HKU Research Postgraduate Symposium 2025

The HKU Research Postgraduate Symposium will be held on March 11, 2025 (Tuesday) at Lecture Hall II, Centennial Campus, HKU, to showcase the learning progress of research postgraduate (RPg) students and promote the exchange of knowledge and ideas.  

Awardees of the HKU Presidential PhD Scholar (HKU-PS) Programme admitted in 2023/24 and recipients of the HKU Foundation Publication Award for Research Postgraduate Students 2024 and the Research Postgraduate Student Innovation Award 2024/25 will gather at the Symposium to share their research projects and interim findings in the form of poster presentation. To celebrate the research excellence of our students and graduates, the annual Award Presentation Ceremony will be held on the same day.

All staff and RPg students are invited to join us and engage yourselves in enlightening discussions with our presenters, and to share the joy with our awardees.  

Programme

Date:     March 11, 2025 (Tuesday)
Venue:  Lecture Hall II, LG/F, Centennial Campus, HKU

12:00 – 12:45pm 

Meet and Greet the Keynote Speaker (CPD-LG.60)

12:30 – 1:00 pm 

Registration

1:00 – 1:05 pm

Opening Address
1:05 – 2:45 pm

Poster Presentation: Session A* (CPD-LG.61-62, Lecture Hall II and Foyer Area)

2:45 – 4:25 pm

Poster Presentation: Session B* (CPD-LG.61-62, Lecture Hall II and Foyer Area)

4:25 – 5:00 pm

Keynote Speech 
The Historical Roots of Lending Discrimination: The Long-Term Effects of “Redlining” Maps
  Professor Andrew Ellul
  Professor of Finance and Fred T. Greene Chair in Finance 
  Kelley School of Business, Indiana University
5:00 – 5:05 pm

Remarks by the President
  Professor Xiang Zhang
  President and Vice-Chancellor
5:05 – 6:00 pm

Award Presentation

*Students who are required to present in the poster sessions shall report at 12:15 pm to put up their poster and attend the whole Symposium till 6:00 pm.

Poster Presentation

The Symposium offers an interactive platform, encouraging open discussions among students and the audience. Poster presentation is separated into two sessions and presenters are divided into 14 groups by Faculties. There are 7 groups in Session A and another 7 groups in Session B.

Important Information for Presenters:

For HKU-PS awardees of the 2021/22 cohort and thereafter, the HKU-PS Advisory Panel and Thesis Advisory Committee will take into consideration the poster presentation when recommending the continuation, or otherwise, of the HKU Presidential PhD Scholarship. 

Best Poster Presentation Awards and Poster Presentation Merit Awards
In each group, the top two presenters will receive the poster presentation awards.  The awards include a certificate and a cash prize of HK$1,000 for the Best Poster Presentation Awards, and HK$300 for the Poster Presentation Merit Awards. The poster presentation assessment criteria are here.

The Best Poster Presenter Awards will be announced on the same day during the award presentation session. 

Note: Recipients of the HKU Foundation Publication Award for Research Postgraduate Students and Research Postgraduate Student Innovation Award will not be eligible to compete for the poster presentation awards. 

Keynote Speech
Professor Andrew Ellul

 

The Historical Roots of Lending Discrimination: The Long-Term Effects of “Redlining” Maps

Professor Andrew Ellul
Professor of Finance and Fred T. Greene Chair in Finance
Kelley School of Business, Indiana University

Biography

Professor Andrew Ellul is Professor of Finance and Fred T. Greene Chair of Finance at Indiana University's Kelley School of Business. He joined the Kelley School of Business at Indiana University after completing his PhD at the London School of Economics and Political Science. His research interests focus on financial intermediaries, institutional investors’ trading and risk management, empirical corporate finance, labor and finance, and market microstructure. He was the Executive Editor of the Review of Corporate Finance Studies between 2018 and 2024, Editor of the Review of Finance between 2014 and 2017, and a visiting academic at the Office of Financial Research, a federal agency. Professor Ellul is a Research Associate of the Centre for Economic Policy Research, Center for Studies of Economics and Finance, Financial Markets Group, and European Corporate Governance Institute and serves on the organization committees of the leading finance conferences. His research has been published by the leading finance and economics journals, including the Journal of Finance, Journal of Financial Economics, Review of Financial Studies, and the American Economic Review. He teaches courses in corporate finance and investment analysis at the undergraduate, graduate and PhD levels and has won several teaching and research awards.


Abstract

Does geographical discrimination persist over time, even across several decades, and despite legislative efforts aimed at removing it? There has been a long-standing interest in economics in the link between geography and socioeconomic outcomes. In this talk, Professor Ellul poses the question whether there is historical persistence of past urban “redlining” policies, that led to restricted credit access in specific urban communities, on present-day mortgage lending. The talk will cover the urban “redlining” maps of the 1930s-era Home Owners Loan Corporation (HOLC) in the US, repealed more than 60 years ago. Professor Ellul will show how contemporary borrowers located in neighborhoods that were “redlined” almost a century ago continue to pay higher interest rates and fees, and are more likely to be denied mortgage credit. These results indicate the persistence of geographical discrimination that operates over time scales of decades and continue despite fair-lending laws. Such discrimination is even higher for minority borrowers. The evidence points to limitations of simply introducing legislation, an important first step, to address disparities and discrimination in mortgage markets.

Student Organising Committee

Meet our student organising committee

Award Presentation

Prizes obtained in 2024/25 (coming soon)

Registration for HKU Staff and Students

All staff and RPg students are welcome. Registration is required for meeting the keynote speaker, the keynote speech, and the award presentation session.  Interested staff and students please register here by March 4, 2025. 

(Registration for the keynote speech and award presentation session are NOT required for students who will participate in the poster presentation session and/or have been invited for receiving an award.)

Registration for Non-HKU Students

The event is opened to all postgraduate students in tertiary institutions in Hong Kong. Interested students please register here by March 4, 2025.

Past Symposiums

HKU Research Postgraduate Symposium 2024
HKU Presidential Scholars Symposium 2023

*The Symposium has been supported by the Postgraduate Students Conference/Seminar Grants of the Research Grants Council, Hong Kong.