laboratory, PolyU Academy for Interdisciplinary Research Centres and Research Institutes, and research centres at University, Faculty and Department levels. Our research strength is also evidenced by securing competitive funding from the various funding schemes including General Research Fund, Collaborative Research Fund, Research Impact Fund and National Natural Science Foundation of China/RGC Collaborative Research Scheme. Among them, our success rates of GRF in 2022/2023 and 2021/2022 are 41.51% and 44.09% respectively. We are also proud to present to you a strong research team which supports the Faculty’s development. Four of our senior academics were awarded the prestigious RGC Senior Research Fellowship and one prospective academic was awarded the RGC Research Fellowship, five academics are named in the list of Highly Cited Researchers 2022 by Clarivate Analytics for their significant research impact, and 21 colleagues are ranked as the World’s Top 2% most-cited scientists in 2022 by Stanford University. By summarising the latest research activities of our Faculty in this brochure, we look forward to building a strategic connection with different parties. Industrial partners could translate emerging technologies for commercialisation, while academic staff and entities could explore possible collaborations within or beyond the Faculty. PhD students and postdocs can identify the exciting research topics and your ideal supervisors. We hope that you will have a full picture of how our Faculty is fostering the pursuit of research excellence and technological advances after reading our stories. Prof. Wai-yeung Wong, Raymond Dean
4 Combating COVID with Biocompatible, Non-toxic, Antibacterial and Antiviral Coating People are now more concerned about hygiene than ever amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The Grand Rise Technology Limited, co-founded by our researchers in 2019, developed a novel technology based on the patented core-shell particle technology platform, enabling a new class of amphiphilic core-shell nanoparticles for a wide range of applications such as anti-microbial coating solutions. The company successfully developed the CareCoatexTM Pro Ultra bio-based anti-microbial coating and manufactured the CareCoatexTM bio-based anti-microbial FFP2 3D face masks to meet the huge demand for safe and eco-friendly anti-microbial products from the general public and different industries. The anti-microbial coating has been widely used in the Government’s isolation facilities and University dormitories. This technology has been awarded accolades in international competitions including the Environmental Impact Award in the Alibaba Entrepreneurs Fund/HSBC JUMPSTARTER 2022 Global Pitch Competition and the first prize of Greater Bay Area Sustainability Innovation Challenge (GBASIC) 2022. The company was selected as one of the Forbes Asia 100 To Watch 2022 companies/startups. The company also received the Excellence in Research Application Award of the Hong Kong Innopreneur Awards 2022 for their innovative use of core-shell nanoparticle technology to develop eco-friendly and safe biomaterials-based coatings. Drug Discovery and Cancer (D&C): We aim to understand the pathogenesis of several cancer types and thereby fabricate drugs to combat them. We have established a drug development platform to generate new drugs for commercialisation. Synthetic and Medicinal Chemistry (SMC): We focus on structure to examine the therapeutic effects of anti-cancer drugs, anti-microbial drugs and traditional Chinese medicinal herbs. Chemical Biology and Healthcare (CBH): Our focus is to develop novel chemical entities and mass spectrometrybased metabolomics to identify biomarkers and mechanisms of disease. Materials and Sustainable Chemistry (MSC): We focus on efficient renewable energy conversion and storage for sustainable development, aligning with industrial interests and the Hong Kong government's Smart City initiative. Molecular Design for Functional Materials (MDFM): We focus on the development and optimisation of molecules and advanced nanomaterials for a wide range of applications including pharmaceuticals, catalysts, advanced electronics and biomaterials. Our Mission Our mission is to deliver high-quality impactful research that promotes health and fights diseases. We employ multi-faceted strategies to promote interdisciplinary research efforts which aim at establishing a vibrant and sustainable research environment that generates excellent research for positive impacts to society and industry. Research Focus Our department currently focuses on five major research areas: Impact Stories Combating Counterfeiting and Tampering of Products by using Nano-based Ink Technology Our researchers have invented a new indelible printing ink for tamper-proof product packaging. This “Anti-erasing” (ATE) ink can be used to print product information labels which provide visible evidence to consumers if the label has been altered. Our ink’s tracing marks also enable anticounterfeiting investigations to track and trace fraudulent items throughout supply chains. Our ATE ink has attracted intense interest from the industry and is already being used by China Mengniu Dairy Company in their production lines. Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology Overview
5 Microbial Solution for Microplastic Pollution Most microplastics are toxic and endanger aquatic ecosystems. More alarmingly, the pollutants eventually make their way into human bodies via the food chain. Scientists worldwide have not yet found an effective and sustainable way to capture and remove these tiny particles from water, and doing so remains a formidable challenge. Lately, our researchers have developed a viable solution with innovative approach to remove microplastics from water using bacteria. The team has genetically modified pseudomonas aeruginosa, a bacterium known to produce robust biofilms, which help remove microplastics from water. The bacteria can form sticky biofilms that trap microplastics, making them easier to collect and recycle. This approach provides a basis for sustainably reducing microplastics in the aquatic environment and has the potential to be widely applied in wastewater treatment plants. The research findings have been published in Chemical Engineering Journal, and have attracted widespread attention at the 2021 British Society of Microbiology Annual Conference. New Mediums for Developing Anti-cancer Drugs The discovery of arginase and flavonoid dimer as potent anti-cancer drugs has opened up a variety of cancer treatment applications, including the reversing of cancer drug resistance, the development of oral anti-cancer drugs as well as effective brain cancer, liver cancer and leukaemia treatments. Our anti-cancer applications of arginase and flavonoid dimer, already proven safe in animal studies, have won awards and been licensed to our industry partners for further clinical trials. In particular, liver cancer is the fifth most common cancer in Hong Kong associated with a high mortality rate. Our researchers identified markers and signalling pathways of liver cancer stem cells to combat liver cancer. Cancer stem cells are regarded as the root of tumour development. They are responsible for tumour initiation, recurrence and chemoresistance. Targeting liver cancer stem cells by suppressing their drug resistance properties is a promising treatment approach to overcome drug resistance. The use of targeted antibody therapy against cancer stem cells in combination with currently available immunotherapy may be a promising strategy against liver cancer. An Innovative Drug Discovery Path: From Molecular Antimicrobial Resistance to Novel Antibiotic Development Making Biofuels Viable Biodegradable, non-toxic and environmentally friendly, biofuels are a highly promising renewable energy source. However, first and second-generation biofuels have limitations. For example, the liquid biodiesel catalysts traditionally used in biofuel production typically generate huge amounts of wastewater in the final product purification step. Such limitations have spurred increasing interest in using algae as a more effective biofuel than conventional sources such as corn. We have established a highly efficient mobile that collects algal biomass from freshwater for biodiesel production. We have also developed a catalyst to raise biodiesel industry standards of practice to a more sustainable, more environmentally friendly level. Operating at low temperatures and pressure, and thus requiring less energy, our newly developed catalyst is highly compatible with low-grade unrefined feedstock through a one-step simultaneous esterification and transesterification reaction. This technology is ready for commercialisation and knowledge transfer. Disconnection between clinical research and basic science is a critical issue in current research on bacterial antimicrobial resistance. To combat this problem, our research programmes utilise multidisciplinary approaches that interface clinical study and basic science. We conduct comprehensive epidemiological studies on bacterial pathogens recovered from animals, food samples and clinical settings to obtain first-hand, high-resolution epidemiological data and delineate the origins and transmission dynamics of multi-drug resistant (MDR) organisms. Our unique study programme enables us to accurately evaluate the strengths and limitations of various methodologies in MDR investigations.
6 Research Focus We currently have three major research areas: • Applied Optimisation and Operations Research • Applied Statistics and Financial Mathematics • Engineering and Computational Mathematics Our Aim We aim to further strengthen our position as a world-leading international Applied Mathematics centre of excellence facilitating learning through high-quality teaching and research. PolyU has been listed in the world’s top 100 in Statistics and Operational Research for five consecutive years since 2018 and close to top 100 in Mathematics in recent years, both by the Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) World University Ranking. In the U.S. News & World Report 2023, PolyU ranks 47th in Best Global Universities under subject category Mathematics. Growing International Presence Our Department provides research funding for excellent researchers to collaborate with our faculty members. We also invite renowned researchers to deliver distinguished lectures, as well as exchange ideas, through organising and hosting international conferences and workshops. In partnership with the Heidelberg Laureate Forum Foundation, we co-organised the Masters of Abstraction 2019–Laureates of Mathematics and Computer Science Forum with the Department of Computing. Recipients of the renowned ACM Turing Award, ACM Prize in Computing, Fields Medal and international scholars, including Mathematics laureate Prof. Efim Zelmanov (1994 Fields Medal awardee), were brought together to share expertise and explore “How AI and Big Data are Driving Innovation”. In collaboration with Brown University and Beijing Normal University-Hong Kong Baptist University United International College, our department hosted the 7th International Conference on Scientific Computing and Partial Differential Equations (SCPDE23) in 2023 May, featuring a diverse group of international speakers and promoting research interests in scientific computing and partial differential equations, with an emphasis on interdisciplinary exploration and real-world applications. Increasing Research Power We organise grant application experience sharing sessions and provide financial support for external peer reviews and collaborators. The following table shows our Department’s growing track record of obtaining RGC GRF/ECS grants: AMA achieved a very satisfactory performance in the 2022/23 GRF/ECS Exercise (17 and 2 respectively). We also received the first CRF grant among all Mathematics departments in 2021/22 and two projects were awarded NSFC/RGC Joint Research Scheme 2022/23. On top of RGC grants, our colleagues have also received grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Council for the AIDS Trust Fund, the Food and Health Bureau, and other industry grant agencies, such as Alibaba, Blue Balloon Innovative, Esquel, Huawei, Value Exchange International and 7-Eleven Stores. An amount of HK$3M was awarded under CAS-Croucher Funding Scheme for Joint Laboratories in 2022. Year 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 2021-22 2022-23 Funded grants 8 16 11 16 16 12 19 19 Prof. Ya-xiang Yuan Prof. Luis A Caffarelli Overview Department of Applied Mathematics
7 Impact Stories AMA is devoted to developing practical solutions to problems through mathematical techniques and models. We have collaborated with different industrial partners to conduct applied research such as: Improving Manufacturing Efficiency through a Hybrid Quality Rate Prediction Model Textile manufacturer suffers delivery shortages or fabric wastage due to inaccurate production estimates. Dr JIANG Binyan established a hybrid statistical model to accurately predict wastage and effectively plan manufacturing jobs. The model helped a global textile manufacturer to improve manufacturing efficiency and reduce production costs by over HK$2.5M annually. In addition, significant environmental savings, including a 300 tons reduction in greenhouse gases and 2,155 tons reduction in wastewater, are achieved annually. Infectious Disease Modelling Understanding disease transmission patterns is essential in developing effective control measures. Dr HE Daihai developed new mathematical models and fitted these models to report epidemiological data via a likelihood-based inference framework to identify the best control method for infectious diseases. Dr He’s research has significant implications for public health measures, such as social distancing and hospital bed capacity during the outbreak of COVID-19. His research was also adopted by Shenzhen Centre for Disease Control and Prevention for the development of new policies for Chickenpox vaccination; the mathematical models also provided evidence to support guidance on reducing Zika virus transmission in Europe and public health risk-mitigation and planning for Yellow Fever outbreaks in Angola and Nigeria. Prof. Chi-Wang Shu Prof. Yitang Zhang International Recognition Our Mathematics and Statistics research has achieved remarkable recognition since 2009. The vast majority (89%) of AMA’s research achieved a 4-star ‘world leading’ or 3-star ‘internationally excellent’ rating according to the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 2020, the performance assessment exercise carried out by the University Grants Committee. We will continue to allocate resources to research as well as support and encourage our staff to publish high-quality papers in leading international journals and aim to further boost our rankings in the next RAE. Moving Forward We will further: • strengthen our three research areas through integrating projects between them, supporting our colleagues to publish highquality papers, conducting collaborative research, facilitating research visits, hosting expert visitors and international conferences and further solidifying our status as a leading international research centre. • recruit young data science and analytics talent, as well as established researchers, to conduct leading research that bridges our three research areas and to develop leading techniques for the high-tech industry. • develop and promote interdisciplinary research through enhancing collaborations with other PolyU departments,such as Department of Applied Physics, Department of Computing, Faculty of Business, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, School of Optometry and School of Fashion and Textiles as well as other academic institutes, with special emphasis on mathematical theory, algorithms and software for handling optimisation problems, machine learning, statistical learning and dynamic systems in data science and artificial intelligence. • foster connections with new industry partners and other non-academic entities to impactfully contribute to society with a special focus on collaborations in the rapidly advancing Greater Bay Area. • recruit, and provide expert training to, high-quality PhD students and new researchers for their future employment in top universities and leading high-tech industries.
8 Research Focus The Department of Applied Physics (AP) focuses on five research areas: • Green Energy & Carbon Neutrality • Machine Learning & Computational Physics • Nanomaterials & Micro/Nanoelectronics • Photonics, Plasmonics & Optoelectronics • Quantum Physics & Devices AP is committed to achieving research excellence, which has resulted in remarkable outcomes across several domains. These include publications in top-notch international journals, awards conferred by local and international institutions, patents, fellowships in esteemed international academic societies, and grants from governmental and industrial bodies. AP focuses on fundamental and applied research and has done our utmost to promote collaboration with and knowledge transfer to local and Greater Bay Area (GBA) industries. Our active engagement in research and consultancy work has been well recognised by both academia and industry. AP has greatly contributed to the establishment of several PolyU research institutes, including Photonics Research Institute (PRI), Research Institute for Intelligent Wearable Systems (RI-IWEAR), Research Centre for Resources Engineering towards Carbon Neutrality (RCRE), Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Research Institute for Smart Energy (RISE), etc. We have also made continuous efforts to acquire the latest, advanced equipment and facilities to strengthen our cutting-edge research. Moreover, AP has a strong faculty team. Eight AP colleagues were listed among the Top 2% Scientists Worldwide 2022 by Stanford University. They are, in alphabetical order of surname, Prof. CHAI Yang, Prof. HAO Jianhua, Prof. HUANG Haitao, Prof. LAU Shu-ping, Prof. LOH Kian-ping, Prof. WU Tao, Prof. YAN Feng and Prof. YU Siu-fung. Among them, Prof. Loh and Prof. Yan are also recognised as Highly Cited Researchers 2022 by Clarivate Analytics. AP has attracted young and energetic academic members with a strong track record from world-leading universities to expand a diversity of talents, and has made substantial progress in terms of research grants application and high-level journal paper publication. From 2020 to 2022, AP received a total amount of HK$82M in external funded projects (as PI or PC) and published one paper in Science and five papers in Nature Materials, Nature Nanotechnology, Nature Photonics and Nature Electronics, all with AP colleagues as corresponding authors. Meanwhile, AP strived to publish papers in other reputable journals such as Nature Communications, Advanced Materials, Nano Letters, ACS Nano, Journal of the American Chemical Society, Angewandte Chemie, Physical Review Letters and more. Through the efforts of our faculty members, researchers, alumni and postgraduate research students, we continue to play a leading role in our discipline, nationally and internationally. The Top 2% Scientists Worldwide 2022 by Stanford University by Clarivate Analytics Highly Cited Researchers 2022 Department of Applied Physics Overview
9 Unexpected Ferroelectricity in Untwisted Heterobilayers for Next-Generation Nanoelectronics 2D materials with out-of-plane (OOP) ferroelectricity and piezoelectricity are highly desirable for ultrathin ferro- and piezoelectronic devices. Prof. LAU Shuping has demonstrated unexpected OOP properties in untwisted, commensurate, and epitaxial MoS2/WS2 heterobilayers synthesized by scalable one-step chemical vapour deposition (CVD), obtaining the modulation of tunnelling current by 1,000 times in ferroelectric tunnel junction devices. This discovery facilitates new ultrathin ferroelectric devices for next-generation nanoelectronics. One Photon Generates Multiple Electron-Hole Pairs for Better Light Harvesting The photocurrents in solar cells, photovoltaics and photodetectors rely on the conversion of photons into electron-hole pairs. Dr LI Mingjie’s group recently discovered the multiple exciton generation (MEG) effects in tin-lead halide perovskite nanocrystals and their devices by the generation of multiple electron-hole pairs from a single high-energy photon. Outstanding photon-charge conversion efficiencies were achieved, for example, MEG efficiency up to 87%, photocurrent internal quantum efficiency >100%. This effect is particularly useful for practical applications of perovskite solar cells in the future. Impact Stories Ripples Boost Charge Carrier Mobility for Next-Generation Field-Effect Transistors 2D semiconductors often suffer from strong phonon scattering and thus show low carrier mobility at room temperature. Dr YANG Ming developed a new approach to improve carrier mobility by introducing ripples into MoS2 nanofilm and investigating the physical mechanisms behind. The ripples enhanced the room-temperature mobility significantly with a record-high value of ~900 cm2 V-1 s-1, exceeding the phonon-limited mobility of flat MoS 2. This enables high-performance room-temperature field-effect transistors and thermoelectric devices for next-generation nanoelectronics. One Material, Three Phases, New Structure for In-Memory Computing Material structure, transport mechanism and measurement setup of rippled MoS2 based 2D device by Dr Yang’s group. Material structure and model of CVD-grown MoS2/WS2 heterobilayers by Prof. Lau’s group. Phase-controlled synthesis of large-area 2D In2Se3 films and the application of in-plane heterophase junctions in field-effect transistor memory devices by Dr Zhao’s group. Schematic diagram of black phosphorus ultrathin films and top-gated Field-Effect Transistor (FET) arrays. Ferroelectric field-effect transistors hold the key to newgeneration logic-in-memory devices. Dr ZHAO Jiong and his co-workers discovered a new method to synthesize centimetre-size 2D In2Se3 with all three different phases including β, β', and α phases and demonstrated field-effect transistors with improved non-volatile memory device performance. This opens up numerous opportunities for developing novel structures and concepts for future FE electronics as well as logic-in-memory devices. Conceptual diagram and working principle of multiple exciton generation (MEG) effects in tin–lead halide perovskite nanocrystals for higher light-energy conversion by Dr Li. The First Method to Grow Black Phosphorus into Large-Area Ultrathin Films Black phosphorus (BP) is a layered semiconductor most promising for transistor devices at atomistic thickness. However, the growth of large-area BP is still lacking. Prof. HAO Jianhua’s group has invented a new method using pulsed laser deposition to grow ultrathin BP at centimetre scale. Furthermore, they have fabricated large-scale field-effect transistor arrays on BP films, yielding appealing hole mobility of up to 213 and 617 cm2 V−1 s-1 at 295 and 250 K, respectively. This work represents a major cornerstone for the BP-based IC industry.
10 Our Missions • To educate and engage students dedicated to becoming global citizens and professionals in Food Science and Nutrition industry • To pursue impactful research in Food Science and Nutrition via inter-disciplinary collaborations for innovative and sustainable development that benefits the world and mankind • To create an identity with a platform to align international and multi-national consultancy or partnerships on innovative research and transform into product development via knowledge transfer in PolyU, Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area (GBA) Research Focus FSN focuses on five major research areas: Food Safety and Bacterial Antimicrobial Resistance under ONE HEALTH Framework We continue to develop the following directions (i) establishment of a food safety early warning system to monitor food safety in Shenzhen and Hong Kong; (ii) development of key technology on rapid diagnosis of food-borne pathogens; (iii) development of key technology on rapid detection of chemical contamination in food products; (iv) development of new technology to improve food safety in food processing and preservation; (v) development of control measures to enhance food safety and (vi) provision of food safety related services in the Greater Bay Area, including participation in policy-making, education and food sample detection services. Microbiome in Nutrition and Human Health We focus projects on (i) gut microbiome on different diseases such as metabolic diseases (obesity and hypertension), osteoporosis, inflammatory bowel disease and long COVID; (ii) bioactive microbial derived metabolites from plant-based diet and tonic food; (iii) use of indigenous beneficial microbes, the nutrients supporting their growth and their derived metabolites to promote health in human and animals. Food Sustainability We study ways to improve food production systems – with the ultimate goal of developing efficient production methods for safe and high-quality food. Functional Foods and Chinese Medicine We aim to conduct interdisciplinary research, including nutrition, agriculture, molecular biology and biomedical sciences, to understand the efficacy of functional foods and to develop novel food products for general health maintenance. Nutrition and Human Health : The Emergence of Precision Nutrition We serve as a unique and cross-disciplinary platform that enables collaborations amongst basic scientists, nutrition epidemiologists, healthcare professionals and industries and aim to establish an e-Health platform as a solution for the selfmanagement of the ageing population in long run. Department of Food Science and Nutrition Overview
11 The breastfeeding rate in Hong Kong has been increasing steadily over the past 20 years. As the source of a variety of nutrients, breast milk plays a vital role in the healthy growth and development of infants. Our researchers analysed the three-day dietary records and breast milk samples of some Hong Kong lactating women. The research revealed that only 4% of the lactating women in the study had dietary habits that met the recommendation from the Department of Health, i.e., to consume at least two servings of fruits and three servings of vegetables per day, or the recommended intake of vitamin A according to the “Chinese Dietary Reference Intake” established by the Chinese Nutrition Society. There was a significant correlation between dietary intake and the nutrient levels of breast milk, especially the carotenoid and polyphenol contents. A new research project “Feeding mom feeding infants” has been launched by the research team. 100 pairs of lactating women and infants are recruited for a oneyear study to further investigate the relationship between the dietary habits of lactating women and the nutrients of breast milk, gut microbiota composition of infants and their growth. Impact Stories Using Traditional Chinese Medicine for Management of Bone Diseases Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) is a medical study with a profound history. However, the instability of product quality and under-enhancement of fundamental research affects its international recognition. Our researchers are dedicated to elucidating the underlying mechanisms of TCM for disease management, including bone health and age-related diseases. Studies have demonstrated that TCM ingredients, including Epimedium, Ligustrum and Sambucus Williamsii Hance, have significant anti-osteoporotic effects. The team has collaborated with Jinan University to develop and formulate the standardised Sambucus Williamsii Hance extract, and provided scientific evidence on the efficacy and safety for further development of Chinese patent medicines. Their research won the Second-Class Prize in Scientific and Technological Progress Award and received award recognition from the Ministry of Education of the PRC, as well as funding support from the Innovation Technology Commission. Increasing Fruit and Vegetable Intake Can Improve the Nutritional Value of Breast Milk World’s first Joint Research Laboratory for Probiotics and Prebiotics in Human Health Probiotics and prebiotics are hot topics in nutrition and their positive effects on human health are widely discussed these days. Our researchers study the therapeutic potential of different probiotics and prebiotics in inflammatory bowel disease with mouse models. Preliminary results show that probiotic therapy can significantly modulate inflammatory responses and help restore the impaired intestinal structure. The team believes that evidence-based research will form a basis to increase awareness and understanding of probiotics and prebiotics amongst the public and contribute to the entire world. With the donation of HK$2M from Hong Kong Yakult Co. Ltd. (Yakult), the “PolyU-Yakult Joint Research Laboratory for Probiotics and Prebiotics in Human Health” was established under PolyU Research Institute for Future Food (RiFood). It will further promote interdisciplinary research in the fields of food science and human health, and focus on the cutting-edge research of probiotics and prebiotics for the prevention and treatment of intestinal, brain diseases, eczema and women’s health.
12 Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology Recognition of Senior and Young Scientists Our Department realises the importance in building a world-class team to support our teaching and research activities. In the past three years, both our senior and young scientists’ achievements are recognised both locally and internationally. Senior scholars Prof. Raymond WONG and Prof. ZHENG Zijian were conferred the RGC Senior Research Fellow in 2020 and 2021 respectively. The RGC Senior Research Fellow Scheme aims to provide sustained support and relief from teaching duties to exceptionally outstanding academics in UGC-funded universities to facilitate their research efforts and promote research excellence. Each fellow receives a fellowship grant of around HK$7.8M. Apart from this, our Prof. Wing-tak WONG, Prof. Raymond WONG and Dr Bolong HUANG ranked the World's Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University. At the same time, the University and our Department strive to support and nurture young researchers. Dr Franco LEUNG, our Assistant Professor and alumnus, received the 2021 Croucher Innovation Award in recognition of his expertise and achievements in nanotechnology with a funding from the Croucher Foundation. In 2022, Dr Leung and Dr Benedict LO received the PolyU Young Innovative Researcher Award (YIRA), a new university-level award that recognises faculty members aged under 35 who demonstrate research excellence in addressing global challenges. The Department is creating new opportunities for both senior and young researchers while providing support for advancements in emerging technologies. Successfully Secured Major Research Grants Our researchers successfully secured major research grants, including the RGC Collaborative Research Fund (CRF), Health and Medical Research Fund (HMRF), Environment and Conservation Fund (ECF) and Green Tech Fund. Through an exhaustive assessment process, Prof. Raymond WONG’s project Advanced Fourier-transform Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectrometer for Molecular and Nano Functional Materials Research, was awarded the RGC CRF of HK$8.0M. Another RGC CRF project led by Prof. LEUNG Yun-chung entitled A super-resolution fluorescence microscopy platform for live-cell and animal-tissue imaging, received HK$3.57M from the RGC. Among the 19 successful HMRF applications from PolyU in 2020, Dr WONG Wing-leung received a total of HK$1.49M to support his scientific research project for three years. Furthermore, Dr CHUA Song-lin, Dr HO Cheuk-lam and Prof. YUNG Ka-fu also received ECF in 2021 with a total amount of HK$1.49M. In 2021, Dr Lawrence LEE received HK$2.42M for his project titled Recycling of waste lithium-ion batteries as highly active fuel cell catalysts under the Green Tech Fund which was launched by the Environment and Ecology Bureau. Outstanding performance in securing external competitive grants serves as a strong testament to our research excellence. Our Achievements
13 Prof. QIAO Zhonghua conferred RGC Research Fellow 2020/21 Prof. Qiao has been making significant contributions to numerical analysis and scientific computing, in particular to numerical investigations of nonlinear partial differential equations in phase-field simulations, which have become increasingly important in many applications on the phase transition of multi-component mixtures. He has undertaken a systematic study of the numerical approximation for the Cahn-Hilliard type equation, a key component of phase-field modelling. Prof. Qiao has also designed and analysed semi-implicit unconditionally energy stable numerical methods for solving phase field models, on which he has introduced an efficient adaptive time stepping method. Prof. Qiao was selected as one of the ten awardees of the RGC Research Fellow Scheme 2020/21 with his project “L-infinity Stability of Exponential Time Differencing Numerical Schemes for Phase Field Models with High-order Dissipations”. Prof. Qiao is now focusing mainly on providing a theoretical justification of L-infinity boundedness of numerical solutions of exponential time differencing methods for phase field models with high-order dissipation. Prof. SUN Defeng conferred RGC Senior Research Fellow 2022/23 Department of Applied Mathematics In this research project "Nonlinear Conic Programming: Theory, Algorithms and Software", Prof. Sun and his team will conduct a thorough study from both the theoretical perspective and the numerical perspective on the large-scale nonlinear conic programming problem (NLCOP). They will move forward to investigate the strong regularity for the Karush-Kuhn-Tucker points of the NLCOP. To achieve this goal for the NLCOP, they will investigate the calmness of the solution mappings and the quadratic growth conditions of the NLCOP. From the perspective of algorithmic design, they will design Newton type algorithms and the augmented Lagrangian method (ALM) for solving the NLCOP. Moreover, as an exploration research topic, they will investigate the reinforcement learning techniques for tuning parameters in the designed optimisation algorithms. The potential success of this project can make a significant contribution to the optimisation research and many real applications. Prof. CHEN Xiaojun received RGC Collaborative Research Fund 2021/22 Prof. Chen is the Associate Director of the University Research Facility in Big Data Analytics. Her research interests include optimisation theory and algorithms with applications in data sciences. She has made a significant contribution to mathematical optimisation, stochastic variational inequalities, and nonsmooth analysis. In 2022, she received an RGC Collaborative Research Fund titled “High performance deep learning clusters for big data analytics”. Prof. Chen has been collaborating with distinguished researchers from the Department of Computing, Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics, School of Accounting and Finance, School of Optometry in PolyU and professors in computing science and applied mathematics from local universities. The new high-performance deep learning clusters will enhance the collaborative research for big data analytics in smart cities, medical imaging analytics, digital economy, data storage and retrieval using peptides, etc. Our Achievements
14 Department of Applied Physics Cutting-edge Research with Immediate Application Our researchers are dedicated to improving various aspects of human lives through their innovative ideas including biomimetic vision imaging, fast point-of-care virus diagnosis, efficient hydrogen generation, low-cost solar desalination, high-resolution ultrasonic imaging, and more. AP’s innovation for biomimetic vision, solar desalination and medical imaging. Learn from Human Eyes to Make Photoreceptors Work from Sunlight to Starlight Inspired by our human eyes’ amazing capability to work over an illumination range of 160 dB by switching between rod and cone cells that work for weak and strong light, Prof. CHAI Yang has developed MoS2 back-gated phototransistors that allow dynamic modulation of the photosensitivity under different lighting conditions. This technology creates an effective perception range of up to 199 dB, providing valuable applications for photodetection and imaging systems. Flexible COVID-19 Antibody Detection Sensors In another study, Prof. YAN Feng developed an ultrafast, low-cost, label-free and portable SARS-CoV-2 IgG detection platform based on organic electrochemical transistors (OECTs), which can be remotely controlled by a mobile phone, enabling specific detection of SARS-CoV-2 IgG in several minutes with a detectable region from 10 fM to 100 nM for potential use in the diagnosis and prognosis of COVID-19 and many other diseases. In recognition of his excellent achievements, Prof. Yan was ranked the “Highly Cited Researcher” in 2021 and 2022 by Clarivate. Solar Desalination with Low Cost and Easy Accessibility Prof. TSANG Yuen-hong has developed a solar-powered water evaporation mechanism that uses sunlight and materials at low-cost to first evaporate seawater and unclean surface water, then condense it into clean water. Furthermore, his solar steam generator can heat steam to 130°C for sterilising surgical equipment in hospitals located in remote areas. Prof. Tsang is now collaborating with private sector and hospitals in Bangladesh on a first-phase clinic trial. All-In-One Luminescence-Based Point-Of-Care Testing Device for Virus Diagnosis Supported by a CRF COVID-19 grant of HK$8.4M, Prof. HAO Jianhua’s team has developed an all-in-one point-of-care diagnostics platform to provide accurate diagnosis through reflecting the full spectrum of infected patients’ information, which offers a highly accurate, rapid and low-cost early diagnosis scheme to guide clinical treatment, infection control and development of vaccines for SARS-CoV-2 and other viruses. Prof. Hao’s research achievements were recognised by the award “Higher Education Outstanding Scientific Research Output Awards - Natural Science Award Second Class” ( 學校科學研究 優秀成果獎 ( 科學技術) 自然科學獎二等獎) in 2020, and “RGC Senior Research Fellow Award” by the Research Grants Council in 2021. Significantly Accelerated Pyro-Catalytic Hydrogen Production from Water Splitting Prof. HUANG Haitao’s recent work on pyro-catalytic hydrogen production marks a breakthrough by realising in-situ growth of Au nanoparticles on the pyro-catalyst. This innovation enables rapid thermal cycling for the pyro-catalyst and fast pyro-catalytic reaction rate. High-Resolution Ultrasonic Imaging Using Phased Array Transducers Finally, Prof. DAI Jiyan has developed high-frequency (>15 MHz) phased array ultrasound transducers for medical diagnoses, which has been transferred to Shantou Institute of Ultrasonic Instrument (SIUI) Ltd. for the production of medical instruments. Our Achievements
15 Department of Food Science and Nutrition AkkMore™: a Fungus and Plant Based Supplement Against Obesity or Prediabetes Our research team has developed AkkMore™, which is a fungal and plant-based formula that helps reduce metabolic disorders and reduce body weight. It is safe even for postnatal moms to prevent obesity. It aims to improve users’ body conditions by building a healthy microbiome through consuming a safe, natural and wholesome supplement. The research team has completed Phase three animal trials and Phase one clinical trials. The results show that AkkMore™ can effectively improve metabolism and help with weight management. Dr Gail CHANG won a silver medal at the International Exhibition of Inventions of Geneva - Special Edition 2022 Inventions Geneva Evaluation Days – Virtual Event for her discovery. Recognition of Senior and Young Scientists Cultivating a top-notch team is crucial to our department’s delivery of teaching and research activities. Both of our senior and young scientists have achieved outstanding performance in their fields. The latest rankings released by Stanford University reflect the significant influence and research excellence of our scientists, who are committed to furthering their knowledge for the benefit of the world. We have three researchers ranked as the Top 2% scientists globally: Prof. Sheng CHEN, Prof. Man-sau WONG and Prof. Jianyong WU. Successfully Secured Major Research Grants FSN researchers achieved outstanding performance in securing external competitive grants. Prof. Man-sau WONG and Dr POON Chui-wa Christina received Health and Medical Research Fund (HMRF) with a total amount of almost HK$3M for their projects, “Study of the effects of soy exposure in early life on bone development and gut microbiota” and “Study of the use of Chinese herbal medicine Er Zhi Wan for management of osteosarcopenia”. Furthermore, Prof. Man-sau WONG, Dr Sibao CHEN and Dr James, Kar-hei FANG were awarded over HK$5.6M funding in total from the Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF) under Mainland-Hong Kong Joint Funding Scheme (MHKJFS) to support their scientific research collaborated with Mainland partners. Dr Fang specially focused research on Marine Ecology and Aquaculture and he has received over HK$3.5M in total from the SKLMP Seed Collaborative Research Fund and Fisheries Enhancement Fund. Prof.Ka-hing WONG was appointed as Fellow of the International Association of Advanced Materials (IAAM) and received the IAAM Scientist Award for his contribution to the applications of nanotechnology. Invited by IAAM, Prof. Wong delivered a lecture entitled “Selenium nanoparticles functionalised by mushroom polysaccharide-protein complex: A novel nano-mineral for managing postmenopausal osteoporosis” at the European Assembly of Advanced Materials Congress in August 2022. Apart from these, Prof. Wong’s scientific research project received the Ministry of Education's Higher Education Outstanding Scientific Research Output Awards (Science and Technology) 2020. Prof. Wong also won Second-Class Award in Technological Innovation with his research project "Key Technologies for Efficient Preparation of Nano-selenium and its Biomedical Applications" in collaboration with Jinan University and Guangdong Jinan Established Selenium Source Nano Technology Research Institute Co., Ltd. Our Achievements
16 2020-2022 ABCT Funding Scheme Project Title Project Coordinator Total Awarded Funding (HK$) CAS-Croucher Funding Scheme for Joint Laboratories Efficient, Stable Blue and White Solution-Processed Organic Light-Emitting Devices (s-OLEDs): Material and Device Studies Prof. WONG Wai-yeung, Raymond 3.0M Green Tech Fund Recycling of Waste Lithium-ion Batteries as Highly Active Fuel Cell Catalysts Dr LEE Yoon-suk, Lawrence 2.4M Health and Medical Research Fund An Innovative Strategy for Multimodal Photodynamic Therapy Targeting Hypoxic-tumors with Nuclear Membrane Permeable Near-infrared Photosensitizers Dr WONG Wing-leung 1.5M Hong Kong Yakult Company Limited PolyU-Yakult Joint Research Laboratory for Probiotics and Prebiotics in Human Health Dr TAI Chi-shing 2.0M Innovation and Technology Fund - Mainland-Hong Kong Joint Funding Scheme Development of Graphene/Hexagonal Boron Nitride Nanosheets as New Radiation Cooling Materials for Thermal Management in High Power IGBT Dr XU Linli 2.0M Innovation and Technology Fund - Midstream Research Programme for Universities IND-enabling Preclinical Studies of Mitochondria-targeting Peptide Mimetics as Novel Anti-cancer Therapeutics Prof. ZHAO Yanxiang 2.2M Lo Ka Chung Charitable Foundation Ltd (Donation) Development of a Highly Effective Anti-Cancer and AntiAging Drug Prof. LEUNG Yun-chung, Thomas 6.0M MOST National Key Technologies R&D Programme Solution-Processable, Efficient and Stable Blue LightEmitting Materials for Large-Area Solid-State Lighting Prof. WONG Wai-yeung, Raymond 3.0M (CNY) NSFC/RGC Joint Research Scheme Study of the Synergistic Catalytic Effect in Palladiumbased Alloy Nanomaterials for Electrochemical Carbon Dioxide Reduction Dr HUANG Bolong 1.1M RGC Collaborative Research Fund A Super-resolution Fluorescence Microscopy Platform for Live-cell and Animal-tissue Imaging Prof. LEUNG Yun-chung, Thomas 3.6M Advanced Fourier-transform Electron Paramagnetic Resonance Spectrometer for Molecular and Nano Functional Materials Research Prof. WONG Wai-yeung, Raymond 8.0M RGC Research Impact Fund 2022/23 A Novel Approach to Target Cancer Stemness using Peptidic Chimeric Antigen Receptor (pCAR) Macrophages Prof. LEE Kin-wah, Terence 4.2M Flexible and Stretchable Batteries for Wearable Applications Prof. ZHENG Zijian 5.6M AMA Funding Scheme Project Title Project Coordinator Total Awarded Funding (HK$) CAS-Croucher Funding Scheme for Joint Laboratories Nonlinear Optimization Theory, Algorithms and Applications Prof. CHEN Xiaojun 3.0M Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. (Collaborative) High-Frequency Simulation Technology of Car Cockpit Sound Field Prof. LI Buyang 1.8M Solving Large Scale Linear Programming Models for Production Planning Prof. SUN Defeng 2.3M NSFC/RGC Joint Research Scheme Stochastic Multiobjective Optimization and Applications Prof. CHEN Xiaojun 1.2M Stochastic Optimal Control Theory under Model Uncertainty and Their Applications in Financial Risk Management Prof. SUN Defeng 1.0M Mathematical Modeling and Analysis on the PredatorMediated Competitions and Their Biological Consequences Prof. WANG Zhian 1.2M RGC Collaborative Research Fund High Performance Deep Learning Clusters for Big Data Analytics Prof. CHEN Xiaojun 3.1M List of Grants/ Donations
17 2020-2022 FSN Funding Scheme Project Title Project Coordinator Total Awarded Funding (HK$) Environment and Conservation Fund - Environmental Research, Technology Demonstration and Conference Projects Cumulative Effects of Microplastics and Harmful Microalgal Growth on Marine Ecology and Seafood Safety in Hong Kong Dr FANG Kar-hei, James 0.5M Fisheries Enhancement Fund Hatchery of Pearl Oysters in Hong Kong: A Pilot Study 2.3M Development of Nano Selenium As Supplement for Aquaculture (Part 1) Dr KWOK Wing-hin, Kevin Patrick 1.6M Fisheries Enhancement Fund (Airport Authority) Development of a High-Protein Fish Feed Enriched With Selenium (Phase II) Dr FANG Kar-hei, James 1.0M Health and Medical Research Fund Study of the Use of Chinese Herbal Medicine Er Zhi Wan for Management of Osteosarcopenia Dr POON Chui-wa, Christina 1.5M Study of the Effects of Soy Exposure in Early Life on Bone Development and Gut Microbiota Prof. WONG Man-sau 1.5M Innovation and Technology Fund - Mainland-Hong Kong Joint Funding Scheme Discovery of Novel Anticancer Drugs Targeting LIF Pathway Based on Heat-Clearing and Detoxicating Traditional Chinese Medicine Dr CHEN Sibao 1.7M Precision Manufacturing and Bioactivation of Artificial Reefs to Facilitate Coral Restoration Dr FANG Kar-hei, James 1.7M Discovery of Natural Antiosteoporotic Lead Compounds From Microbial Transformation Prof. WONG Man-sau 0.9M Sustainable Fisheries Development Fund Modernized Production and Research Plan for Sustainable Mariculture Development Dr KWOK Wing-hin, Kevin Patrick 6.8M AP Funding Scheme Project Title Project Coordinator Total Awarded Funding (HK$) Innovation and Technology Fund - Guangdong-Hong Kong Technology Cooperation Funding Scheme Development of Ultrafast Femto Second Laser System for Thin Battery Materials Processing Prof. TSANG Yuen-hong 1.2M The Study of Key Materials and Device Fabrication of High-Performance Flexible Perovskite Solar Cells Prof. YAN Feng 1.2M Innovation and Technology Fund - Innovation and Technology Support Programme Ammonia as An Efficient Carbon-Free Hydrogen Carrier: Materials and Cracker Design For Fuel Cell Applications Dr LI Meng-jung 1.2M Resistive Switching Memory Array for Accelerating Artificial Intelligence Edge Computing Prof. CHAI Yang 1.0M NSFC State Key Programme Multifunctional and Ultrathin Ferroelectric Integrated Materials and Devices Towards Neuromorphic Computing and Human Visual System Prof. HAO Jianhua 2.9M (CNY) RGC Collaborative Research Fund COVID-19 and NID Research Exercise Multi-level Synergistic COVID-19 Point-of-care Diagnostics based on Upconversion Luminescence Biosensing Platform 8.4M List of Grants/ Donations
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