Newsletter No. 313

中大通訊 CUHK Newsletter 以下項目詳情，請上網閱覽： Details of the following items are available at: www.cuhk.edu.hk/iso/newsletter/ ■ 兩項研究項目獲撥款 Two Research Projects Received Grants 財務學系教授獲優秀論文獎 Finance Professor Wins Outstanding Paper Award 財 務學系的王叢教授，參加2007年12月韓國首爾舉辦的第二屆亞太金融市場國際學術研討會，獲頒韓亞銀行優秀 論文獎，該獎由韓亞銀行和韓國證券業協會共同設立。王教授的論文題為〈雙種股票公司的代理問題〉，指出 當經理人的控股權超過現金流量權時，經理人更容易將公司的資源用於個人利益，而不是股東利益。 P rof. Cong Wang, assistant professor in the Department of Finance, received the Hana Bank Outstanding Paper Award at the Second International Conference on Asia-Pacific Financial Markets in Seoul, South Korea in December 2007. Prof. Wang's paper, ‘Agency Problems at Dual-class Companies’, shows that managers with greater control rights in excess of cash- flow rights are prone to waste corporate resources to pursue private benefits at the expense of shareholders. The award was co-sponsored by South Korean banking giant, Hana Bank and Korean Securities Association. 地 理學講座教授梁怡教授領導的研究 隊伍，以嶄新的思維和技術，建立 分析複雜空間和時間數據的基礎理論，使電 腦能有效地從時空數據中獲取重要知識，如 地震帶及活躍時期的劃分。經教育部推薦， 該研究獲頒2007年度「國家自然科學獎」二 等獎。 梁怡教授說：「獲獎固然是一種鼓勵，為研 究增添了動力。不過做研究的最終目的還是 為了解決問題，追求真理。」 15年前共同發掘的問題 梁教授獲獎的研究是「基於認知與非歐氏框 架的數據建模基礎理論」。話說15年前西安 交通大學的徐宗本教授到訪中大地理與資 源管理學系，進行研究工作，與梁教授交 談間，發現原來彼此對同一問題感到興趣 ──如何教電腦從龐大、高複雜的數據尋找 事物的時空規律，作出推論。 就是這樣，梁教授、徐教授和西安交通大學 的張講社教授、彭濟根教授，以及長安大學 的馬江洪教授一起開展了漫長的研究，結合 地理學、數學、統計學、信息科學等多門學 科的方法與技術，並利用人的智能與機器的 性能，構建以認知為基礎的數據建模方法。 梁教授解釋：「以往從衞星、雷達及其他儀器 收集得來的數據都須依靠專家分析，才能從中 找到有用的訊息。我們的研究是建立一個理論 系統，使電腦能具分析和推理能力，協助專家 進行分析和決策。」研究成果更可廣泛應用於 遙感圖像識別，追蹤颱風軌跡、分析地表類別 和污染狀況，甚或是礦物探測等。 跨學科合作開創新天地 梁教授說：「現今的科研課題非常複雜， 不是單一學科可以解決，往往需要結合其 他學科的力量。」梁教授本身便是跨學科 結合的最佳例證，他主修地理，又取得系 統工程及運籌學碩士學位，更不時與其他 學科同事交流。 他指出：「跨學科交流會產生催化作用，有 助了解彼此研究的問題，互相借鏡，更引領 我們發現新問題，以新角度開展研究。」可 是，梁教授強調，跨學科深層合作的大前 提，是必須對彼此的學科有一定的了解，這 便得花上相當長的時間。 梁教授不斷探索求新，下一步的目標，是挑 戰更難解決的問題──使電腦具有更高的自 動獲取時空知識的功能，就讓我們翹首以待。 P rof. Leung Yee, Professor of Geography, has won the second-class award of the 2007 State Natural Science Award with his novel research on the analysis of complex data. The theoretical results and algorithms of his research can effectively help to discover, for example, seismic belts and active seismic episodes from spatial and temporal earthquake data. Prof. Leung said, ‘The purpose of my research is to solve problems and find the truth, although the award is certainly an encouragement.’ The second-class natural science award was conferred on the project ‘Fundamental Theoretical Research on Data Modeling Based on Cognitive and Non-Euclidean Framework’. ‘The story began with a discussion with Prof. Xu Zongben from Xi’an Jiaotong University, a visiting scholar of the CUHK’s Department of Geography and Resource Management 15 years ago.’ Prof. Leung and Prof. Xu share an interest in building a theoretical framework for computers to analyse immense and complex data, then drawing conclusions from their analyses. 教電腦推算自然界時空規律　梁怡教授獲國家自然科學獎 Geography Professor Receives State Natural Science Award 國家自然科學獎 國家自然科學獎為國家科技獎在自然科學領域設立的最高獎勵，以昭顯科研人員的突破 性研究發現，藉此推動該學科及其分支學科的發展。2007年共有39個項目獲頒二等獎， 一等獎從缺。 過去共有八位中大教授獲國家自然科學獎的獎譽，包括：獲二等獎的化學系黃乃正教 授、吳奇教授、余濟美教授及化學病理學系盧煜明教授；獲三等獎的化學系麥松威教授 及訊息工程學系李東教授；以及四等獎的生理學系陳小章教授及黃宜定教授。 State Natural Science Award The State Natural Science Award (SNSA) is China’s most prestigious award in natural science. It recognizes achievements in various fields of natural science that have brought significant advancement in scientific knowledge. A total of 39 research projects were presented the second- class prize, and the first-class award, bestowed only on achievements of monumental significance, was not conferred in 2007. Over the years, a total of eight CUHK professors have received the SNSA. Prof. Henry N.C. Wong, Prof. Wu Chi and Prof. Jimmy Yu Chai-mei of the Department of Chemistry, and Prof. Dennis Y.M. Lo of the Department of Chemical Pathology received the second-class award, Prof. Thomas C.W. Mak of the Department of Chemistry and Prof. Tony Lee of the Department of Information Engineering received the third-class award, while Prof. Chan Hsiao-chang and Prof. Patrick Y.D. Wong of the Department of Physiology received the fourth-class award. Led by Prof. Leung, the research was launchedwith teammembers including Prof. Xu, Prof. Zhang Jiangshe and Prof. Peng Jigen of Xi’an Jiaotong University, and Prof. Ma Jianghong, Chang’an University. It capitalizes on the power of human intelligence and machine efficiency to model highly complex data through the integrated employment of methods in geography, mathematics, statistics, and information science on the basis of cognitive and biological laws. The research also came up with a theoretical construct for applications in identifying land covers and natural resources hidden in remote sensing, as well as radar data.