Newsletter No. 23

CUHK Newsletter No.23 October 1991 Dona t i on o f $2.58 m i l l i on f r o m Croucher Foundat i on f or Research The Trustees o f the Croucher Foundation r e c e n t ly p l e d g ed dona t i ons t o t a l l i ng $2,580,820 for Un i v e r s i ty members to launch five research projects: • HK$769,800 for a three-year research project on ‘Speech recognition and synthesis using neural networks' b y Dr. L. W. Chan of the Department of Computer Science. • HK$1,110,000 for a two-year research project on ‘Analysis of cytokine gene expression i n peripheral b l ood T helper cells and alveolar macrophages in asthma using message amplication phenotyping' by Dr. K. W. Lai of the Department of Medicine. • HK$262,520 t o support a two-year research project on ‘Thyrotropic activity of human chorionic gonadotropin in hyperemesis gravidarum' b y Dr. N. S . Panesar o f the Department o f Chemical Pathology. • HK$39,000 to enable Dr. K. K . Ho of the Department o f Biochemistry t o invite a professor t o the Biotechnology Laboratory o f the University for three weeks. • HK$399,500 for a two-year research project on ‘Biliary stent blockage: a study of underlying mechanisms and prevention, by Dr. Joseph Leung o f the Department of Medicine. One of the largest private charitable foundations in Hong Kong, the Croucher Foundation has concentrated its efforts in promoting research on subjects related to science, technology and medicine. The University has been a major beneficiary of the foundation for many years. A dministrativ e Unit s unde r the Universit y Registry 1991-92 The University Registry has implemented structural changes since 1st September 1991. The Academic and Examination Section has been split into the Academic Section and the Examination Section t o better reflect the operational reality. The Part-time Degree Office has been dissolved into other central Registry units to make the Part-time Degree Programmes an integral part of the Registry operation, and to provide greater flexibility in staff deployment. The units now placed under the Registry include the following sections/ offices: Admissions Section Academic Section Examination Section Registration Section Faculty/School Offices (viz. offices of the Faculties o f Arts, Business Administration,Education,Engineering, Medicine, Science, Social Science, and the Graduate School) Names o f the various unit/section heads and key supporting staff can be found in the new Chinese University of Hong Kong Calendar 1991-92 recently published. Vice-Chancellor Returns from Two-Month Trip Prof. Charles K . Kao has recently returned from a two-month trip t o North America and Europe. The v i c e - c h a n c e l l o r 's i t i ne r a ry covered places like Vancouver, Toronto, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Pittsburgh, New York, Boston, London and Paris. The purpose o f the trip was t o make contacts with overseas universities and other academic institutions to consolidate or develop linkages with these organizations, and t o boost the University's recruitment opportunities by promoting its image overseas. Over 30 events of various durations were arranged during the two-month period from 20th July to 20th Septembe r, i n c l u d i ng visits t o laboratories and research centres and meetings with presidents, chancellors and important academics o f major universities like Havard, Yale, Oxford, the University of London, the University o f British Columbia and the University of Toronto. The vice-chancellor also met with CUHK alumni associations in different cities and attended an international conference on optical communications in Paris. The trip has resulted in new opportunities for the University t o extend its linkage w i th overseas academic institutions, and has generated considerable interest among overseas academics in job openings in CUHK. Conference on Reform and Policy Implementation T he China Reform and Development Programme of the Hong Kong Institute of Asia-Pacific Studies organized an international conference entitled ‘Reform and Policy Implementation i n China: Transforming Concept into Working Realities’ from 9th t o 11th September. More than 30 scholars and experts from all over the world took part i n the discussions. Participants included a number of mainland China scholars currently doing research work or teaching in universities in the United States. There were 11 discussion sessions with different themes, covering topics trends in China's economic reforms, the 2