Bulletin Spring‧Summer 2001

Complementin g Mainlan d Capabilitie s in Postgraduate Training W i t h the p o p u l a r i z a t i on of tertiary e d u c a t i on o n the ma i n l a n d, y o u n g people are better equipped to pursue postgraduate studies outside the country. Th e n umb er of ma i n l a nd students seeking to e n r ol i n h i g h e r degree p r o g r ammes at C U H K als o increases substantially. The Un i v e r s i ty has i n fact launche d several postgraduate d e g r e e / d i p l oma p r o g r ammes j o i n t ly w i t h ma i n l a nd institution s i n response to demands f r om the ma i n l a n d. T he Ch i n e se U n i v e r s i t y 's f a c i l i t i e s, t e a c h i ng a n d research e x pe r t i s e, m u l t i - c u l t u r al environment, a nd international relations are asset s w h i c h w o u l d complemen t the capabilities o f ma i n l a n d institutions. U s i ng the Faculty of A r t s as an example. Prof . D a n g Sh u - l e u ng of th e De p a r t me nt of Chinese Language and Literature says: 'Although m a i n l a n dinstitutionsare very strong in Chinese literary studies, our curriculum covers a broader spectrum of t o p i c s . W e require s t u d e n t s o f classical Chinese t o s t u d y modern literature and vice versa. We train our graduate s t u d e n t s t o l o o k a t p r o b l e m s from d i f f e r e n t a n g l e sand t o k e e p an open m i n d . ' Prof. Benny Tsao of the Depa r tment of Mu s ic also says, ' Our uniqueness lies i n our flexible application of Western theory to Chinese mu s i c .…Ma i n l a nd students l i v i ng i n H o n g K o n g w i l l gain international perspective an d come under th e influence of differen t cultures. The experience adds another d i me n s i o n to their t h i n k i n g . ' The Chinese Un i v e r s i ty has been a pioneer i n the t r a i n i n g of graduate students f r om the ma i n l a n d. The Department of English is one of the earliest departments to take o n such students i n the late 70s. Mo re students came i n the 80s a nd e n r o l l ed i n different disciplines. Dr. Wa ng X i u c h u n , a student of Prof. H e n r y Wo n g of the De p a r t me nt of Chem i s t r y, was the first ma i n l a nd student to earn her Ph.D. i n H o n g Ko n g. Sh e is n o w i n v o l v ed i n n e w d r u g d e v e l o pme nt i n the p i l ot p l a nt facilities of Ab b o t t Laboratories i n the US. So far almost 40 do c t o r al students d o i ng chemistr y have ob t a i ned their degrees f r om the University. H a l f have r e t u r n ed to w o r k on th e ma i n l a n d. One of t h em, Prof. Th omas Ma k ' s first doctoral graduate, is n o w the h e ad of the School of C h em i s t ry a n d C h em i c al E n g i n e e r i ng at Zhongshan University. Prof. Cai Xiaoqiang of the Department of Systems Engineering and Engineering Managemen t says that amo ng the h u n d r ed application s to the department's doctoral p r o g r amme s, about 90 per cent come f r om the ma i n l a n d. One of their f o rme r students is the current vice-chairman of the A u t o m a t i on De p a r t me n t at Tsinghua University. M a n y of the ma i n l a nd graduates f r om various department s have take n up leading positions i n top universities or research units u p o n r e t u rn to thei r h ome cities. Dr. Wang Xiuchun (second from left) posting with the board of examiners after her oral defence: (from right) Dr. Lam Choi-nang, Prof. Henry Wong, Prof. Che Chi-ming , Dr. Chan Tze-lock 22