PolyU Establishes Joseph Needham Professorship in Science and Civilisation

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU), with strong support from the Joseph Needham Foundation for Science and Civilisation (JNFSC), announced the establishment of the Joseph Needham Professorship in Science and Civilisation in the Faculty of Humanities at PolyU, in honour of Dr Needham’s outstanding contributions to academia, particularly his pioneering work in the history of science and civilisation. Today, the PolyU Policy Research Centre for Innovation and Technology (PReCIT) co-hosted the 15th Joseph Needham Memorial Lecture with JNFSC. It featured Prof. Roel STERCKX FBA, Joseph Needham Professor of Chinese History, Science and Civilisation at The University of Cambridge, who delivered a lecture titled “‘Those who are learned do not farm and farmers do not learn.’ Writing agriculture in early China”. In his welcoming remarks, Prof. Christopher CHAO, PolyU Vice President (Research and Innovation) and Honorary Secretary of the JNFSC, said, “We are deeply committed to advancing interdisciplinary research that bridges technology, sustainability and cultural heritage. This lecture focuses on the interaction between scholarly discourse and agricultural development, resonating with the connection between academic rigour and real-world impact. In addition to co-hosting the lecture, we are very honoured to establish the Joseph Needham Professorship, continuing the research legacy of this legendary scholar. This new professorship will further advance research in the history of science and technology at PolyU, while also strengthening the University’s overall research capabilities.” Dr Peter LEE, Chairman of the JNFSC, remarked, “The Joseph Needham Memorial Lecture continues to bring together global top scholars to promote research in the history of science and medicine in East Asia. Today’s lecture helps the participants further understand ancient Chinese agricultural activities. To deepen the academic legacy of Dr Joseph Needham, JNFSC has announced the establishment of the Joseph Needham Professorship at PolyU to attract international scholars and expand Dr Needham’s core value of nurturing ‘the coexistence of science and civilisation’ through interdisciplinary research, talent development and public outreach, promoting a deep global dialogue on science and humanities.” In the lecture, Prof. Roel Sterckx FBA said, “In ancient China, rulers routinely presented agriculture as the most important profession in society. Yet, Confucius notoriously claimed he had no expertise when it came to fields and gardens and insisted that those who study should not be concerned with farming.” In his lecture, Prof. Sterckx explored how these seemingly contradictory attitudes were reflected in the textual sources of Warring States and early imperial China. The history of early Chinese agriculture was not just a story of agronomic and technological developments but also firmly influenced by the political philosophies of the time. Prof. Eric CHUI, Head of the PolyU Department of Applied Social Sciences and Co-Director of PReCIT, also noted that the lecture explained the technological development and political relationships in early Chinese agronomy, highlighting the diversity of ancient Chinese agricultural history. Through a meticulous analysis of documents of the Warring States period, the lecture demonstrated how ancient Chinese rulers viewed agriculture as a fundamental political and economic strategy of the state. About Dr Joseph Needham Born in 1900, Dr Needham was a biochemist and historian of science known for his scientific research and writing on the history of Chinese science and technology. He initiated the publication of Science and Civilisation in China, which is an ongoing series of books about the history of science and technology in China published by Cambridge University Press. It is recognised as one of the most remarkable works of scholarship in the twentieth century. Dr Needham was the first Western scholar to undertake a comprehensive and comparative study of the history of Chinese science and technology, examining its relationship with the development of modern science. He highlighted and fully recognised the rich connotations of traditional Chinese culture in science and technology development. His works opened up global interests in and attention to the history of Chinese science and technology, making it an important international academic field. Among his many academic honours and achievement, Dr Needham was elected as a foreign member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1994. His legacy as a distinguished scientist, humanist, and intellectual continues to have a profound impact on the science and civilisation of our world today. PolyU looks forward to the continued exploration and understanding of the rich tapestry of science and civilisation inspired by Dr Needham’s remarkable legacy. PolyU has initiated global open recruitment for the Joseph Needham Professorship in Science and Civilisation. The position will be held by a world-renowned leading scholar at the Chair Professor level in the Faculty of Humanities, whose scholarship includes a focus on areas related to the history of science and civilisation.

WORLDCUISINES Project Participated by Prof. Emmanuele Chersoni Wins Best Theme Paper Award at NAACL 2025

The WORLDCUISINES Project, a collaborative project involving our Faculty member Prof. Emmanuele Chersoni, Assistant Professor in the Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies, and a team of international researchers including our alum Dr Enrico Santus, has been honoured with the Best Theme Paper Award at the prestigious NAACL 2025 conference. This innovative project has produced a dataset featuring a large-scale collection of images and questions/answers aimed at testing large language models (LLMs) on their ability to identity and describe dishes from 30 different languages and cultures. Prof. Chersoni and Dr Santus were responsible for the Italian cuisine section of the dataset. Click HERE to read the full paper. The Annual Conference of the NAACL (Nations of the Americas Chapter of the Association for Computational Linguistics) is a premier event in the field of natural language processing and computational linguistics. It brings together researchers from around the world to share the latest advancements and innovations in these fields.

47 Local Secondary School Students Compete in the 7th Hong Kong Linguistics Olympiad

A total of 47 students from 22 local secondary schools competed in the 7th Hong Kong Linguistics Olympiad (HKLO) on 23 February 2025 at PolyU. The competition concluded with the awarding of one gold medal, two silver medals, six bronze medals, and 10 honourable mentions on 9 March 2025. These students will participate in the 7th Asia-Pacific Linguistics Olympiad (APLO) on 20 April 2025. The top four students from APLO will represent Hong Kong at the 22nd International Linguistics Olympiad (IOL), which will be held from 21 to 26 July 2025 in Taipei. Congratulations to the awardees!

Faculty Hosts Forum on ”Career Opportunities for Humanities Students in the Age of AI”

The Faculty hosted an engaging forum on “Career Opportunities for Humanities Students in the Age of AI” yesterday. The event successfully brought together industry leaders and academic experts to discuss the evolving landscape of career opportunities for humanities students in the rapidly advancing field of artificial intelligence. The forum featured six distinguished guests including Dr Charles K.C. Cheung, Senior Data Scientist and Deputy Director of NVIDIA AI Technology Center Hong Kong; Mr Kevin Chu, Chief Marketing Officer and Co-founder of Datax Limited; Mr Billy Hui, Co-founder and CEO of Laurry AI; Mr Almon Kwan, Director of FDMT Consulting; Prof. Peter Ng, Assistant Professor of PolyU Department of Computing and Department of Rehabilitation Sciences; and Mr Phil Woo Pak-fai, Co-founder of allcareAI and FH Outstanding Alumni Awardee. The event provided a platform for engaging discussions on how humanities students can leverage their unique skills and perspectives in the age of AI. It also featured interactive sessions, allowing students to engage directly with the speakers and gain valuable guidance on navigating their career paths in the AI and technology-pervasive world. Dean of the Faculty of Humanities, Prof. Li Ping, extended his gratitude to all speakers and participants for making the event a resounding success. Prof. Li remarked, “The integration of AI into various fields represents both challenges and opportunities, and it is through forums like this we can help our students better understand and prepare for the future.” The Faculty looks forward to continuing this important dialogue and supporting students as they explore new frontiers in their careers.

Tohoku University Visits the Faculty of Humanities

A delegation from the Graduate School of International Cultural Studies, Tohoku University visited the Faculty of Humanities (FH) on 12 March. Prof. LI Ping, Dean of FH warmly welcomed Prof. Hiroyuki Eto, Dean and Professor of Graduate School of International Cultural Studies, along with the delegates from Tohoku University. Prof. HANG Xing, Associate Dean (Global Engagement) of FH presented an overview of FH’s current development, programmes and research achievements. Both parties engaged in meaningful discussions about extracurricular English language learning in Hong Kong, student exchange initiatives and academic collaboration. The delegates also visited the Centre for Independent Language Learning, where they were impressed by PolyU’s diverse range of state-of-the-art, learner-centered methodologies that support students in developing their language skills.

Dr Özgehan Uştuk Receives TESOL Outstanding Advocate Honor Award

Dr Özgehan Uştuk, Research Assistant Professor in the Department of English and Communication, has been honoured with the TESOL Outstanding Advocate Honor Award 2025. The award presentation ceremony will be held at this year’s TESOL International Convention and Expo in California. Established in 1999, this award celebrates an exceptional leader and professional who has demonstrated outstanding advocacy efforts in the TESOL field that are aligned with the vision, mission, values, and commitments of the association. Click HERE to read Dr Uştuk’s global advocacy story.

PolyU Linguistics Ascends to 51st in QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025

The Faculty has made notable strides in the latest QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025. The subject of linguistics, the discipline in which a large number of FH staff members are engaged, has climbed to the 51st position from the 100th in the previous year. The significant leap highlights the Faculty’s dedication to advancing research and education in the field. Additionally, the broad area of Arts and Humanities at the University has also moved up to the 83rd position this year. Covering over 1,700 universities from around the world, the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2025 evaluates universities across 55 academic subjects and five broad subject areas, based on their academic reputation, employer reputation, citations per paper, the H-index and international research network.

FH Celebrates Student Achievements in National Competitions

Students from the Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies (CBS) have achieved outstanding results in two national competitions. CATTI’s National News Editing and Translation Competition Wang Jingwen, an MA in Translating and Interpreting student, won the Second Award in the University (English) category. Sun Jiakun, an undergraduate in our BA(Hons) in Linguistics and Translation (BALT) programme, secured the Third Award in the same category. The Competition was held earlier in December 2024. Unlike traditional translation competitions, this event emphasised innovation in its format and content selection. Participants were required not only to accurately understand and translate the original text but also to process and edit the content. National English-Speaking Contest for University Students Zhao Yunci and Sun Jiakun, a Year-2 and a final-year BALT student respectively, won Second Awards in the National English-Speaking Contest for University Students. Organised by the China General Chamber of Commerce, the competition featured two categories: English Major Group and Non-English Major Group, with preliminary and final rounds. The event attracted students from universities across the country. Dr Maggie Hui, Teaching Fellow in the CBS, provided professional guidance to these students. Dr Hui was awarded the title of “Outstanding Instructor” in the National English-Speaking Contest.

CBS PhD Student Awarded ARWA 2025 Top Student Researcher

Our PhD student, Miss Xu Xintong, from the Department of Chinese and Bilingual Studies (supervised by Prof. Ke Sihui) has won the Top Student Researcher award in the 9th Annual Conference for the Association for Reading and Writing in Asia (ARWA 2025) held in the Philippines between 27 and 28 February. The Top Student Researcher Award is a prestigious recognition given annually to three outstanding student researchers in Asia who present their work at the ARWA conference. Each awardee receives a cash award and a certificate during the conference ceremony. This year, Miss Xu was one of the awardees, representing the Chinese-speaking region, and was invited to present her research on reading and writing development at the conference.

Northwestern Polytechnical University Visits the Faculty of Humanities

A delegation from the School of Foreign Studies, Northwestern Polytechnical University (NPU) visited the Faculty of Humanities (FH) on 4 March. Prof. HANG Xing, Associate Dean (Global Engagement) of FH warmly welcomed the delegates and presented an overview of FH’s programmes and achievements. Additionally, Prof. WANG Gaozu, Head of the Party Committee at NPU's School of Foreign Studies provided a comprehensive update on NPU's current development. Both parties engaged in meaningful discussions about student exchange initiatives and opportunities for academic and research collaboration.