Bulletin Autumn‧Winter 2005

CUHK-CAS Pa r t ne r sh i p i n Hi gh - speed Connec t i on a n d Research Co l l abo r a t i on Mr. Philip Leung, acting director of ITSC (left) and Prof. Li Jun, assistant director of CNIC, exchanging agreement A h i g h - s p e e d c o n n e c t i o n between the C U H K Camp us N e t w o rk and the Chinese Scientific and Technology N e t w o rk (CSTNET ) of the Chinese A c a d emy of Sciences (CAS) wa s l a u n c h e d o n 28th October a l o n g s i de the o p e n i n g o f a H o n g K o n g m i r r o r site of the Science M u s e u ms o f C h i n a website. A t the ceremony held i n Cho Y i u Hall, t h e U n i v e r s i t y ' s I n f o r m a t i o n T e c h n o l o gy S e r v i c e s C e n t re (ITSC) a n d t h e C o m p u t e r N e t w o r k I n f o r m a t i o n Ce n t re ( CN I C ) of th e a c a d emy agreed o n a p a r t n e r s h i p to p r omo te research c o l l a b o r a t i o n a n d resources s h a r i n g between the ma i n l a n d and H o n g Kong. Ma n a g e d by CN I C, CSTNE T is k n o w n for its p i o n e e r i n g role i n the Internet i n d u s t ry a n d as the l e a d i n g s c i e n t i f ic research n e t w o r k i n China. This h i g h spee d direct l i nk b e t we e n the C U H K C a m p u s N e t w o r k a n d C S T N ET ha s r emo v e d previous connection barriers , enabling researchers to c ommu n i c a t e directly w i t h over 100 r e s e a r ch i n s t i t u t e s i n C h i n a. A c a d e m ic discussions, research collaborations, real-time demonstrations, and distance learnin g can n o w take place i n a smo o t h e r v i d e o - c o n f e r e n c i ng e n v i r o n m e n t w i t h h i g h er i ma g e r e s o l u t i o n. C U H K has also been a u t h o r i z e d to access th e o n l i ne scientifi c database of CAS w h i c h hosts o v e r 40 0 i m p o r t a n t d a t a b a s e s , c o v e r i n g environmental studies, remot e satellite imaging , h i g h e n e r g y n u c l e ar science, a s t r o n o my a n d marine life. It also makes the sharing o f resources i n scientific research a reality. The m i r r or site of the Science Mu s e ums of Ch i n a website ( h t t p : / / k e p u . i t s c . c u h k . e d u . h k ) was set u p to promote scientifi c knowledge. It is a web-based mu s e um tha t aims to make scientific k n o w l e d g e available to all a nd to c u l t i v a te a scientific culture. W i th content s p r o v i d e d by the databases of CAS and othe r research institutes across the country, the m u s e um opens doors to science learnin g for local p r i ma ry and secondary students. News in Brief 55