Newsletter No. 105

Outstanding Research Performance T he Research Grants Council (RGC) recently completed its assessment of another batch of research projects conducted by local tertiary institutions and financed by the Council's earmarked grants. Of the five projects rated 'excellent', three were CUHK projects (see table below). This brings the cumulative total of the University's 'excellent' projects to 15 — almost half of the territory-wide cumulative total of 32 since the introduction of the assessment exercise in 1993 — thus making it the institution with the most number of research projects so rated by the RGC. Project rated 'excellent' (year of grant) CUHK Investigator(s) Molecular Mechanisms in the Transduction Process in Mammalian Merkel Cell Mechano- receptors in the Skin (1992) Prof. Klaus Baumann* Development of an Intelligent Spatial Decision Support System (1991) Prof. Y. Leung Prof. K.S. Leung Effect of Hyperthermia on Tumour Cells (1991) Prof. C.Y. Lee Prof. K.R Fung *No longer a CUHK employee Also, according to results released recently by the RGC, the University has been allocated 221 research postgraduate student places in 1996- 97. These constitute almost a quarter of the total number allocated for the year and the highest number among l ocal tertiary i ns t i t u t i ons. The allocation is performance-based. RGC Allocation of Research Postgraduate Student Places Institution No. ofPlaces Funding (HK$ million) CUHK 221 79.7 HKU 200 73.3 HKUST 183 67.8 CityU 117 41.6 PolyU 114 42.6 BaptistU 60 20.1 DISTINGUISHED PROFESSOR OF ACCOUNTING OUTLINES EVOLUTION OF AUDITING P rof. Barry E. Gushing, the David Eccles Professor of Accounting from the Un i v e r s i ty of Utah, v i s i t ed the University's School of Accountancy from 17th February to 16th March under the B A Faculty D i s t i ngu i shed V i s i t i ng Professorship Scheme. A wo r l d r enowned scholar i n accounting and auditing, Prof. Cushing's research interests include the economics of accounting information, accounting and f i nanc i al reporting po l i cy, and auditing. He has held leading posts at the American Accounting Association and was awarded the Notable Contribution to the Information Systems/Management Advisory Services Literature Award by the association in 1995. He is currently the president-elect of its Auditing Section. During his visit to CUHK, Prof. Cushing conducted a series of seminars and delivered a public lecture on 'The Development of Auditing: A Historical Perspective and Future Directions'. The lecture reviewed the five-stage evolution of auditing in the last century: the stewardship audit, the balance sheet audit, the business audit, risk analysis auditing, and the expansion of auditing activity to include assurance services. Medical Research T he following two research projects launched by University staff have recently attracted financial support by external sponsors: Project title: Health Benefits of Programmed Physical Exercise on the Prevention of Bone Loss in Postmenopausal Women Sponsor: Health Services Research Fund Amount awarded: HK$844,000 Principal researchers: Prof. Chan Kai-ming, Dr. Qin Ling, Prof. Edith Lau Ming-chu, Prof. Jean Woo, Prof. Lee Shiu-hung Project title: Cos t - e f f ec t i ve Approaches to Gastro-intestinal and Antihypertensive Drug Prescribing: An Economic Impact Study of Intervention Mechanisms in the Inpatient and Outpatient Setting Sponsor: Health Care and Promotion Fund Amount awarded: HK$524,000 Principal researchers: Prof. Sophie Chang, Prof. Lee Shing-cheung, Prof. Juliana Chan Chung-ngor, Prof. Julian A. J. H. Critchley Expert in English Visits United College P rof. Gillian Brown, Professor of English as an International Language and director of the Research Centre for English and Applied Linguistics, University of Cambridge, visited United College from 15th to 28th March 1997 as Distinguished Visiting Scholar 1996-97. Du r i ng her v i s i t, Prof. B r o wn delivered three public lectures: 'English as an International Language: What Does It Mean ?', 'Developments in Listening Comprehension in the Last 30 Years', and 'Interpretationand Context'. Prof. B r own is a wo r ld renowned scholar in the areas of spoken English, discourse analysis, and applied linguistics, and is Camb r i dge 's f i r st appointed Professor of English as an International Language. She has been invited as plenary speaker at major international conferences, as distinguished visiting scholar to eminent universities in some 18 countries, and as guest editor for prominent international journals. Summer Internship Progrmme Gives BBA Students a Taste of the Real Business World T he Elite Development Programme w i ll be organized again this summer by the BA Faculty's Committee on Undergraduate Studies in Business. The programme encourages second-year students of the faculty to gain first-hand experience of the real business world through placements in marketing and research positions at companies. Training w i ll last three months in the summer and each student w i ll be paid HK$5,000 a month. During the period they can seek advice from mentors assigned by their respective companies as well as their own supervisors in the Faculty of Business Administration. When the programme was first launched last summer, placements were found for 11 students at nine organizations, including the Airport Authority, Arthur Andersen and Co., the Bank of China, Mass Transit Railway Corporation, and Goldman Sachs (Asia). This year the internship programme has attracted a range of interested companies and organizations including AT&T and the Social Welfare Department, and is expected to benefit a larger number of students.