Campus Digest

HKBU (Haimen) Institute of Science and Technology officially opens

20 Apr 2015

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(From left) Mrs Doreen Chan, Professor Albert Chan, Mr Jiang Long, Mrs Pamela Chan, and Professor Rick Wong officially open the HKBU (Haimen) Institute of Science and Technology.
Hong Kong Baptist University (Haimen) Institute of Science and Technology

 

Hong Kong Baptist University (Haimen) Institute of Science and Technology (IST), located at Haimen, Jiangsu Province, covering an area of about 20,000 square metres, was officially opened on 17 April 2015.

The opening ceremony was officiated by Mr Jiang Long, Secretary of Haimen Municipal People's Government, Mrs Pamela Chan, Deputy Chairman, and Mrs Doreen Chan, Treasurer of the Council and the Court of HKBU, Professor Albert Chan, President and Vice-Chancellor, and Professor Rick Wong, Vice-President (Research and Development) and Dean of IST.

In her welcoming address, Mrs Pamela Chan thanked the Haimen Municipal People's Government for its generous support to IST, which included the provision of land, construction of buildings, funding for equipment purchases and its operational costs for the first three years. She said the economic growth of Jiangsu Province is vigorous and HKBU seized the opportune moment to build a bridgehead in Haimen. The city's geographical advantage and impressive infrastructure will further enhance research space and strength of HKBU, while the University, through the newly established institute, will promote academic excellence and research development in the Yangtze River Delta region as well as across the nation.

IST is a joint venture of HKBU and the Haimen Municipal Government. The institute was established to further enhance the collaboration in education between Hong Kong and the Chinese mainland. It also aims to promote HKBU's vision of "Innovative Research" and lift the soft power of Haimen to spur its economic development. The institute will nurture high quality talents, conduct innovative research and engage in technology transfer.

Currently IST has formed six research groups comprising more than 30 HKBU academics from Biology, Chemistry and Chinese Medicine to conduct interdisciplinary projects mainly on drug discovery. The research themes include Bone and Joint Diseases, Tumour Diseases, Neurodegenerative Diseases, Development of Anti-cancer Drugs, and more.

In nurturing talents, HKBU and Ohio State University, USA, jointly offer a dual PhD programme in Drug Discovery/Biomedical Science at IST. The institute has admitted its first cohort of students and graduates of the programme will be awarded PhD degrees from the two universities respectively.