New appointments
Professor Horace Ip Ho-shing has been appointed as Vice-President (Student Affairs), effective from 1 December 2013. This is a concurrent appointment. He is also Chair Professor of Computer Science in the Department of Computer Science. Professor Ip is responsible for providing leadership in the strategic planning and policy formulation on all student matters related to the promotion of leadership training, character development, career preparation and support services to realise the University’s educational goals.

Professor Ip has taken over from Professor Paul Lam Kwan-sing who assumed his new role as Chief-of-Staff on 1 December 2013. Professor Lam served CityU for several years as Vice-President (Student Affairs) in addition to his position as Chair Professor in the Department of Biology and Chemistry.

In addition, Professor Jian Lu took up the position of Vice-President (Research and Technology) and Dean of Graduate Studies on 15 November 2013. Professor Lu joined CityU in 2010 as Dean of the College of Science and Engineering and Chair Professor of Mechanical Engineering. He received his PhD from the University of Technology of Compiegne and the Diploma of Habilitation from the University Paris VI (Pierre et Marie Curie).  He is an Academician of the National Academy of Technology of France. 

Antarctica trip
Twenty-three undergraduates from different schools and departments will leave Hong Kong on 14 December to embark on a 21-day Antarctica expedition, the first ever organised by a local university in Hong Kong. Environmental and ecological data will be collected, interpreted and presented in new forms of creativity using media art. The trip aligns with the University’s curricular drive to encourage students to innovate and pursue their own original research ideas.

Discovery & Innovation Debating Challenge
More than 200 students from top-tier secondary schools will enhance their understanding of the University and polish their debating skills in English at the “Discovery & Innovation Debating Challenge” programme on 7 December. They will learn about the courses, careers and study pathways during visits to research and teaching facilities and talks given by college/school representatives. Student representatives will share stories about their vibrant university life at the talks, too. In addition, participants will attend a debating workshop hosted by top debating instructors. At the end of the programme, they will compete in a debate with a motion tied to the six colleges and schools.

World literature at CityU
The Institute for World Literature (IWL) has announced that CityU will host its 2014 session. It will feature twelve two-week seminars offered by some of the preeminent names in the field, including Professor Zhang Longxi, Chair Professor of Comparative Literature and Translation in CityU’s Department of Chinese, Translation and Linguistics. The event will take place from 23 June to 17 July 2014. IWL was established in recognition that the study of world literature has expanded in recent years into a far-reaching inquiry into the variety of the world’s literary cultures past and present. It was inaugurated in Beijing in 2011, followed by Istanbul in 2012, and Harvard University in 2013.

Distinguished Lecture
Professor John Birge, the Jerry W. and Carol Lee Levin Professor of Operations Management at the University of Chicago Booth School of Business, will give a talk titled “Productivity, Supply Chains, and the Structure of Firms” on 11 December in the on-going City University Distinguished Lecture Series. Professor Birge studies the mathematical modeling of systems under uncertainty, especially for maximising operational and financial goals using the methodologies of stochastic programming and large-scale optimisation.

Conference
The Centre for East Asian and Comparative Philosophy will host an international conference titled “Confucianism, Law, and Politics in Korea: Past and Present” from 5 to 6 December. The aim is to explore theories of Confucian constitutionalism with a special focus on Korea, the most Confucianised society before the so-called “Western Impact”.

Art exhibition
The Chinese Civilisation Centre (CCIV) will hold an opening ceremony for a new exhibition titled “The Chinese Paintings of Huang Jiamao” at Singing Waves Gallery on 4 December. Guests of honour will include the artist Mr Huang Jiamao; Mr Cha Payson, Chairman, Qiu Shi Science and Technologies Foundation; Mr Stewart Wong, Managing Director, Hanison Construction Holdings Limited; Professor Roderick Wong Sue-cheun, Vice-President (Development and External Relations); and Professor Cheng Pei-kai, Visiting Professor (CCIV).

Kudos
Professor Philip J. Ivanhoe of the Department of Public Policy and his team have received over HK$2.5 million from the Templeton Foundation for a comparative philosophy project on the oneness hypothesis, an original concept developed by Professor Ivanhoe, and its implications for ethics, political theory, religion and moral psychology. The project is titled “Eastern and Western Conceptions of Oneness, Virtue, and Human Happiness”. Successful applications for a Templeton Foundation award compete with the top universities in the world such as Oxford, Cambridge, Harvard, Stanford, among others. Professor Ivanhoe is Chair Professor of East Asian & Comparative Philosophy and Religion; Director of the Center for East Asian and Comparative Philosophy, and Director of the Laboratory on Korean Philosophy in Comparative Perspectives.

MaCaPS International Limited, a subsidiary company of CityU that specialises in smart card design and security applications, was named one of Hong Kong’s most valuable companies (HKMVC) in 2013 by Mediazone. The annual HKMVC awards salute the most accomplished people and companies in Hong Kong. They are regarded as the Oscars of Hong Kong’s business world and were launched more than 12 years ago. The criteria for MaCaPS winning the award include the quality of the company’s products, contribution to Hong Kong, reputation/recognition, the overall quality of access control, remote monitoring, booking system, smart card, RFID and data storage systems, and the efficiency of the company’s customer services, among others.

Anson Wang Honghua, a PhD student in the Department of Chinese, Translation and Linguistics (CTL), has been selected by the Scholarship Committee of the Hong Kong Association of University Women (HKAUW) as the recipient of a highly competitive HKAUW Postgraduate Scholarship. Her supervisor is Dr Jackie Yan Xiu, Associate Professor in CTL. HKAUW is dedicated to promoting higher education among women and developing friendship among women university graduates.