News & Announcements

ThinkChina

Is the Greater Bay Area still China's answer to Silicon Valley?

"Greater centralized technological leadership is a double-edged sword...despite its benefits, may impede business development agility if the government misapplies its power. The key to overcoming these challenges lies in Beijing’s ability to fulfill its commitment to let the market "play a decisive role in resource allocation..."  in his recent article "Is the Greater Bay Area still China's answer to Silicon Valley?" for ThinkChina, Professor Naubahar Sharif carried out an in-depth analysis of the current innovation business situation and challenges faced by the Greater Bay Area.

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST (SCMP)

How gambling hub Macau could cultivate stronger economic ties between China and Portuguese-speaking countries

Professor Naubahar Sharif commented on Macau's "Tourism Plus" development in a recent South China Morning Post interview on "How gambling hub Macau could cultivate stronger economic ties between China and Portuguese-speaking countries" under China's Belt and Road Initiative. He stated that Macau can benefit from its status as a free-trade port, its vast hotel complexes, and its unique culture as a former Portuguese colony to hold international conferences, exhibitions, sports, and entertainment events.

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST (SCMP)

China’s Belt and Road Initiative to pursue 'small but beautiful' projects as strategy turns 10

Professor Naubahar Sharif shared his insights into China's pursuit of 'small but beautiful ' projects under the Belt and Road Initiative, pointing out that smaller projects would allow Hong Kong and Macau to play bigger roles in the Belt and Road, and private enterprises will be leading the way in particular.

Call for Applications : PhD in Public Policy for the 2023/24 Fall Intake

The Division is recruiting PhD students (4 Positions) for the 2023/24 Fall Intake with 4-year full scholarship fully funded and under his supervison. Deadline 15 Apr 2023

Achievements & Awards

Prof. Pengyu Zhu Awarded the Inaugural CLP Research Fellowship 2022/23

Congratulations to Prof. Pengyu Zhu, Associate Professor of the Division of Public Policy at Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) who has received the inaugural CLP Research Fellowship Programme Award for 2022-23. This awarded project aims to develop a planning model for an EV charging infrastructure based on trip trajectories and Point of Interest (POI) density, using a combined method of optimization algorithms and spatial econometric models., to develop a year-by-year plan for establishing charging stations (CSs) in Hong Kong in the coming 5 years.   Prof. Zhu received his PhD in Policy, Planning and Development from the Sol Price School of Public Policy at the University of Southern California in 2011. His research focuses on the Transportation--Land Use--Economic Development Policy nexus and has been published in major academic journals such as Landscape and Urban Planning, Urban Studies, Annals of Regional Sciences, Transportation, Transportation Research Part D, Urban Geography, Cities, Regional Science and Urban Economics, and International Journal of Environmental Science and Technology, his instrumental work has also been highlighted in an array of major scientific media such as Wall Street Journal, Slate Magazine, CityLab, Per Square Mile, and Reason Foundation. In January and February 2017, Prof. Zhu was ranked the top 5% and 3% of researchers on Academia.edu by 30-day views of his research articles. In the past few years, Prof. Zhu has received over USD $500,000 (equivalent) in research grants. Due to his exceptional work in the field of Regional Science, Prof. Zhu was awarded the 25th Charles M. Tiebout Prize in Regional Science in 2011 and the Regional Science Springer Prize in 2014.   About CLP Research Fellowship Programme Award   CLP Research Fellowship Programme Award is inaugurated in 2022 to support academic R&D projects in the energy-related sector and based at Hong Kong universities. The nature of this programme is to support a variety of energy-related projects, such as pilot or feasibility studies, collection of preliminary data, secondary analysis of existing data, self-contained research projects and development of new research technology/methodology.   Each award gives 100% sponsorship to a single Principal Investigator of up to HK$400K research funding, lasting for a period of 12 months.

Achievements & Competitions

Professor Naubahar SHARIF Received the Inaugural Cornell-HKUST Global Strategic Collaboration Award

Congratulations to Professor Naubahar Sharif, Professor and Head of the Division of Public Policy (PPOL) who has received the inaugural, 2022 Cornell-HKUST Global Strategic Collaboration Award for his project on “Competing or Complementary Hegemons? An Analysis of the West’s Responses to China’s belt and Road Initiative”.   Professor Sharif is Professor of Public Policy and Head of the Division of Public Policy at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). His research interests include science, technology and innovation (STI) policy in Hong Kong and within the ‘Greater Bay Area’ of Southern China; automation in China; and the ‘Belt and Road’ initiative. In 2011 he completed the Executive Education program in Innovation for Economic Development at Harvard University. Professor Sharif has been nominated for the Michael G. Gale Medal for Distinguished Teaching, also has won the Interdisciplinary Programs Office’s Teaching Excellence Award (in 2020), the School of Humanities and Social Science (SHSS) Best Teacher Award (twice, in 2009 and 2016), and his course was nominated for the Common Core Excellence award. He has been awarded both ‘Public Policy Research’ (PPR) and ‘General Research Fund’ (GRF) grants by Hong Kong’s Research Grants Council (RGC). He has been the co-investigator for two ‘Strategic Public Policy Research’ (SPPR) grants awarded by Hong Kong’s Policy Innovation and Co-ordination Office (PICO) as well as a cross-institutional ‘Collaborative Research Fund” (CRF) grant also awarded by the RGC. Professor Sharif’s research has had a demonstrable impact on society and his research was one of HKUST’s few ‘impact case study’ submissions (sole-authored) for its 2020 Research Assessment Exercise (RAE).   Each grant requires at least one principal investigator from HKUST and one from Cornell, the PI from Cornell is Dr. Ding Fei, senior research associate and lecturer in the Department of Global Development at Cornell University.   About Cornell University- HKUST Global Strategic Collaboration Award   Cornell University and HKUST have identified each other as strategic partners to foster deep collaborations in research and education, as part of Cornell’s Global Hubs initiative, which connects Cornell University with strong international peer institutions based in strategic locations worldwide.   The Cornell-HKUST Global Strategic Collaboration Awards (GSCA) have been established to bring faculty from partner institutions together to develop joint projects that will strengthen the two universities’ strategic priorities and develop cutting-edge multidisciplinary research to create academic and societal impact. Only up to five proposals each year are funded under Cornell’s Global Hubs initiative. Each successful proposal may receive up to the equivalent of USD $5,000 from each university for a total of US$ 10,000.

Call for Applications : PhD in Public Policy for the 2023/24 Fall Intake for Prof Alex Jingwei HE

Prof. Alex Jingwei HE is recruiting one PhD student for the 2023/24 Fall Intake with 4-year full scholarship fully funded and under his supervison.

SOUTH CHINA MORNING POST (SCMP)

China’s zero-Covid policy, botched reopening will puzzle historians for years to come

PPOL Senior Lecturer/ IEMS Director Prof. Donald Low commented on the Chinese government's policy to end its strict zero-Covid stance after three years and the implications of the reopening on China's economy.