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C U R I O S I T Y - D R I V E N
R E S E A R C H @ H K U S
The HKUST Jockey Club Institute for Advanced Study (IAS)
gathers great global minds to wrestle with frontier research
challenges in a range of fields, serving as an international
knowledge hub for Asia and drawing top researchers to HKUST.
IAS was established in 2006 in a pioneering move for Hong
Kong and the region. Prof Stephen Hawking gave the
inaugural lecture. The Institute, now housed in a dedicated
building in an appropriately lofty spot on the HKUST campus,
has gone on to become an active and productive center for
intellectual problem solving and interaction between brilliant
minds from around the world. It has championed collaborative
research and advanced fundamental and applied knowledge,
especially in areas of relevance to regional development.
Leading academics have been appointed to the Institute:
economist and Nobel Laureate Prof Sir Christopher Pissarides
and astrophysicist and Nobel Laureate Prof George Smoot
are both IAS Helmut & Anna Pao Sohmen Professor-at Large;
chemistry, physics and organic electronics pioneer Prof Ching
W Tang, the first Chinese Wolf Prize Laureate in Chemistry, is
IAS Bank of East Asia Professor; and eminent mathematician
Prof Gunther Uhlmann is IAS Si Yuan Professor. Prof Tang
and Prof Uhlmann also serve as Chair Professors in their
respective fields at HKUST.
Each year, IAS Visiting Professors and Visiting Fellows – most
are members of national academies or of equivalent stature
– are invited to HKUST. Prominent scholars from leading
universities are engaged as IAS Senior Fellows and IAS
Fellows to foster research synergy with such visitors and IAS
professors. Rising stars from various disciplines also work
closely with IAS as Junior Fellows and Postdoctoral Fellows.
As one of IAS’s long-term partners, Gordon Research
Conference meetings in different subject areas are regularly
hosted, often with HKUST faculty acting as chair.
Topical research programs range from neural engineering and
materials science to creative Chinese writing, assisting in the
formation of research clusters and spurring fresh directions.
Distinguished lectures and joint school lectures widen the
Institute’s reach. In addition, public programs and lectures by
IAS professors draw the community’s attention to the latest
academic perspectives and developments.
The success of IAS has helped raise Hong Kong’s overall
profile as a meeting point for intellectual discussion and
as a vibrant location to incubate global breakthroughs and
thought leaders. “At IAS, we seek to ignite local, regional and
global brain power to traverse the challenges of today,” said
cosmologist Prof Henry Tye, IAS Director. “In doing so, we
have created a highly significant collective resource to help
transform the future.”
Boundless Vision
HKUST Jockey Club Institute for Adavnced Study
