In an article on HK's baby bonus scheme, Prof. Stuart GIETEL-BASTEN, Professor in the Division of Public Policy (PPOL), was quoted as saying that the scheme should be maintained with its rationale reframed. He suggested that the Government should pitch the subsidy as a means of easing the burden of raising a child, rather than resolving the shrinking population problem.

Facts and Policies held by Our HK Foundation and HKU Research Hub of Population Studies on Apr 14, 2026, where Prof. Stuart GIETEL-BASTEN, Professor in the Division of Public Policy (PPOL), pointed out that the low birth rate reflects the work-life imbalance. He noted that a thorough social restructuring is required to completely address the issue.

An article by Prof. Erwin HUANG, Adjunct Professor in the Division of Integrative Systems and Design (ISD), on the development of AI education. He explored the intersection of the Japanese concept of Ikigai (reason for being), modern education, and Artificial Intelligence, questioning whether technology can truly understand human happiness if we do not understand it ourselves.

Associate Provost (Teaching & Learning) and Chair Professor in the Division of Environment and Sustainability (ENVR) Prof. Jimmy FUNG Chi-Hung, who is also an alumnus of Pui Kiu Middle School, along with other guests, was invited to attend "Xiangjiang Nobel Forum - dialogue with scientists" at the school yesterday. Three top scholars were invited to the forum as keynote speakers: Nobel Prize winner in Physics Prof. Konstantin NOVOSELOV, Nobel Prize winner in Medicine Prof. Harvey ALTER and Turing Award winner Prof. Avi WIGDERSON.

An article by Prof. Christine LOH Kung-Wai, Chief Development Strategist in the Division of Environment and Sustainability (ENVR), on the divergence in climate policies between the US and China. While the US is rolling back clean energy policy and redirecting capital toward fossil fuels, China's 15th Five-Year Plan (2026-30) places clean energy, electrification and low-carbon industrial transformation firmly at the center of its national strategy.

An article by Prof. Christine LOH Kung-Wai, Chief Development Strategist in the Division of Environment and Sustainability (ENVR), on Hong Kong offering stability in an uncertain world. She argued that as global "unthinkables" – such as the wars in Ukraine and Iran, the weaponization of currencies, and deep internal divisions in Western powers – become normalized, Hong Kong’s relative stability is becoming a premium asset.

An international interdisciplinary research team led by Prof. Richard GU Hongri, Assistant Professor in the Division of Integrative Systems and Design (ISD), has made a groundbreaking discovery - friction can manifest even without physical contact. This opens avenues for developing wear-free technologies and reshapes our understanding of the fundamental rule governing everyday activities from walking to braking a car. The study titled "Nonmonotonic Magnetic Friction from Collective Rotor Dynamics" was recently published in the leading international journal Nature Materials. (Various media)

An article by Prof. Christine LOH Kung-Wai, Chief Development Strategist in the Division of Environment and Sustainability (ENVR), examines a significant divergence in global climate leadership, highlighting a dramatic “U-turn” in United States policy in contrast to China’s accelerated commitment to a green economy.

HKUST showcased its award-winning inventions, which were recognized at the 51st International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva. During the showcase, three teams from the Academy of Interdisciplinary Studies (AIS) that received Gold Medals with Congratulations of the Jury introduced their award-winning projects, including "AI-powered Home Healthcare Management System for COPD Patients", "AeroRelief: Autonomous UAV First-responder System", and "Articulator.ai: One-stop Platform for Gen-AI Creation and Art ID Registration".

Prof. RAO Anyi, Assistant Professor in the Division of Arts and Machine Creativity (AMC) and the Division of Emerging Interdisciplinary Areas (EMIA), has collaborated with JD.com and HKU to develop the Astrolabe framework. By leveraging proactive reinforcement learning, streaming training and multi-dimensional rewards, the framework improves the speed and quality of AI video generation, overcoming the problems of frame jitter and sequence coherence.