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Inspiring Future Leaders
18
Overseas Research Awards
for PhD Students
The School encouraged doctoral students
to gain a wider view of their field, and the
world through participation in HKUST’s
Overseas Research Awards for PhD
Students. The scheme was launched in
2006-07 by the Provost’s Office. Students
chosen to participate can conduct research
at leading universities overseas for two
to six months, providing both cultural
exposure and practical research experience.
It is also an effective way to promote
inter-institutional research collaboration.
Institutions involved include MIT, Stanford,
Yale, University of Sydney, Imperial College
London, National University of Singapore
and Technische Universität Darmstadt,
Germany, among many others. In 2011-12,
14 engineering students were selected by
the School to participate in the scheme.
PhD Research Excellence Awards
To recognize the achievements of the School’s doctoral
students and recent graduates, the School established
the PhD Research Excellence Awards in 2011. The honors
celebrate those who have made significant and influential
contributions to their engineering discipline during PhD studies
at HKUST. The first winners were Dr Weiping Wang, Chemical
and Biomolecular Engineering, Dr Huanfeng Duan, Civil and
Environmental Engineering, and Dr Yu Zhang, Computer
Science and Engineering. Dr Yinshi Li, Mechanical Engineering,
received an Honorable Mention.
International Forums
Postgraduate students also attended overseas conference and
regionally organized activities. Annual events include workshops
organized by the University of Tokyo’s Asian Program for
Incubation of Environmental Leaders (APIEL), and the Asian
Science and Technology Pioneering Institutes of Research and
Education (ASPIRE), which seeks to help to realize a sustainable
world. HKUST is a collaborating partner and member of these
two organizations respectively.
In 2010, APIEL conducted a field exercise in the Greater
Pearl River Delta to explore environmental sustainability and
management in relation to trans-boundary and international
cooperation, in collaboration with HKUST and Sun Yat-sen
University in Guangzhou. In 2011, the ASPIRE workshop was
held at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
(KAIST) focused on “Sustainability for the Globe: Energy and
Environmental Issues”. Five students from the School of
Engineering took part.
Additional Support and Social
Activities
More activities were organized within the School to
help postgraduates get to know peers outside their own
research teams. To welcome students at the start of the
new semester, the School organized its first Postgraduate
Orientation in September 2011. The get-together enabled
School management, faculty members and students to
become acquainted. Around 100 research students attended
the orientation. To encourage social interaction between
students from different locations, the School started to
organize activities outside the classroom. A barbecue
was held in December 2011. Other activities, such as
hiking, festival gatherings and cultural exchange, were also
arranged.
Future Development
Further plans are being laid to boost postgraduates’ soft
skills and career planning by building their communication
capabilities, entrepreneurship opportunities and mentoring.
Presentation and interpersonal skills are increasingly
valuable for both future academics and those who go into
industry in an era of highly competitive research funding and
public participation, where engineers may need to engage
support for their projects. Activities being looked at include
workshops and forums to assist students to explain their
work to people outside their specialty.
In this way, together with the innovations of the current
reporting period, the School seeks to set our postgraduate
education apart, delivering a holistic experience that
addresses not only excellence in research opportunities but
students’ all-round skills and personal development needs.