Faculty of Science, HKBU

[𝗗𝗲𝗽𝗮𝗿𝘁𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁 𝗥𝗲𝘀𝗲𝗮𝗿𝗰𝗵 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗴𝗻𝗶𝘀𝗲𝗱 𝗮𝘁 𝗔𝗖𝗠 𝗞𝗗𝗗 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲💫]
🎉Congratulations to Professor Jianliang Xu and our PhD alumnus Dr. Yun Peng, who, together with their collaborators, received the Best Research Paper Award Honourable Mention at ACM KDD 2026.

Their paper📃, “EARTH: Accelerating Spatiotemporal Network K-function-based Analytics”, was recognised among the conference’s highest honours, ranking among the top three awards selected from more than 2,000 submissions worldwide.

This outstanding achievement reflects the global impact of our research and the strength of collaboration 🌐 among faculty members, students and alumni in advancing innovation in data science.

🔗 Learn more: https://tinyurl.com/bucs-a263

#香港浸會大學 #浸大 Hong Kong Baptist University

【𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐥𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐫 𝐇𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐨 𝐨𝐧 Receiving the 𝐑𝐆𝐂 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐅𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰 𝐒𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐞 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔/𝟐𝟕 𝐅𝐮𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 🎉】

With a fellowship grant of HK$5,629,080, 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐫 𝐇𝐀𝐍 𝐁𝐨 of the Department of Computer Science has been named an RGC Research Fellow under the 2026/27 Research Fellow Scheme. His project “𝘛𝘰𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥𝘴 𝘉𝘶𝘪𝘭𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘛𝘳𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘸𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘩𝘺 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘌𝘧𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘵 𝘙𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘰𝘯𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘈𝘨𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘍𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘔𝘰𝘥𝘦𝘭𝘴” is developing TERA—a framework designed to make AI foundation models safer, more robust, and more efficient for real-world applications like healthcare, automated programming, and data-driven scientific discovery. 🧪💻

🔎For more details: tinyurl.com/ytt3ncpv

#香港浸會大學 #浸大理學院

【𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐃𝐢𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐫𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐬 𝐨𝐟 𝐀𝐭𝐦𝐨𝐬𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐜 𝐅𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐏𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐨𝐦𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐫 𝐂𝐥𝐚𝐬𝐡 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐚𝐫𝐦 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐋𝐮𝐧𝐠𝐬🫁】

Breathing polluted air filled with fine particulate matter (PM2.5) is known to cause lung problems, heart disease, and other health issues. But scientists have long wondered: why some PM2.5 are more toxic than others? A recent study led by 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐫 𝐇𝐔 𝐃𝐢 from the Department of Chemistry dug deeper by breaking down real-world PM2.5 collected in Shenzhen, China, into its main chemical parts, i.e., water-soluble metals, water-soluble non-metals, water-soluble total fraction, lipid-soluble compounds, and the full PM2.5 mixture.

The team tested how these different fractions affect oxidative stress (a kind of cellular rusting caused by reactive oxygen molecules), inflammation, and gene activity in cells that mimic those in our lungs.

🔎For more details: tinyurl.com/a686chbx

#浸會大學 #浸大理學院 #化學系

【𝐅𝐫𝐨𝐦 𝐒𝐜𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐭𝐨 𝐁𝐨𝐝𝐲: 𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐇𝐮𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐁𝐨𝐝𝐲 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲𝐝𝐚𝐲 𝐄𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐫𝐨𝐧𝐢𝐜 𝐏𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭𝐬📺】

Liquid crystal monomers (LCMs) are core functional materials widely used to manufacture electronic displays for smartphones, TVs, and computers. Since LCMs are not chemically bonded to the screens, they easily escape into the environment during manufacturing, daily device use and e-waste dismantling. Although scientists know humans are exposed to LCMs, the way our bodies metabolise them and the potential risks of their breakdown products remain unclear.

To explore the metabolic fate of these pollutants, a research team led by 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐫 𝐊𝐞𝐥𝐯𝐢𝐧 𝐋𝐄𝐔𝐍𝐆, Head and Professor of the Department of Chemistry, and 𝐃𝐫 𝐉𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐞𝐭 𝐋𝐀𝐖, Research Assistant Professor of the Department, simulated in vitro human liver metabolism to map out the biotransformation pathways of six representative LCMs.

🔎For more details: tinyurl.com/3ubduyrz

#浸會大學 #浸大理學院 #化學系

【🔬 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐅𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥 𝟐𝟎𝟐𝟔 𝐂𝐨𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐮𝐝𝐞𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐒𝐮𝐜𝐜𝐞𝐬𝐬🎉】

The Science Festival 2026, with the theme of "𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲" was a great success, thanks to the generous sponsorship from the HKBU Century Club. We hope everyone enjoyed the workshops, lab visits, science demonstrations, and exhibition, where they discovered how science can help reduce waste, conserve energy and enhance well-being.🥳

This year, a total of 100 secondary school students took part in the 𝐒𝐮𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐚𝐛𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐲 𝐒𝐭𝐚𝐫𝐬 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡 𝐂𝐡𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐠𝐞, a highlight of the Science Festival. They unleashed their creativity through hands-on workshops, quiz challenges and video pitching.😎

We extend our heartfelt congratulations to all the award-winning teams:
🥇𝗖𝗵𝗮𝗺𝗽𝗶𝗼𝗻: CBEAT (Tang King Po School)
🥈𝟭𝘀𝘁 𝗥𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿-𝘂𝗽: Holapians (Ho Lap College (Sponsored by S*k S*k Yuen))
🥉𝟮𝗻𝗱 𝗥𝘂𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿-𝘂𝗽: True Light (Hong Kong True Light College)
📹𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐕𝐢𝐝𝐞𝐨 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝: 獅子會蔣翠琼中學-2隊 (Lions Clubs International Tseung Chui King College)
💡𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐈𝐧𝐧𝐨𝐯𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝: Holapians (Ho Lap College (Sponsored by S*k S*k Yuen))
📣𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐒𝐨𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐥 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐚𝐜𝐭 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝: CBEAT (Tang King Po School)
🔋𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐆𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐧 𝐓𝐞𝐜𝐡𝐧𝐨𝐥𝐨𝐠𝐲 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝: CBEAT (Tang King Po School)
✨𝐁𝐞𝐬𝐭 𝐕𝐢𝐬𝐮𝐚𝐥 𝐄𝐟𝐟𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝: 蜂群智合 (HKSYCIA Wong Tai Shan Memorial College)

A big thanks to all participants for your dedicated efforts. See you all next year!

【𝐀 𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐠𝐲 𝐢𝐧 𝐂𝐡𝐞𝐦𝐨𝐭𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐚𝐩𝐲: 𝐃𝐮𝐚𝐥-𝐀𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐎𝐬𝐦𝐢𝐮𝐦 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐂𝐨𝐥𝐥𝐚𝐩𝐬𝐞𝐬 𝐂𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐫 𝐑𝐞𝐝𝐨𝐱 𝐁𝐚𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞⚖️】

Healthy cells maintain a tight redox balance between reactive oxygen species (ROS) and antioxidants such as glutathione (GSH). Cancer cells, by contrast, run chronically high ROS to fuel rapid growth and survive by upregulating antioxidant defences. Traditional chemotherapies try to tip this balance by either elevating ROS or depleting antioxidants, but tumours often adapt to these single-pronged attacks, leading to drug resistance and relapse.

To address this, 𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐫 𝐌𝐀𝐍 𝐖𝐚𝐢 𝐋𝐮𝐧 from the Department of Chemistry, alongside Professor NI Wen-xiu and Professor WEI Xiao-long at Shantou University, developed a dual-action, self-sustaining osmium catalyst system.

🔎For more details: tinyurl.com/5cp37359

#浸會大學 #浸大理學院 #化學系

【𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐦𝐢𝐜 𝐕𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐃𝐫𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬 𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐅𝐥𝐚𝐯𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐃𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧🌾】

𝐏𝐫𝐨𝐟𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐫 𝐋𝐈𝐀𝐎 𝐏𝐚𝐧 from the Department of Biology led a team of researchers to systematically summarise major types of genomic variation and focus on how these variants affect the biosynthesis, transport, and accumulation of flavour-related metabolites, thereby driving diversification in key flavour traits, including sweetness, acidity, bitterness, pungency, astringency, and aroma. It also discussed the potential of emerging technologies for flavour improvement and provides a new theoretical framework for the targeted breeding of high-quality plants.

🔎For more details: tinyurl.com/jydznnpd

#浸會大學 #浸大理學院 #生物系

【𝐍𝐞𝐰 𝐈𝐬𝐬𝐮𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐒𝐜𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐆𝐚𝐭𝐞𝐰𝐚𝐲𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐑𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝📣】

The newest issue of Science Gateways (Jun 2026) is now available online, featuring the latest faculty news, research highlights, staff and student achievements and many more! 🤩

👉Check it out: tinyurl.com/nhzz7xvn

#浸會大學 #浸大理學院