National science awards
Professor Yang Tong, Chair Professor of Mathematics and Head of the Department of Mathematics, and Professor Ron Chen Guanrong, Chair Professor of Electronic Engineering and Director of the Centre for Chaos and Complex Networks, won second-class honours in the State Natural Science Awards (SNSA), and Dr Wu Yufei, Associate Professor of the Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering, received a second-class honour in the State Scientific and Technological Progress Awards (SSTPA), in recognition of their outstanding achievements in research.

The SNSA and SSTPA, launched by the State Council, are China's most prestigious awards in the field of natural science, technology and engineering. The presentation ceremony took place on 18 January at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Appointments of chair professors
Professor Andrei Rogatch of the Department of Physics and Materials Science was promoted to the rank of chair professor from 1 July 2012. Professor Xue Quan of the Department of Electronic Engineering and Professor Richard Walker and Professor Philip Ivanhoe from the Department of Public and Social Administration were promoted to the rank of chair professor from 1 January 2013.

Professor Nozer D Singpurwalla has been appointed as Chair Professor of Risk Analysis and Management in the Department of Systems Engineering and Engineering Management and the Department of Management Sciences. He assumed duty on 14 January. Professor Singpurwalla is an international expert in reliability and statistics. He received his PhD from the New York University. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the Institute for Mathematical Statistics, and the American Statistical Association.

Discovery Festival
The 2013 CityU Discovery Festival, showcasing the University's academic excellence in discovery and innovation and enabling its academic units to introduce their majors, minors and GE courses to CityU students, will be held in early March. An Opening Ceremony cum Teaching Excellence Award Ceremony will be held on 4 March. Ms Christine Loh Kung-wai, Under Secretary for the Environment, Environment Bureau, will give a speech at the Ceremony. There will be a talk on discovery and innovation by Dr Allan Zeman – Chairman of the Ocean Park Corporation, Chairman of Lan Kwai Fong Holdings Limited, and recipient of CityU's Honorary Doctorate – after the ceremony.

There will be talks and displays of students' achievements along with mini-fairs on teaching and learning, performances and refreshments. Everyone connected with CityU will have the opportunity to take part in this exciting event at the University. Please go to http://www6.cityu.edu.hk/dfest for details.

Marathon
University President Professor Way Kuo will lead CityU's contingent in the Standard Chartered Hong Kong Marathon on 24 February. Over 1,000 participants including 273 students, 559 alumni and 86 alumni dependents, 76 staff and 14 staff dependents, will join CityU's largest contingent to date for the 10-kilometre, half-marathon and full marathon races.

Paper-cutting art exhibition
The Chinese Civilisation Centre of CityU is holding an exhibition showcasing the works of paper-cutting artist Ms Li Yunxia from 1 February to 17 March at the Singing Waves Gallery in the Amenities Building. Ms Li Yunxia's lively artworks reflect the traditions of Chinese folk art and are full of warm festive elements from the Spring Festival. An opening ceremony for "The Art of Paper-cutting by Li Yunxia" was held on 31 January, with the artist, Mr Liu Hanqi, Deputy Director-General of the Publicity, Culture and Sports Department of the Liaison Office of the Central People's Government in the HKSAR, Mr Mario Ignacio Artaza, Consul General of Chile in Hong Kong SAR and Macau SAR, Mr Poon Yiu-ming, Chief Editor of Mingpao Monthly, and Professor Cheng Pei-kai, Director of the Chinese Civilisation Centre, officiating at the ceremony.

Chinese New Year Staff Party
The Chinese New Year Staff Party will be held on 19 February to celebrate the Year of the Snake with a buffet lunch, celebratory programmes and handicraft stalls. The event is being organised by the Human Resources Office.

E-newsletter for business alumni
The College of Business (CB) has launched its inaugural issue of CB Alumni E-Newsletter to share the accomplishments of its alumni and the reflections of CB's faculty/staff as they pursue their dreams in life. The newsletter will be published quarterly.