Prestigious recognition
Professor (Chair) Paul Chu Kim-ho in the Department of Physics and Materials Science has been awarded the IEEE/Nuclear and Plasma Sciences Society Merit Award. The award is the Society's most prestigious, given to a distinguished scientist each year in recognition of his/her outstanding contributions to the fields of nuclear and plasma sciences. Professor Chu's selection was based on his contribution to the understanding, development and applications of plasma-based surface modification and thin film deposition technologies. He is the first winner from an Asian institution.

Acting President to present at APAIE Conference
Professor Richard Ho Yan-ki, Acting President, has been invited to deliver a paper at the Asia-Pacific Association for International Education (APAIE) Conference 2008 to be held at Waseda University, Japan, from 26 March to 28 March 2008. The theme of the conference is "The Next Wave in Asia-Pacific Higher Education", in which Professor Ho will make a presentation on "Education for the New Knowledge Economy".

CityU recruits outstanding mainland students
Around 200 high-quality students from 25 provinces and cities on the mainland will begin their studies at CityU this September. The average admitted scores this year all increased compared to last year's.

Candidates admitted from 24 out of the 25 provinces and cities are the top 0.7% performers. Seventy-four percent of the candidates in arts rank within the top 200, which include a student from Yunnan Province who ranks second. Candidates in science are also outstanding. They include a single-subject champion from Guangdong Province and a first-class awardee in the 10th Chinese National Olympiad in Informatics.
The newly-admitted candidates' English standards are also very impressive. They scored an average of 131 out of 150.

Senior appointments
Dr Paul Ho Hok-keung, currently Associate Head of the Division of Building Science and Technology, has been appointed Head for two years from 1 August 2007 to 31 July 2009. The concurrent appointment of Professor (Chair) Eden Yu Siu-hung as Head of the Department of Economics and Finance will be extended until further notice.

Re-engineering administration for the four-year curriculum
During the transition to the four-year degree programme in Hong Kong, universities will need to resolve a number of administrative issues. At the CIO Forum on "Re-engineering of Student Administration for the four-year Degree — An introduction to Project 4Y" on 7 August, Dr Jerry Yu Jer-tsang, CityU's Chief Information Officer, will outline the development plans for the project.

Alignment of committees for campus development
To facilitate campus development, the University will align the structure of relevant committees. The Campus Development Committee will remain the major committee and the Accommodation Committee will be a sub-committee. The Campus Facilities Improvement Working Group will be absorbed into the Campus Development Committee.

Revision of subsistence allowance for staff
The Management Board approved a recommendation to revise the rates of overseas subsistence allowance for staff. The University will adopt the revised Civil Service duty rates for subsistence allowance and apply a reduced percentage of 70% to the allowance rates for staff development purposes. There are general upward adjustments in both revisions.

Medical and dental benefits for retired staff
The Management Board endorsed the recommendation to reinstate the provision of medical and dental facilities at the on-campus Health Centre and the clinics of appointed practitioners, subject to an annual expense limit of $1,500 per person for long-serving retiring staff and their spouses, with effect from 1 January 2008, subject to the Human Resources Committee's approval.

SCM student at Cannes Film Festival
Neway Liu Wai-lan, a Year 2 student in the School of Creative Media, took part in Cannes Film Festival 2007 and won an award from Reel Ideas Studio for a documentary that she and her teammates shot as part of a project at the Festival. The film Moths to the Fame won the Distinguished Documentary Award and was chosen by the Studio as one of the three most outstanding works among the ten documentaries produced as part of the programme. Among 40 candidates selected by the Studio, Neway was the only student from an Asian institution.

Best paper awards
The quality research carried out by CityU staff and students has again received recognition at international conferences. The paper "Repeat viewing and viewing intensity of TV programmes", co-authored by Dr Lo Hing-Po, Head of the Department of Management Sciences, and his PhD student Lu Xiaoling, won the Best Paper Award at the International Conference on Information and Management Sciences.

Chiu Leung, a PhD student supervised by Dr Xue Quan, Associate Professor in the Department of Electronic Engineering, received the Second Prize in the IEEE Region 10 Student Paper Contest (Postgraduate Category) for his paper "Integrated Antenna Modules Achieving High Radiating Efficiency and Adaptive Beam Control for High Performance RF Front End".

External appointment
Professor (Chair) Ng Sik-hung in the Department of Applied Social Studies has been appointed the President of the Asian Association of Social Psychology for two years, starting from July 2007.