Calendar 2011–12

6 Part 1 • General Information Part 1 Postgraduate Studies n n Master’s programmes were first offered in 1966–67, and the number of programmes in 2011–12 is 162. Doctoral programmes were first introduced in 1980–81 and the number of programmes is 33 in 2011–12. MPhil–PhD programmes were first introduced in 2004–05, and the number of programmes is 35 in 2011–12. In addition, 26 postgraduate diploma programmes and one postgraduate certificate programme are offered. Research and Development CUHK fosters the development of quality research over a broad front in all its eight Faculties. It provides opportunities for advancement in the pursuit of human knowledge, and for academic staff to undertake consultancy and collaborative projects with industry. Twenty-eight major research institutes have been established by the University to provide financial support and other facilities for research. While encouraging both basic and applied research in all academic areas, the University also realizes that it is important to achieve excellence and world-wide impact. As part of its Strategic Plan adopted in January 2006, the University has identified Five Major Areas under its Focused Investments Scheme. These areas, selected by the University taking into account both its overall strategy and specific opportunities for funding support, are Chinese Studies, Biomedical Sciences, Information Sciences, Economics and Finance, and Geoinformation and Earth Sciences. In the five University Grants Committee (UGC) ‘Areas of Excellence’ exercises, CUHK has been successful in securing significant support from the UGC in the areas of information technology, plant and agricultural biotechnology, Chinese medicine research and further development, Centre for Research into Circulating Fetal Nucleic Acids, Historical Anthropology of Chinese Society, and Institute of Network Coding. The multidisciplinary teams aimed for good progress in their respective research areas. At the national level, four State Key Laboratories have also been established at CUHK. The State Key Laboratory in Oncology in South China (CUHK), established in 2006, conducts research into the biology and early detection of cancers particularly prevalent in Asian populations, and seeks to develop novel therapeutics for their treatment. The State Key Laboratory of Agrobiotechnology (CUHK), established in 2008, studies ways of improving rice yields in China by improving the species of rice grown by Chinese farmers. Recently established, the State Key Laboratory of Phytochemistry and Plant Resources in West China (CUHK) conducts research into the modernization of traditional Chinese medicine and the application of biotechnoogy in medical science, while the State Key Laboratory on Synthetic Chemistry advances inter-disciplinary basic research.