HKU Bulletin September 2007 (Vol. 9 No. 1)

26 27 The Outstanding Young Researcher Award is given to researchers of promise who have attained excellence in their research performance within 10 years of receiving their PhD or equivalent. This year eight Outstanding Young Researcher Awards were made. Outstanding Young Researcher Awards Dr Aleksandra B. Djurisic Assistant Professor, Department of Physics D r Djurisic’s research interests include nanocomposite optoelectronic devices such as light emitting diodes and organic solar cells, and the fabrication and characterization of metal oxide and wide band gap semiconductor nanostructures. She has synthesized several novel nanomaterial morphologies and has helped to clarify the optical properties of these materials. This is an area of research with very alluring practical applications in the form of cheap and highly efficient displays and solar cells. Dr Djurisic has published over 120 papers in international journals, and her research results have also appeared on the cover pages of several physics and materials science journals. dalek@hkusua.hku.hk http://alek.20m.com Professor Sin Chow Yiu Hon-Yin and Suet-Fong Chan Professor in Chinese P rofessor Sin joined the University in 1976, and is currently Hon-Yin and Suet-Fong Chan Professor in Chinese and Head of the School of Chinese. He has authored or co-authored more than two dozen books and around a hundred articles or book chapters. His interests include Confucianism, Chinese palaeography, etymology, lexicography, phonology, dialectology, history, poetry, translation, bibliography, and language policy and instruction. Most of Professor Sin’s former students now teach in tertiary institutions throughout the Greater China region, and have an impressive publication record including more than 50 books and over 100 journal articles. To Professor Sin, postgraduate student supervision is not altogether unlike journal editorship – careful proofreading is an obligation, whereas sound suggestion for further improvement is what separates excellence from mediocrity. The key, in either case, is to bring out the best in his students without forcing on them any particular style or methodology. Professor Sin is famed for his perfectionism, but his students also know him as a very gentle and caring supervisor, who gives wise advice on their studies, career prospects and personal problems. A former student says that, following in the footsteps of such an outstanding master, he has learned one of life’s great lessons – that there are no shortcuts to excellence. cysin@hkucc.hku.hk http://www.hku.hk/chinese/staff/c1h1b.html Outstanding Research Student Supervisor Awards