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PolyU announces “PolyU Top 10 Research & Innovation Stories of the Year”, showcasing impactful research driving Hong Kong’s high-quality development

31 Mar 2026

Awards & Recognitions

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is dedicated to spearheading world-leading research and innovation for societal benefits. To recognise outstanding achievements with far-reaching impact locally and globally, PolyU has launched the inaugural “PolyU Top 10 Research & Innovation Stories of the Year” selection and voting campaign. From 20 remarkable research and technology translation stories announced in 2025, more than 7,700 members of the public and the PolyU community cast their votes. Combined with the scores of a professional judging panel, ten stories were selected as the final awardees. Among them, seven are led by PAIR members:

Principal Investigator	Research Topic	Research Focus
Prof. WANG Zuankai Associate Vice President (Research), Dean of Graduate School, Kuok Group Professor in Nature-Inspired Engineering, Chair Professor of Nature-Inspired Engineering of Department of Mechanical Engineering, Member of Research Institute for Advanced Manufacturing (RIAM), Research Institute for Intelligent Wearable Systems (RI-IWEAR), Research Institute for Sports Science and Technology (RISports) and Research Centre of Textiles for Future Fashion (RCTFF)	Innovation for self-stimulated ejection of freezing droplets unlocks cost-effective applications in de-icing	The research team has invented a self-powered mechanism for ejecting freezing droplets, enabling droplets to shoot themselves away. This innovation could catalyse the development of self-powered methods for a variety of purposes, including de-icing, energy harvesting, and soft robotic applications.
Prof. CHEN Jianli Chair Professor of Space Geodesy and Earth Sciences of Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics, Member of Research Institute for Land and Space (RILS) and Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Smart Cities Research Institute (SCRI)	Utilising satellite positioning data to track Greenland’s ice sheet melt behaviour and assess its impact on sea-level rise	The global research team has integrated various modern space geodetic techniques, particularly satellite positioning data, to monitor the subsidence of vertical bedrock and quantify summer water storage in the Greenland ice sheet. This achievement offers new insights into ice sheets’ role in sea-level rise.
Prof. QIU Anqi Associate Dean of Graduate School, Director of Mental Health Research Centre (MHRC), Professor of Department of Health Technology and Informatics, Global STEM Scholar	Sustained obesity may accelerate brain ageing	The team has unveiled research to advance our understanding of the neural mechanisms underlying the relationship between obesity and cognitive health in adults. It highlights the dynamic relationship between obesity progression and brain-cognitive health.
Prof. CHEN Changwen Interim Dean of Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, Chair Professor of Visual Computing of Department of Computing, Management Committee Member of PAIR, Member of SCRI	Novel multi-modal agent facilitates long video understanding by AI, accelerating the development of generative AI-assisted video analysis	While AI technology is evolving rapidly, AI models still struggle with understanding long videos. The team has developed a novel video-language agent, VideoMind, that enables AI models to perform long video reasoning and question-answering tasks by emulating humans’ way of thinking.
Prof. KO Ben Chi-bun Associate Professor of Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology, Member of Research Institute for Future Food (RiFood) and Research Centre for Chinese Medicine Innovation (RCMI)	Discovery of Chinese medicine extract tetrandrine’s target and mechanism opens new avenues for treating viral infection and Alzheimer’s Disease	The research team has discovered that tetrandrine works by blocking the transport of sphingosine – a lipid molecule essential for cellular signalling – and inhibiting calcium channels. Their research has revealed the critical mechanism of tetrandrine for the first time, opening new avenues for drug discovery and disease treatment.
Prof. LI Gang Sir Sze-yuen Chung Professor in Renewable Energy, Chair Professor of Energy Conversion Technology of Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Associate Director of Otto Poon Charitable Foundation Research Institute for Smart Energy (RISE), Management Committee Member of Photonics Research Institute (PRI), Member of RI-IWEAR and Research Institute for Sustainable Urban Development (RISUD) Prof. YANG Guang Assistant Professor of Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Member of RIAM, PRI and RISE	Driving the commercialisation of energy-efficient solar cell technology towards a 40% efficiency milestone	Third-generation solar cell technology is advancing rapidly. The research team has reported a breakthrough in their review of perovskite/silicon tandem solar cells, addressing challenges in efficiency, stability and scalability. Their study aims to raise the energy conversion efficiency from the current maximum of about 34% to 40%.
Prof. LIU Aiqun Director of Research Institute for Quantum Technology (RIQT), Chair Professor of Quantum Engineering and Science of Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Global STEM Scholar	PolyU successfully completes Hong Kong's first chip-based quantum network and test	The research team has successfully developed a quantum communication chip to establish Hong Kong’s first quantum communication network. The team has achieved a breakthrough by successfully conducting a cybersecurity test on the world’s longest optical fibre quantum network, built utilising a quantum chip platform.