The Common Core has been looking at how to better build opportunities at the nexus of teaching and research, and in 2018 launched the Open Platform Course in which small groups of students apply their research and outreach skills to tackle a common real-world challenge. The first offering, called the Transdisciplinary Team Project, involves six students from the medical and science faculties. They have chosen to investigate hepatitis C as a team, comparing Hong Kong and Canadian residents’ understanding of hepatitis C and developing a new diagnostic tool using 3D-printing and microfluidics technology. Third-year MBBS student, Elaine Tian Yi-ling, is on exchange in Canada where she will survey residents. “This course allows us to take a proactive role in our learning, from selecting the direction of our research to producing outputs that will hopefully make an impact in society. I also enjoy the flexible nature of the course, which allows me to participate even though I am overseas and even takes advantage of that,” she said. Jasmine Hadiwibawa, also a third-year MBBS student, added: “I chose this course because it was the first time a Common Core course could be taken online and the idea of doing biomedical research for a semester was very appealing.” The Common Core has also initiated the Transdisciplinary Nomadic Researchers scheme for students who have been Common Core Student Ambassadors or participated in the annual transdisciplinary research exchange programme with Utrecht University. These students, most of whom plan to do graduate degrees, are invited to attend academic conferences and other events and respond with reflections, presentations and, when appropriate, publications. Open Platform for the Common Core TEACHING AND LEARNING Activities are being promoted that encourage and recognise achievements beyond formal disciplinary studies to enrich students’ learning and personal development. Beyond the Curriculum A Year of Enrichment After months of preparation, the first students to benefit from the Faculty of Medicine’s Enrichment Year set off in September 2018. All third-year students have gone ‘off book‘ to pursue selfdirected learning activities, such as studying Human Sciences at Oxford University, pursuing an MSc in public health at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, doing research at HKU and volunteering aboard a ship, Logos Hope, that brings books to remote ports around the world. “There will be no other block of time in our curriculum, and indeed in our future practice, where we are given free rein to find, investigate and explore our interests. This is a cherished opportunity,” said Max Lim Ying-hao, who is spending half the year interning at the WHO and the other half studying international relations and politics at Sciences Po. Venice Ho Wing-tung is spending half the year doing research at the School of Chinese Medicine and the other half studying philosophy at Ludwig Maximilians Universität in Germany. “I have chosen this research topic because traditional Chinese medicine is particularly relevant in Hong Kong and I wish to learn more about it. For the trip to Germany, I believe the lengthy period abroad will teach me things I can never learn at home and take me out of my comfort zone.” Cyrus Yeung Chun-wing welcomed the ‘once-in-a-lifetime‘ opportunity to do research on immunology and DNA repair as a Visiting Undergraduate at Yale School of Medicine. “The Enrichment Year can propel me into becoming a clinical scientist and enable me to interact with students and scientists from around the world.” Sporting Achievements Elite athletes from HKU gave a tremendous performance at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia, winning eight medals including gold in men’s rugby, silver in women’s windsurfing and men’s fencing, and bronze in triathlon, swimming, rowing and fencing. A total of 16 students and 16 alumni participated in the Games. The results came in a year when sport and exercise on campus gained greater recognition. In autumn 2017, HKU signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Hong Kong Sports Institute to formalise co-operation in developing dual career pathways for elite athletes and hosted a University Grants Committee Conference on ‘Springboard to Success – Balancing University and Elite Sports‘. HKU established Hong Kong’s first university Sports Scholarship Scheme in 1995 and more than 430 athletes have benefitted. The University is now exploring how to enhance this scheme with financial or in-kind support. The University’s Centre for Sports and Exercise also made good progress promoting exercise for health on campus, with the University Health Service now referring patients to the Centre for exercise programmes to address health issues. The Centre also collaborates with scholars in the faculties of Social Sciences and Medicine to run exercise trials and interventions. In May 2018, HKU became the first in Asia recognised as a Gold Level Campus under the global Exercise is Medicine® on Campus (EIM-OC) initiative of the American College of Sports Medicine. The Centre and HKU Global also launched HKU’s 2018 ‘Around the World‘ Walking Challenge, in which more than 1,400 staff, students and alumni from 18 countries collectively clocked up enough steps in one month to circle the globe seven times. Left to right: Oscar Chou Hou-in, Alex Fung Ka-chun, Timothy Chan Tao-fo and Justin Chan Ching-him, four members of the Transdisciplinary Team Project investigating public understanding of hepatitis C in both Canada and Hong Kong. One of HKU’s eight Asian Games 2018 medal winners, Bailee Brown won a bronze in the triathlon. Cyrus Yeung at Yale with his research mentor Dr Rashu Seth. ︱11 10︱
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