2015 Advanced Study Institutes
Croucher Advanced Study Institutes are intensive high-level teaching activities held in Hong Kong on carefully defined scientific subjects. They are presented by faculty of international standing, and usually take place over three days. In 2015, following a competitive process, the Croucher Foundation has awarded grants for the following Advanced Study Institutes:
• Frontiers in Big Data Graph Research (Chinese University of Hong Kong)
• Multiscale Biosensing for Innovative Medicine (Chinese University of Hong Kong)
• Changing Urban Climate (Chinese University of Hong Kong)
• Frontiers in Immunometabolism (University of Hong Kong)
• New Functional Materials (University of Hong Kong)
Bringing together groups of practitioners, often working at the forefront of their respective fields, Croucher Advanced Study Institutes provide an opportunity to assess recent findings and to explore potential new avenues of research.
Professor Edward Ng of the Chinese University of Hong Kong is the director of the Advanced Study Institute on Changing Urban Climate. Interviewed about the event that he is planning, Ng stressed the importance of “bringing all the disciplines together” – a theme common to many Advanced Study Institutes.
Ng noted that, although much research has been done on the effects of urbanisation in temperate climates, relatively little is known about urbanisation in tropical and subtropical climates. However, more than fifty percent of people living in the tropical and subtropical Asia Pacific region are now urbanites, populating cities which were never designed to support such large populations.
The Advanced Study Institute on Changing Urban Climate will enable scientists studying the theory and mechanism of urban climate in tropical regions to discuss their scientific expertise with advocates and advocate groups – for example, the United Nations Environment Programme, the World Meteorological Organisation, city planners, architects, and government officials. By bringing together these “two fundamentally different groups of people”, the knowledge amassed by scientists may be put to practical use, with potential benefits for the community at large.
For more information about Croucher Advanced Study Institutes, please click here.