News & Events

PolyU collaborates with C-MER Eye Care to nurture Hong Kong’s young optometrists in the Greater Bay Area

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) signed a five-year memorandum of understanding today with C-MER Eye Care Holdings Limited to advance optometry development and eye and vision health in Hong Kong and Mainland China. About 60 students of PolyU’s world-leading School of Optometry will receive up to three weeks of clinical training in C-MER hospitals, clinics and optical centres in Hong Kong and other Greater Bay Area (GBA) cities every year; while researchers and specialists from the School and C-MER will collaborate on scientific studies about myopia management and ageing eyes – the main eye health challenges shared by Hong Kong and the Nation. The signing ceremony was held on PolyU’s campus, where Professor David SHUM, Dean of Faculty of Health and Social Sciences of PolyU, and Dr Dennis LAM, President and CEO of C-MER Eye Care Holdings Limited, signed the document regarding the collaboration. The signing was witnessed by Professor Wing-tak WONG, Deputy President and Provost of PolyU; Professor Chi-ho TO, Chair Professor of Experimental Optometry and Head of School of Optometry of PolyU; and the senior management of C-MER Eye Care. Professor Wong said, “C-MER Eye Care is an outstanding institution, both in terms of its massive teams of professional ophthalmologists and optometrists, as well as its well-established eyecare clinics across the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, Beijing and Shanghai. PolyU is delighted to further strengthen its strategic collaboration with C-MER in advancing the research and talent development of optometry, particularly in terms of accelerating the field’s development in the Greater Bay Area.” Dr Lam said, “Through our C-MER eye hospital and clinic network in the GBA, we are very pleased to provide the PolyU students not only with clinical trainings, but also opportunities to know more about GBA. Such first-hand experience about the GBA and the human network established will be very beneficial to those who choose to develop their careers in future in the GBA.” The School of Optometry has been proactively collaborating with local ophthalmologists and counterparts around the world to provide students with hands-on experience, equipping them with the skills they need for their future careers. Professor To said, “The support from C-MER will enhance the School’s optometric education, helping to take the local optometric profession to the next level.” He added that clinical training cooperation with C-MER clinics in Hong Kong has started since August, benefiting 38 final year optometry students so far. The clinical training offered by C-MER in the GBA covers attachment programs to ophthalmologists on diagnosing and treating eye diseases, including medication and surgical treatment. Trainees will benefit from the rapid development of the optometry profession in the Mainland. The collaboration also brings together the complementary strengths of the School’s world-leading research capability (with its research impact ranking first in Asia according to Clinical and Experimental Optometry), and C-MER’s vast network of some twenty ophthalmic clinics and hospitals in the GBA, Beijing, Shanghai, etc., making it the only Hong Kong medical service provider that has sizeable operations in the Mainland. PolyU’s School of Optometry The School of Optometry of The Hong Kong Polytechnic University is the only institution in Hong Kong that offers a bachelor’s honours degree programme in optometry leading to a professional qualification as an optometrist in Hong Kong. Optometrists are primary healthcare professionals who promote ocular health and vision through diagnosis and provision of suitable treatment options. The School’s undergraduate degree programme is regarded as one of the best globally. As a top-ranking optometry department in the world for research excellence, the School strives to undertake research-based teaching of the highest academic standards and to contribute to the promotion and delivery of high-quality vision and eye care in Hong Kong and elsewhere. C-MER Eye Care Holdings Limited C-MER Eye Care Holdings Limited is the largest HK medical service provider in the Mainland China. It is also one of the largest eye care groups in HK and the only group that has a sizable operation in the Mainland. Apart from ophthalmology, C-MER is now expanding their service scopes to dentistry and other specialities. Their goal is to facilitate the integration of HK’s medical service through their growing network in the Mainland, so as to become a good platform which provides affordable and high quality medical services to people in the GBA and beyond.

PolyU signs MoU with three strategic partners in support of “GBA PolyVentures 2025”

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) today signed memoranda of understanding (MoU) with three strategic partners to further propel the “GBA PolyVentures 2025” blueprint laid down by the University to leverage PolyU’s experience in innovation and entrepreneurship education to provide the necessary support for nurturing deep tech ventures and accelerating their growth. The collaboration also aims to translate research excellence into societal impact to contribute to the development of innovation and technology in the Greater Bay Area (GBA). The MoU were signed between PolyU and its strategic partners, namely Everbright Limited, StartupHK Fund and Hai Robotics. In his welcoming remarks at the signing ceremony, Dr Lawrence Li Kwok-chang, PolyU’s Deputy Council Chairman, said, “The signing of the MoU between PolyU and its strategic partners echoes with the needs of our Nation and leverages the strengths of PolyU and other parties in working together for the development of innovation and technology in the GBA. Hai Robotics, one of our strategic partners today, was nurtured under PolyU’s entrepreneurship ecosystem and has recently become a unicorn.” Hai Robotics is a start-up that provides autonomous case-handling robotic systems. It was founded in 2016 by 2012 graduate Mr Richie Chen and 2014 graduate Mr Bing Fang of PolyU’s Department of Electronic and Information Engineering. The start-up witnessed rapid growth by making use of the manufacturing advantages of the GBA and benefitting from the enormous opportunities of the Mainland China market. Hai Robotics announced last week that it has completed two rounds of financing garnering US$200 million in total, and its valuation has exceeded US$1 billion. The Secretary for Innovation and Technology of the HKSAR Government, Mr Alfred Sit, commended the GBA PolyVentures 2025. He said that the National 14th Five-year Plan indicates clear support for Hong Kong’s development into an international I&T hub and integration into the overall development of the country. The deepening collaboration with the Mainland, active participation in the development of the GBA and the integration into the nation’s development are pivotal to the future innovation and technology development in Hong Kong. The HKSAR Government has all along attached great importance to university-industry-research collaboration. It is hoped that the synergies generated can enhance the innovation power in Hong Kong, drive the innovation and technology development in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and contribute to national innovation and achieve high-quality technological self-reliance. PolyU’s President, Professor Jin-Guang Teng, said, “In order to further promote the development of research and entrepreneurship in the GBA and to nurture future research talents to address the market needs, PolyU continues to collaborate closely with industry partners through ‘GBA PolyVentures 2025’, providing comprehensive support for start-ups in different stages from education and incubation, to accelerating and strengthening their development. The goal is to distil more than 300 seed stage innovation start-ups into at least 20 deep tech ventures each year and to nurture 25 impactful scale-ups in the GBA in the next few years through collaboration with strategic partners and various supporting initiatives.” According to the MoU, PolyU and Hai Robotics will explore establishing a joint innovation centre to promote PolyU’s education in innovation and entrepreneurship, nurture talents in “New Engineering”, and conduct applied research in robotics-related topics. PolyU and Everbright Limited will invest resources to help start-ups develop through collaboration between technology and industry, provide support to promising research projects, and roll out an internship programme for nurturing innovation talents. PolyU and StartupHK Fund will co-invest in PolyU’s start-ups and help them enter the GBA market as well as launch initiatives to strengthen entrepreneurship education. PolyU is also committed to providing high-quality education that keeps pace with the times and meets societal needs. The University will implement departmental scheme-based admissions from the 2022/23 academic year onwards, introducing two new elements of “Artificial Intelligence and Data Analysis” and “Innovation and Entrepreneurship”. In addition, PolyU established the College of Undergraduate Researchers and Innovators and Residential College to encourage undergraduate students to conduct scientific research under the guidance of PolyU’s professors. These initiatives are all designed to inspire students’ scientific curiosity and enhance their innovation capabilities. PolyU places high importance on nurturing technology ventures. PolyU recently signed an MoU with the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) to kick off pre-incubation at university through the PolyU Micro Fund Scheme 2.0, which provides six months of entrepreneurship training to help entrepreneurial projects enter HKSTP’s start-up incubation programme directly. In addition, PolyU has launched two key programmes that leverage on the unique advantages of the technology and innovation ecosystem in the GBA. The first is PolyU’s GBA Startup Postdoc Programme targeted at PhD graduates who are determined to start their own businesses. Under dual academic and industrial mentorship, participants can simultaneously continue with their research and start their own business for commercialisation of their research outputs. Since the launch of the programme over a year ago, six PhD students have won nine awards in total. Six start-ups have been established to receive post-incubation support; some of them have even received angel investment. PolyU will extend the programme to both Shenzhen and Hong Kong to attract more technology and innovation talents to develop in the GBA. The second key programme is the GBA Maker Programme for hardware start-ups. PolyU makes full use of its unique advantages and facilities in manufacturing engineering, such as PolyU’s Industrial Centre, to combine Hong Kong's edge in innovation technology and the manufacturing capabilities of the GBA to nurture top-notch hardware start-ups. Through “GBA PolyVentures 2025”, PolyU aims to systematically accelerate the growth of start-ups through education and incubation and ultimately contribute to the development of innovation and technology in the GBA by deepening the collaboration with strategic partners and leveraging their resources, experience and network, with the support of PolyU’s new “Entrepreneurship Investment Fund”.

HKSTP and PolyU Sign MoU to Advance GBA Entrepreneurship and Nurture Next Generation I&T Talent and Innovators

Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) today signed a strategic memorandum of understanding (MoU) to form a joint GBA-focused entrepreneurship programme, which aims to nurture young R&D talent into Hong Kong’s next generation of leading tech entrepreneurs and innovators. Under this partnership, PolyU and HKSTP will work closely to facilitate entrepreneurship education in the university and offer full-strength support to students and graduates to accelerate their growth at the startup ideation and incubation stages. The joint pre-incubation programme will integrate HKSTP’s ideation and pre-incubation framework with PolyU’s expertise in entrepreneurship education and knowledge transfer. This partnership will adopt HKSTP’s unique franchise model approach to apply its pre-incubation methodology to enable multiple partner programmes designed specifically to develop successful entrepreneurs. The HKSTP-PolyU programme is the first of such partnerships and combines co-nurturing of innovative ideas and with entrepreneurial training, coaching and mentorship to maximise the conversion of research into viable commercial success. PolyU also launched the GBA Maker Express programme – a combination of the PolyU Maker Fund scheme with the HKSTP iDM-Square hardware acceleration platform to help Hong Kong hardware innovators turn their creative ideas into market-ready products. This will spur Hong Kong’s reindustrialisation mission and accelerate local hardware startups in their product development from ideas to production, while leveraging the manufacturing capabilities of Shenzhen and other GBA cities. HKSTP will also collaborate closely with PolyU to deepen and grow the support for PhD graduates in PolyU’s GBA Startup PostDoc programme to pursue entrepreneurship while continuing translational research. This will also facilitate research commercialisation through startups who are sponsored or supported by corporates. Albert Wong, CEO at HKSTP said: “HKSTP’s partnership with PolyU is a signal of our commitment to turning Hong Kong’s world-class academic and R&D talent into future generations of pioneering entrepreneurs and innovators to fuel a new era of economic growth. With our proven ideation framework for startups, we will work closely with our partners to provide the critical guidance to unlock greatness from our young talent and accelerate the process of realising research potential into real business game-changers.” “PolyU is strongly committed to supporting entrepreneurship and knowledge transfer in order to maximise the impact of our research on Hong Kong, the Nation and the world. From next year onwards, we will embed the elements of “Innovation and Entrepreneurship” into all undergraduate programmes. We also have established various schemes, including funding, to support academic- and student-led start-ups that aim to commercialise PolyU’s technologies for the benefit of society. By integrating PolyU’s entrepreneurship initiatives with HKSTP’s vibrant innovation and technology ecosystem, the collaboration of the two parties will greatly empower young talent in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area to translate their research ideas into pioneering real-world solutions that deliver positive societal impact,” said Professor Jin-Guang Teng, President of PolyU. HKSTP is embarking on a broad sweeping strategy of deep partnerships with sector leaders to specifically target early-stage entrepreneurs and leverage the strengths of a combined network of industry and academic partners. PolyU has been supporting Innovation & Technology (I&T) talents in the GBA through various funding schemes such as PolyU Micro Fund Schemes since 2011 and the PolyU Maker Fund Programme launched in 2021, which is tailor-made for Hong Kong’s young makers and hardware developers to realise their ideas through the support of the Youth Development Fund (YDF). PolyU has also established a number of other programmes including the Lean Launchpad Programme, the Experiential Learning for Innovation and Technology Entrepreneurship programme and lab-to-market validation programme for nurturing I&T talents during incubation.

PolyU Maker Fund to help young people embrace hardware start-up opportunities in the Greater Bay Area

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is delighted to obtain support from the Home Affairs Bureau (HAB) of the HKSAR Government through the Youth Development Fund (YDF) Funding Scheme for Youth Entrepreneurship in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The funding will enhance PolyU’s capability to foster the next generation of young entrepreneurs. In particular, the University plans to harness the funding to establish the “PolyU Maker Fund Programme 2021” (the “Programme”), as a “We Venture” Project funded by YDF. Tailored for young Hong Kong people, the Programme will facilitate the product development of local hardware start-ups by providing funding and training support, as well as by leveraging the manufacturing capabilities of Greater Bay Area (GBA) cities such as Shenzhen and Dongguan, so as to help them meet the challenges in their prototype development and manufacturing scale-up. The Programme will also draw upon PolyU’s expertise, resources, industry links and alumni networks, and will furthermore benefit from PolyU’s close ties with partners like Shenzhen University, Hong Kong Science & Technology Parks Corporation and the Federation of Hong Kong Industries. “With an aim of fostering PolyU’s research and innovation and translating them into impactful applications, the University has been supporting academic-led and student-led entrepreneurship through different funding, education and incubation programmes under PolyU’s entrepreneurship support system,” said Dr Miranda Lou, Executive Vice President of PolyU. “Thanks to HAB’s support, the Programme reinforces our commitment to cultivating the entrepreneurial spirit of the younger generation. Combining the innovation power of young Hong Kong people with the production capacity and market potential of mainland GBA cities, the initiative would generate exciting opportunities for hardware start-ups for the benefit of industry and society.” Hardware development normally requires significant resources and capabilities, such as high starting capital, large manufacturing space and enabling facilities. It also involves a long iterative process to turn an idea into a marketable product. Hence, local infant-to-early hardware start-ups usually face many difficulties on their road to success. The Programme, which focuses on hardware start-ups, will help them address these challenges. It is scheduled to launch in April 2021. Application details will be announced in due course. The YDF is under the administration of the Youth Development Commission (YDC) of the HAB. It aims at supporting youth entrepreneurship and youth development activities through collaboration with non-governmental organisations (NGOs), including working with NGOs in the form of a matching fund to help young people start their own business. The YDC rolled out the Funding Scheme for Experiential Programmes at Innovation and Entrepreneurial Bases in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and the Funding Scheme for Youth Entrepreneurship in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area in 2019. The schemes aim at subsidising Hong Kong NGOs to provide start-up assistance and incubation services that befit the needs of young people who are about to start their businesses in Hong Kong and Mainland cities of the GBA, including helping them settle in entrepreneurial bases and further helping them meet their initial capital needs.

PolyU collaborates with Macau University of Science and Technology to advance diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia

COVID-19 is taking its toll on the world, affecting more than 200 countries and regions. In the face of a surge in cases, rapid diagnosis and identification of high-risk patients for early intervention is crucial for controlling the pandemic. The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is committed to the fight against COVID-19 and has been collaborating with various partners in the prevention and control of the disease.  PolyU today announced the launch of a new AI system jointly developed with the Macau University of Science and Technology (M.U.S.T.) in conjunction with other Chinese institutions, to assist in the rapid diagnosis of COVID-19 pneumonia. This research was published in the prestigious international journal Cell, in a paper entitled “Clinically Applicable AI System for Accurate Diagnosis, Quantitative Measurements, and Prognosis of COVID-19 Pneumonia Using Computed Tomography” (link). The novel AI-assisted diagnostic system, based on computed tomography (CT) chest imaging, can efficiently distinguish COVID-19 pneumonia from other viral pneumonia, and predict the severity level in 20 seconds, with an accuracy of up to 90% or above. It assists radiologists and physicians in performing a quick diagnosis, especially when the health system is overloaded. According to Professor Kang ZHANG of the Faculty of Medicine of M.U.S.T. – the first author of the research paper, the research team used a large CT database of 3,777 patients to train and test the AI system to differentiate novel coronavirus pneumonia (NCP) from other common pneumonia and normal controls. This system is able to provide accurate clinical prognosis that can aid clinicians when considering appropriate early clinical management and appropriate resource allocation. It has been developed to assist global clinicians in combating COVID-19. Dr Johnson LAU, Adjunct Professor of the Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology of PolyU, explained that the AI team uses deep learning, semantic segmentation and multiple neural network architectures to create an accurate AI diagnostic system comprising texture analysis, quantitative measurements and diagnosis classification. In addition, based on the international standard for related research on lung lesions, lung, liver damage and relevant clinical indicators, they have also developed a comprehensive rating system to project the emergence of pneumonia severe lesions accurately for the follow-up treatment.The scientists from PolyU and M.U.S.T. have also collaborated on other projects, including the seroconversion study in SARS-CoV-2 (COVID-19) patients in China, which helped pave the way for further diagnostic and therapeutic development to treat SARS-CoV-2. The study “Seroprevalence of immunoglobulin M and G antibodies against SARS-CoV-2 in China” was also recently published in another prestigious scientific journal Nature Medicine (link).“Leveraging PolyU’s strengths and our collaborations with different research partners, we are able to contribute to the well-being of humankind. During the outbreak, we have developed a rapid automated diagnostic system to detect COVID-19 and have conducted various scientific experiments related to the pandemic,” said Professor Alexander WAI, Deputy President and Provost of PolyU. “Since the establishment of the biotechnology and translational medicine international collaborative platform in 2018, PolyU has been working closely with M.U.S.T. and other partners from the United States and the Greater Bay Area for high-impact research. Our long-term cooperation has paved the way for us to respond quickly, and to use our expertise to develop this new AI system for the diagnosis and prognosis of COVID-19.”Professor Manson FOK, Dean of the Faculty of Medicine of M.U.S.T., remarked that this AI system had been implemented in many hospitals in different countries. M.U.S.T. is collaborating with several prominent universities including Baylor University, University of Buffalo and Stanford University to serve the US populations. He believed this application could soon be adopted in Hong Kong, more regions of Mainland China and worldwide. COVID-19 is a new and highly contagious virus with over 7 million people infected (as of June 10). Researchers from PolyU and M.U.S.T. with their supportive partners will continue their efforts in COVID-19 research to use scientific technologies to combat this pandemic through prevention, diagnosis, treatment and control.

理大領先的主題研究丨促進全球可持續發展·解決亞熱帶城市群區域大氣光化學污染

香港理工大學（理大）校長滕錦光教授說：「我們的研究人員專注在生物技術、可持續發展、新材料、人工智慧、機器人技術、資料科學和食品技術等領域的研究，不斷取得顯著的發展及重大突破。理大的研究團隊致力於解決迫切的全球性問題，並為建設更美好的世界作出貢獻。」 理大研究團隊取得的創新技術及成果，很多都獲得香港研究資助局（RGC）的大力支持及政府撥款資助。連續三年，理大在RGC主題研究計劃共獲得三個主要研究專案的撥款。這些研究專案將帶來突破性的改進，有助於智慧城市的可持續性發展。 光化學空氣污染（photochemical air pollution）是理大研究人員最關注的全球性問題之一。光化學空氣污染亦稱為煙霧，它是一種獨特的空氣污染類型，當空氣不流通時，由包括臭氧等幾種化合物混合而成的物質會充斥於空氣中。混合物降低能見度，引起眼睛不適，使橡膠輪胎破裂，並破壞植被，對農民和種植商造成經濟損失。光化學空氣污染亦會影響樹木及農作物進行光合作用，造成溫室效應，加速全球暖化，影響深遠。 在香港、洛杉磯及印度齋浦爾等城市，汽車依賴度高或高度工業化，空氣污染的問題最為常見。由於香港和鄰近的珠三角組成的地區，是中國其中一個人口最多，經濟最活躍的地區。區內化石燃料的大量消耗使空氣品質下降，儘管政府已努力降低污染水平，區內的光化學污染並沒有太大改善。 理大土木及環境工程學系王韜教授說：「解決這些問題對為亞熱帶複雜環境地區，制定有效的空氣污染控制策略至關重要。」王教授及其研究團隊正在研究由車輛排放、工業運作，以及陸地和海上其他排放源引致的混合排放物，期望引進減輕光化學污染的最有效策略。他們還嘗試開發更精準，具備更佳預測能力，並能夠在複雜地理環境中使用的建模系統。 這項由王教授統籌的研究專案，於研究資助局2017/18年度的主題研究計劃中獲得超過三千三百萬港元的資助。理大的團隊與來自德國、美國、中國科學院及其他香港高校的專家，共同開展為期5年的研究工作。專案題為「亞熱帶城市群區域大氣光化學污染：從微環境到城市－陸地－海洋的相互作用」。目標是開展世界前沿的基礎科學研究，以期解決香港和珠三角地區的光化學和路邊污染之問題，從而為建設綠色香港、中國乃至亞洲作出貢獻。  

Unique immersion programme teaches tertiary students about entrepreneurship and innovation in the Greater Bay Area

A 50-day entrepreneurship programme organised by the Greater Bay Area International Institute for Innovations (GBA I3) concluded successfully last week. In this first-of-its-kind immersion programme, 76 students from Hong Kong, the Mainland and overseas had the opportunity to widen their horizons in entrepreneurship and innovation, engage in cultural exchanges, share ideas and collaborate with one another. The students also participated in incubation and internship at start-ups in the region. Many felt that the knowledge they gained about the start-up ecosystem and market environment in the GBA will be helpful to them if they start a business in the region. The Shenzhen-Hong Kong Start-up Internship • Immersion Programme, launched by the      GBA I3, was jointly established by The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) and Shenzhen University (SZU). Running from May to July, the programme hosted 17 PolyU students, 32 SZU students, and 27 students from the United Kingdom, Canada, Germany, Australia, Japan, and South Korea. This year's programme included a series of field trip studies at start-ups, incubators and multi-national technology companies in Hong Kong and Shenzhen. In the programme, students also learned from entrepreneurship coaches and capital venture heads on how to design business models and validate business plans. Additionally, the 17 PolyU students were able to participate in five-week internships at various Shenzhen start-ups. Dr Miranda LOU, Executive Vice President of PolyU, said, "The programme is one of the key projects for GBA I3 to promote entrepreneurship development. With a wide spectrum of learning models that combine field trips, internships, and exchange opportunities, we aimed to broaden the perspectives and experiences of the students from different countries, cultures and disciplines and inspire them to come up with innovative ideas. Through similar initiatives, we hope our young people embrace the tremendous opportunities made possible by the GBA, and that global talent is attracted to the region for career development." Professor WANG Hui, Vice President of SZU, said, "The programme is the first key initiative for developing talent in the GBA I3 established by the two universities. With full support and funding from the Ministry of Education, the programme aims to integrate the resources in innovation and technology across the region, develop technology professionals in Shenzhen and Hong Kong, encourage the exchange of creative talent within the GBA and the rest of the world. We also hope that the programme will give students in Hong Kong and Macau a better understanding of economic and social developments in the Mainland. The seven-week programme offers a wide range of activities including corporate visits, training courses, internships and roadshows for entrepreneurship projects. Through these activities, we hope to establish a distinctive brand for the programme that fully implements the spirit of innovation and entrepreneurship in the GBA." For LUO Yuxi, a year-2 student at SZU studying Business Management, the programme has widened his horizons by exposing him to first-hand experiences of the different learning and working cultures in the Mainland, Hong Kong and among overseas students. "In our business planning with PolyU peers, we were impressed by their very pragmatic approach, dedicated mindset and high efficiency in problem solving. On the other hand, we Mainland students are usually strong in research on the wider market trends taking place across the Nation. Learning how to integrate our complementary strengths and achieve common goals will certainly empower us for future cross-cultural career development and cooperation." A year-3 PolyU student in Product Design, Ivan WONG worked as an intern at a Shenzhen start-up providing smart caring solutions and products for the elderly. Working as a User Interface User Experience (UIUX) designer during his five-week internship, he was responsible for creating a functional and fashionable sneaker for the elderly. "The day-to-day real-life experience of working and living in Shenzhen strengthened my confidence about looking beyond Hong Kong to develop my career. I now think about realizing my dream of setting up a studio start-up with my classmates when I graduate and providing industrial design services targeted at the huge GBA market."  

PolyU establishes an alliance with eight institutions in the Greater Bay Area to advance research in nursing

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with eight participating universities / institutions in the Greater Bay Area (GBA) to establish The Nursing Alliance of Research and Knowledge Transfer. The initiative aims to strengthen collaboration in nursing research and knowledge transfer among cities of the GBA in response to the national strategy for the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The MoU was signed in Shenzhen in the Mainland by Prof Alex Molasiotis, Chair Professor of Nursing and Head of the School of Nursing, PolyU, and the eight representatives of other institutions, including: Dr Li Yanlian, Vice President, Macao Polytechnic Institute; Prof.Zhou Ying, Associate Dean of the School of Nursing, Guangzhou Medical University; Prof.June Zhang, Associate Dean of the School of Nursing, Sun Yat-Sen University; Prof. Zhang Lili, Dean of the School of Nursing, Southern Medical University; Prof. Chen Weiju, Secretary and Associate Dean of the School of Nursing,Director of the Nursing Department of the First Affiliated Hospital, Jinan University; Ms Mo Beirong, Vice President of the Nanshan District People's Hospital of Shenzhen; Prof. Wang Chunmei, Vice Director of Zhuhai Campus Management Committee, Zunyi Medical University; and Ms Zhang Li, Director of the Nursing Department, The First People's Hospital of Foshan.  "The signing of the MoU heralds a significant milestone in the collaboration in nursing development among Guangdong Province, Hong Kong and Macau," said Prof David Shum, Dean of Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, PolyU, at the ceremony. In the 3-year collaboration, the Alliance will actively promote nursing research cooperation, enhance the quality of care services, encourage sharing of information, resources, evidence-based nursing practice and research outcomes, as well as facilitate training of nursing personnel. "With our unique position as an international and a core city for driving regional development, Hong Kong and PolyU will grasp the opportunities to advance the discipline of nursing; develop inter-disciplinary, cross-institutional, as well as international collaborative research projects; and promote training and innovative services for the benefit of the people in the GBA, " said Prof Alex Molasiotis. The Alliance was selected as one of the top projects at the 2nd Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao GreaterBay Area Health Cooperation Conference held earlier. The honour was received by the representatives from PolyU, Sun Yat-Sen University and The Nanshan District People's Hospital of Shenzhen.