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In 1990, Dr Li Ka Shing made a generous donation to the University. Part of the investment income earned on the donation has been used to establish the Li Ka Shing Prizes, which are awarded annually to up to six PhD / MPhil theses based on academic excellence. This Prize is highly competitive and the recipients are the best of our elite students. 

The Graduate School established the Award for Outstanding Research Postgraduate Student in 2002 to complement the Li Ka Shing Prizes and give due recognition to research postgraduate students who have submitted a thesis of exceptional quality and demonstrated outstanding performance in other academic aspects. Up to ten students will receive this award each year. From 2022 onwards, the University of Hong Kong Foundation for Educational Development and Research made a generous donation to support the Award. 

This year, six students have been awarded the prestigious Li Ka Shing Prize and ten students have received the HKU Foundation Award for Outstanding Research Postgraduate Students. 

Find out more about our scholarship awardees’ sharing and their experience of writing the best theses.

Li Ka Shing Prize Awardees:

 

Mr Man Sing Cheung, MPhil, School of Humanities
Thesis title: Rebuilding Hong Kong’s entrepôt economy, 1945-1950

“My research examines how parallel markets helped peripheral economies survive the foreign exchange crises and imbalance in global trade after World War II. I investigate the costs and benefits of Hong Kong’s reconstruction strategy, which centred on attracting illegal goods and capital with carefully designed parallel markets informally sponsored by the government. My project reveals the systemic fragility and political risks of such liminal arrangements.

“I would like to thank my supervisors, Professor John Carroll and Professor Oscar Sanchez-Sibony, who were brilliant mentors and always provided me with excellent advice and new avenues of analysis. I am also grateful to my colleagues at the History Department for their assistance throughout COVID. Finally, I would like to thank my parents, who have always supported my academic pursuits. I would not be where I am today without them.”

 

Mr Longhui Yuan, MPhil, Department of Earth Sciences
Thesis title: Origin and evolution of the orbits and spins of the giant planets in the GJ 1148 system

“Ever since I was an undergraduate student, I developed an interest in planetary science. I found planetary science to be a fascinating field, fulfilling with surprising discoveries. My thesis covered the origin and evolution of the orbits and spins of the giant planets in the GJ 1148 exoplanetary system. The hosting star in this system is an M-dwarf, which is smaller and cooler compared to the Sun. We studied the origin of two Saturn-mass planets through N-body simulations, and the spin evolution of the inner planet of the GJ 1148 system. The results have important implications for the evolution of the so-called warm Jupiters.

“I am deeply grateful to my supervisor, Professor Man Hoi Lee, for his unwavering guidance and support during my research journey. I extend my thanks to my lab mates for their assistance in the numerical simulation and stimulating discussions. Finally, my sincere appreciation goes to my family for their constant love and encouragement.”

 

Dr Ziyi Cai, PhD, Department of Social Work and Social Administration
Thesis title: The institutional, socio-economic and proximal factors of women’s suicide mortality

“My PhD research focused on the less-explored area in suicidology by studying how multidimensional social-contextual factors influence women’s suicide mortality. These factors included discrimination against women, socio-economic development, and the use of suicide methods. Findings from my studies provide significant implications that suicide prevention requires a paradigm shift from the dominant individual-focused psychological framework to a broader public health framework that attends to social and cultural contexts.

“This award is very meaningful to me, not only because it recognises my work, but especially because it shows increased recognition of the importance of suicide research and suicide prevention. I want to express my deepest gratitude to my supervisor, Professor Paul Yip, for his boundless expertise, professional guidance and tireless dedication to my research.”

 

Dr Wing Sum Cheu, PhD, School of Clinical Medicine
Thesis title: Combination therapies to enhance efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors in hepatocellular carcinoma 

“We used to think that cancers are impossible to cure, but then immunotherapies that harness our own immune system to fight against cancers are promising candidates that can help to cure cancers. There is a chance that we can make something impossible possible. This attracts me to do research in cancer immunology and immunotherapies. My research focuses on the identification of potential combination treatment approaches to enhance the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors (ICIs) in liver cancer. In my studies, I demonstrated that the induction of a particular form of cell death, ferroptosis, promoted anti-tumour immune responses and worked synergistically with ICIs.

“I would like to express my deep gratitude to Professor Carmen Wong, my supervisor and mentor, for her unwavering support and guidance during my PhD study. She is always the role model showing me how to become a good scientist. I would also like to express my sincere gratitude to my co-supervisor, Professor Irene Ng, for her support in the clinical studies in my projects. I would like to thank Dr David Chiu , and sincere thanks to every team member.”

 

Dr Yu Feng, PhD, Department of Civil Engineering
Thesis title: Tropical forest loss in the early twenty-first century: Patterns, drivers, and implications for the carbon cycle

“I used various satellite data and math tricks to figure out that tropical forests are disappearing faster and in different places during the early 21st century. This speedy forest loss is mainly because more and more land is being turned into farms and such, which releases a ton of carbon from the forests into the air. In fact, it's doubled the amount of carbon emissions from these forests!

“I want to give a big shout-out to my amazing mentors, Professor Ji Chen and Professor Chunmiao Zheng, for their guidance and support. Also, a huge thanks to my collaborator, Professor Zhenzhong Zeng, for helping me explore the mysteries of our changing environment. And, of course, my fantastic group members at HKU and SUSTech.”

 

Dr Hong Xiang, PhD, Faculty of Business and Economics
Thesis title: Essays on empirical asset pricing

“My research mainly focuses on two strands of studies: First, the impact of investor behaviour on asset prices. Second, the impact of institutional features of asset management on asset prices. These studies can help all the market participants better understand why the financial market sometimes works inefficiently, and help the financial market regulators better design their regulations on the asset management industry. I hope my research can help more people understand the impact of asset management on the financial market.

“I’m especially grateful to my advisor, Professor Huang. He gave me tremendous support during my PhD study. His real passion for research has greatly inspired me to strive for greatness in the academic life.”

 HKU Foundation Award for Outstanding Research Postgraduate Students Awardees:

Mr Walton Man To Chan
MPhil, School of Clinical Medicine
Thesis title: The Role of Candida auris Extracellular Vesicles on Pathogenesis and Treatment

Dr Man Chun Chiu
PhD, School of Clinical Medicine
Thesis Title: Establishing Human Respiratory Epithelial Organoid Culture Systems for Modeling SARS-CoV-2 Infection

Dr Kuo Feng Hung
PhD, Faculty of Dentistry
Thesis Title: Cone-Beam Computed Tomography Imaging for Detection and Visualization of Anatomical Landmarks and Pathological Findings of the Maxillary Sinus: Possibilities and Limitations

Dr Kar Wai Lo
PhD, Department of Chemistry
Thesis Title: Luminescent Dinuclear d8 Gold(III) and Platinum(II) Complexes. Impact of Metal–Metal Interaction on Photo-physical Properties, Excited State Dynamics and OLED Application

Dr Leisi Pei
PhD, Faculty of Education
Thesis Title: How Writing Shapes Cognition: An Investigation of the Neural Underpinning of Human Handwriting Production and Its Influence on Mathematical Cognition

Dr Si Qiao
PhD, Department of Urban Planning and Design
Thesis Title: Understanding Ride-Hailing and Inventing Future Transit: Pathways to Spatial Justice

Mr Martin Man Him Tse
MPhil, Hong Kong Institute for the Humanities and Social Sciences
Thesis Title: Civil Buddhism and Martial Daoism: An Ethnographic and Textual Study on a Chinese Local Ritual Tradition in Northern Guangdong

Dr Xiangsong Wang
PhD, Department of Earth Sciences 
Thesis Title: Magmatism in the Southwestern Central Asian Orogenic Belt: Implications for Tectonic, Metallogenic and Environmental Evolution

Dr Chao Yang
PhD, Department of Civil Engineering
Thesis Title: Electrochemical Oxidation Using Novel Anodes for Advanced Wastewater Treatment: Emerging Organic Pollutant Removal and Virus Disinfection

Dr Qunsong Zeng
PhD, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering
Thesis Title: Communication-and-Computation Integrated Designs of Next-Generation Intelligent Edge: Resource Management, Wirelessly Powered Learning, and In-Memory Baseband Processing