Architecture

Providing an affordable and viable alternative to generic housing in rural villages in northern China is an ongoing problem. After extensive research into the living conditions in rural villages and the development of rural sustainable technologies, a team led by Mr John Lin Chun-han designed and constructed ‘House for All Seasons’, the prototype for a new rammed earth house typology. Well received by the international community, the project won the prestigious Architectural Review House Award 2012.

Arts

In her award-winning book Jean-Jacques Rousseau and Botany: The Salutary Science, Dr Alexandra Cook argues that the 18ᵗʰ century philosopher, writer and composer was also a leading figure in the emerging science of botany. Her research has revealed that he taught a pioneering natural method of plant classification, not an outmoded artificial system, as previously believed. The book has been praised as an invaluable scholarly resource and won the 2013 John Thackray Medal of the Society for the History of Natural History (London).

Business and Economics

In the article ‘Did Subjectivity Play a Role in CDO Credit Ratings?’, Professor John Griffin and Dr Tang Yongjun explained a critical driver in the 2007–2008 global financial crisis, the credit ratings of collateralised debt obligations (CDOs). Approaching the subject from both academic and public policy perspectives, they made the important finding that a top credit rating agency frequently inflated CDO credit ratings, and that this inflation resulted in too many seemingly safe securities and was harmful to subsequent market performance. Their work has influenced in part the United States Department of Justice’s investigation of the rating agency.

Dentistry

Having already discovered the in-vitro antifungal activity of purpurin, Dr Tsang Wai-kei, Dr Hennaka Mudiyanselage Herath Nihal Bandara and Professor Fong Wing-ping extended the mechanical studies of the pigment on Candida biofilms and morphogenesis. Their findings, in ‘Purpurin Suppresses Candida Albicans Biofilm Formation and Hyphal Development’, demonstrated that, at sub-lethal doses, purpurin blocked yeast-to- hyphal transition and inhibited biofilm development, as well as down-regulating expression of hypha-specific genes and the hyphal reglulator RAS1. This suggests purpurin may represent a novel potential antifungal candidate with clinical relevance.

Education

A six-strong team sought to provide research- based evidence on how the quality of early childhood education effects child outcomes in a low resource level Asian country. The resulting paper ‘Is Something Better than Nothing? An Evaluation of Early Childhood Programs in Cambodia’, compared differences in development between children who attended preschool programmes of varying quality and those who had no access to such services. A main finding was that while some types of preschool are better than others, any preschool is better than none at all. The study has prompted a change in government policy in Cambodia.

Engineering

A discovery that boosts the power conversion efficiency of organic solar cells has received widespread acclaim and been cited over 200 times, including by a Nobel Laureate. Dr Wallace Choy Chik-ho and his team were the first to propose and demonstrate dual plasmonic metal nanostructures that were simultaneously incorporated into the cells to improve their light trapping and light absorption. The cells reached nine per cent power conversion efficiency, one of the highest rates seen to date.

Law

Are courts justified to consider the government as an expert? That question was asked by Miss Cora Chan Sau-wai, who showed that in an era of human rights it was no longer acceptable for the courts to take the government on trust. Her article on the matter showed the inadequacy of judicial preference in the United Kingdom and offered a way forward, but it is also relevant to jurisdictions that have some form of constitutional rights review, including Hong Kong.

Medicine

A non-invasive innovation for treating the spinal deformity, scoliosis, in children offers hope as an alternative to repeated invasive surgery. Professor Kenneth Cheung Man-chee led the research, which is the first in-human study to magnetically control growing rods in patients rather than use surgery to do so. The study was reported in The Lancet and picked up by more than 100 media outlets. Spinal surgeons from around the world have also visited Hong Kong to learn about this procedure.

Science

New findings on the relationship between temperature and biodiversity are adding to our understanding about the potential impacts of global warming. Research led by Dr Moriaki Yasuhara looked at the links between diversity, latitude and temperature and how these have affected biodiversity. While the link between diversity and latitude has changed over time, that between diversity and temperature has remained remarkably constant over the past three million years, suggesting species diversity responds to temperature change on ecological time scales.

Social Sciences

One of the most heavily studied variables in social psychology is the locus of control (LOC). The current Western view adopts a universal perspective on the beneficial role of a sense of control on mitigating psychological symptoms. But a meta-analysis led by Professor Cecilia Cheng of studies conducted over the last 50 years challenges that assumption. It finds cultural values have differing influences on the relationship between LOC and psychological symptoms. The work will have profound implications for therapeutic psychology.