The Review 2013

How universities utilise their resources is of growing interest around the world. Scholars face increasing expectations to go beyond simply publishing their findings and to translate their research into the community for greater impact. Students, too, are increasingly expected to go beyond a university's brick walls and share their new knowledge and skills with others. At HKU, ‘KE’, or knowledge exchange, has become the third pillar in our mission, alongside research and teaching and learning. KE activities are happening at all levels of the University, locally, regionally and internationally. This is having mutual benefits, as implied by our decision to adopt the term ‘knowledge exchange’ rather than ‘knowledge transfer’. Students get rich opportunities to be innovative and apply their knowledge and values, while scholars can apply their research and develop new insights through interactions in the community. The latter is also becoming increasingly important in research funding exercises, which require applicants to address the potential impacts of their work beyond academia. The growing recognition of KE's importance is helping to spur new activities on campus. Some of the best achievements were honoured in March 2013 when, for the first time, KE Awards were included in the University's annual Award Presentation Ceremony for Excellence. The Knowledge Exchange Office is the central support unit working closely with all Faculties in promoting KE activities at HKU, and its focus has turned very much to partnerships. In 2012-13 a Partnerships webpage was launched to help external organisations find out how they can collaborate with HKU. The KE Office also helped to secure approval for community scholarships in 2013, in which community partners will help fund an MPhil or PhD student to work on a project of interest to the partner. Translating Research Partnerships are critical to other KE activities, too, for example, in translating research into the community. In 2012, our Technology Transfer Office formed a strategic alliance with Sinopharm, the largest pharmaceutical group in China, on the distribution of our oral drug for acute promyelocyctic leukaemia (APL), and on developing drugs for atrial fibrillation. Organisations seeking contract research, expertise, media commentary and other input from our academic staff are also making increasing use of the HKU Scholars Hub, a one-stop online platform that had more than The University of Hong Kong ⎜ 33 THE REVIEW 2013 ⎜ Knowledge Exchange Beyond the Campus, the Community into 39 Funded Knowledge Exchange Impact projects Funded/awarded student KE projects 18 Secondary-school students learn about pop culture in HKU's A Night at the Museum of Art with Andy Warhol