Chief Editor’s Corner

Welcome to Issue 13 of the PAIR Newsletter. I hope you had a good start to the new year. A fresh beginning offers excitement and opportunities to move forward with new perspectives and goals. There is equal value in acknowledging and reflecting on the past. In this issue, we include a special report on PAIR’s operations from 2021/22 to 2023/24, summarising the major developments and achievements at the Academy during the first three-year operating cycle.

When I first reported for duty as the Founding Director of PAIR in August 2021, the Academy had a small temporary office borrowed from the Faculty of Science. Since then, more colleagues were joining the PAIR Central Office, one after another, and research institutes (RIs) and research centres (RCs) were being put into operation in batches. We have finished the first cycle with great achievements. Currently, PAIR has a total of 19 constituent research units bringing together over 600 researchers, and runs a wide array of research development programmes with the support of the PAIR Central Office. The Academy has a fully-furnished and equipped office space for the central administrative team, and a state-of-the-art seminar room for hosting events. The RIs and RCs have generated significant outcomes in scientific research, funding schemes, knowledge transfer and collaborations. Further details are included in the summary report. I would like to thank all management, researchers and support staff at PAIR for their collaborative efforts that have made possible these many incredible developments.

Another highlight in this issue is the Feature Story section, which covers insights by PAIR Senior Fellow Prof. Philip RUSSELL on the development and application of “photonic crystal fibre” (PCF), a hollow-core fibre which he proposed in 1991 and which has revolutionised the way that light travels in glass fibre. This section also presents the research work of Prof. WENG Qihao, Associate Director of the Research Institute for Land and Space (RILS) and Chair Professor of Geomatics and Artificial Intelligence, which integrates geospatial artificial intelligence to provide important insights into urbanisation and the mitigation of impacts.

The Research Achievements section describes some of the latest discoveries at PAIR, including evidence that an ocean was present on Mars a billion years ago. The People section highlights PAIR scholars who have recently been recognised for their research excellence, elected to prestigious academies, or appointed to important positions in external organisations. The News & Events section provides a brief review of the many scholarly exchange activities at PAIR over the last few months, including lectures, symposia and conferences, media coverage of work by PAIR scholars, and new partnerships in conducting research and setting up laboratories.

PAIR is now in its second operating cycle, and the Academy will enhance some of the existing initiatives that are driving PAIR’s interdisciplinary research and collaborations. Thank you for your continued support of PAIR. We look forward to sharing more updates with you in upcoming issues.