PolyU young scholar awarded Asian Young Scientist Fellowship 2024 for breakthroughs in materials physics

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has always been committed to nurturing young researchers to drive new quality productive forces in science and technology. Dr Kathy LENG Kai, Assistant Professor of the Department of Applied Physics, has been awarded a prestigious 2024 Asian Young Scientist Fellowship (AYSF), in recognition of her outstanding achievements in physical science.

The AYSF aims to encourage and support talented young scientists in Asia to carry out creative and transformative research in three fields: “Life Science,” “Physical Science,” and “Mathematics and Computer Science.” The Fellowship is awarded annually to 12 recipients selected from Asia after a rigorous selection process. A total grant of USD100,000 is disbursed to each Fellow’s home institution over two consecutive years to support their research endeavors. This new Fellowship, specifically targeting young Asian scientists, has been established by the founders of the Future Science Prize.

Dr Leng stood out from a large pool of talented and highly-qualified candidates from across Asia. The AYSF Committee acknowledged her groundbreaking work in molecularly thin two-dimensional hybrid perovskites and have shown they are willing to support her further exploration in this cutting-edge field.

She said, “I am honoured and encouraged to have been awarded this fellowship following an intensive selection process. I look forward to engaging with forward-thinking young scientists from across Asia and expanding opportunities for collaboration. My team and I will continue to strive for breakthroughs and explore innovations that pave the way to versatile applications in flexible microelectronics and spintronics.”

Dr Leng is the first scholar to isolate the 2D hybrid perovskite monolayers and uncover their novel physical properties. She is also dedicated to establishing accurate atomic structure-property relationships and pushing the boundaries of their novel device applications, particularly in the field of opto-microelectronics and spintronics. Currently, her team is focused on the scalable growth of hybrid perovskite single-crystalline thin films and their large-scale device integration.

Dr Leng has been recognised with several prestigious awards, including the PolyU Young Innovative Researcher Award, the Asia Pacific TR35 Award from MIT Technology Review, the Croucher Tak Wah Mak Innovation Award, the Early Career Research Gold Award from the Singapore National Institute of Chemistry and the China Excellent Young Scientist award.

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