HKU Bulletin June 2006 (Vol. 7 No. 3)

2 Medical Faculties Form Alliance A n alliance of medical schools from around the world has been set up with the University’s Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine at its core, to combine forces in researching cancer and stem cells, infection and immunology, and ageing and imaging. Research will also focus on making findings more readily accessible to doctors in the field through knowledge transfer and translation. The East-West Alliance was formed at the instigation of the Faculty, to link nine institutions that are all beneficiaries of the Li Ka Shing Foundation. Cambridge University, the University of California at Berkeley and the University of Toronto are part of the alliance’s executive together with our University, which is also providing administrative support. Other members include The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Stanford University, Shantou University, University of Manitoba and the Institut Pasteur. Deans from each of the universities will be personally involved, including Professor Lam Shiu Kum of our University. “These are very eminent institutions and there are common things we are all working on, although our niches are different,” Professor Lam said. “We want to encourage research that draws on the talents and resources of the nine universities. The idea is synergy – through synergy you make more progress.” The first annual meeting of the Alliance will be held next spring when academics from each of the partner universities will meet at a conference to be held in Hong Kong. NEWS ROUND-UP New Fellow of Royal Society Joins Ranks of World Greats P rofessor Malik Peiris, Professor: Chair of Microbiology, was one of the 44 scientists recently elected to the Fellowship of the Royal Society, the UK national academy of science, in recognition of their exceptional contributions to science, engineering and medicine. Professor Peiris was honoured for his research into the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) and other human viral infections that cause respiratory disease. As a Fellow of the Royal Society, he follows in the footsteps of Isaac Newton, Charles Darwin, Stephen Hawking, David Attenborough and Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of the world wide web. The Royal Society’s election process is extremely rigorous. It involves 113 Fellows plus 21 Council members and hundreds of referees, and is based upon the scientific system of peer review. The annual cycle begins on September 30 each year. A final list of 44 candidates for the Fellows and 6 candidates for Foreign Members is confirmed in April and Fellows attending the Annual Meeting for the Election of Fellows and Foreign Members in May vote by secret ballot. Only Fellows attending the meeting are allowed to vote. A candidate must secure at least two-thirds of the votes. Candidates do not attend the meeting. Professor Peiris will be admitted to the Society at the formal Admissions Day in July when he will sign the Charter Book and the Obligation of the Fellows of the Royal Society. Japanese Studies Enters Its Third Decade The Department of Japanese has gone from strength to strength over the last 20 years. T he Department of Japanese Studies continued its celebration of its 20th anniversary with Japan Month, in April. Events included a speech by the Consul-General of Japan, Mr Takanori Kitamura, on Japan and China: Working Towards a Mature Relationship and a workshop on Japanese traditions such as kimono wearing and flower-pressing demonstrated by female managers of ryokan (inns). The celebrations marked the evolution of the Department into one of Asia's major centres of research on Japan, outside the country itself. To date its teachers have produced over 30 single- authored or edited books, as well as many journal articles and book chapters. “We are particularly strong in research on modern Japan, focussing especially on modern Japanese society,” said Head of the Department Dr Peter Cave. “And in recent years we have attracted postgraduate research students from top-level universities such as Cambridge, Oxford, Peking and UCLA. Last year we hosted the 16th Japan Anthropology Workshop conference, a major international event attended by over 100 presenters from 18 countries.” It has also developed the largest and most comprehensive undergraduate programme in Japanese Studies in Hong Kong, one that combines high level Japanese language training with in- depth study of Japan's society and culture, and which has now produced over 1,000 graduates – a quarter of whom attended an alumni dinner in 2005. “There are two distinctive features of our Department,” said Cave. “The first is our language-intensive courses, which enable students to study Japan using the Japanese language itself - so they write essays about literature, film, and so on in Japanese. “The second is our effort to give students opportunities to work with Japanese firms. Our summer internship programme allows students to work for Japanese companies in Hong Kong. And our Project in Japanese Business course lets students develop year-long projects with Japanese companies. This illustrates how we try to combine intellectual development, language training, and practical career-related skills,” he added. The Department is also playing an increasingly active role in building bridges between Hong Kong and the Land of the Rising Sun. One of the biggest events it staged during its Anniversary Year was a public Roundtable Forum on China-Japan relations, with invited experts from Mainland China, Japan, Hong Kong and Europe, combined with a teach-in allowing local secondary school students to interact with the experts. The Department’s vision for the future includes increasing its strength in research on Japan-China relations – embracing social, economic, cultural and political ties. “We believe that the Department is ideally positioned for leadership in this increasingly important area,” said Cave. “In terms of teaching, our vision is to further enhance our undergraduate programme to produce leaders for Hong Kong and the region. We plan to expand our exchange programmes with Japanese universities and also introduce more exchanges with universities teaching Japanese Studies in mainland China.” One of the Department’s priorities is to raise funds for scholarships for study abroad opportunities as well as to further diversify and raise the curriculum level to take advantage of the four-year degree from 2012. TEACHING, LEARNING AND SCHOLARSHIP 3