The Review 2015

15 RESEARCH Research at HKU is on a roll. In 2015, for the 14 th consecutive year, we secured the highest level of funding under the government’s General Research Fund. Nine of our staff were recognised as being at the very top of their fields across the world and many others were honoured in different ways. This outward success is the culmination of our fervent effort to keep research relevant, support and train up new talent, and identify future directions. On keeping research relevant, the University promotes cross-di sc ipl inary research and collaborations, which are increasingly important in new discoveries. We provide seed funding for 16 strategic (and cross-disciplinary) research areas and five emerging themes, several of which have nurtured major funded projects under the government’s Areas of Excellence Scheme and Theme-based Research Scheme (including one awarded in 2015, see page 33). Our scholars are also undertaking more research collaborations with non-local institutions, including 847 active such projects in 2013–14, the most recent year for figures. The quality of HKU as a research partner was recognised in January 2015 when the renowned Karolinska Insitutet chose HKU as a major collaborator. Engagement with Mainland China is also important for the University to be part of and contribute to the fast-growing research eco-system and communities there. In late 2014 our Zhejiang Institute of Research and Innovation (ZIRI) was opened, giving HKU a strong research presence in China. The University has also been applying its modern clinical expertise and management know-how to help run the HKU-Shenzhen Hospital, which in turn offers tremendous research and education opportunities for HKU staff and students. The hospital has received well over 1.2 million visitors since opening in 2012 and in September 2015 the Wall Street Journal called it “perhaps China’s most dramatic experiment” in healthcare reform. The University is building up a critical mass of fresh talent through its research postgraduate programmes. We admitted more than 2,900 RPg students in 2015, nearly 15 per cent from outside Greater China, a ratio we intend to increase. These students receive training in transferrable, non-academic skills and research integrity and ethics (of which HKU is a regional leader). They also have opportunities to conduct research outside Hong Kong, including joint PhD supervision arrangements with Imperial College, King’s College London and the University of Toronto. In future, the University will provide enhanced entrepreneurship training and opportunities to enable both students and staff to take more of our new discoveries out into the community. The Year in Brief The Review 2015 The School of Biological Sciences has developed the world’s first ant database, showing the global distribution of the world’s 15,000 species of ant (see page 32).