Newswise — The Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study (HKIAS) hosted its Annual General Meeting (AGM) on October 15, 2025, gathering Senior Fellows from across the globe to mark the Institute’s 10th anniversary and engage in discussions centered on strategic advancements in research and international collaboration. Under the leadership of Chairman Professor Serge Haroche, the meeting commenced with a heart-warming welcome to the new appointed HKIAS Senior Fellows: Professor Françoise Combes, Professor Étienne Ghys, Professor Dame Madeleine Atkins, Professor Alessio Figalli and Professor Sylvie Méléard. The Executive Director, Professor Shuk Han Cheng, presented a comprehensive review of the recent initiatives undertaken by City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) and HKIAS, highlighting current news, activities, collaborative interactions with faculty members between CityUHK and the home institutions of our Senior Fellows and the significant achievements of Senior Fellows to underscore a decade of excellence.
As a key component of the HKIAS 10th anniversary celebration activities, HKIAS organised a series of distinguished lectures and round table discussion. These activities, which showcased the cutting-edge research contributions of our Senior Fellows across multitude of disciplines, were supported partially by the Kwang Hua Educational Foundation. Their reception among students and faculty at CityUHK and various academic institutions across Hong Kong highlighted a profound interest and active engagement within the academic community.
13 October: Professor Serge Haroche, an esteemed Nobel laureate in Physics, unveiled the intricacies of laser and quantum physics. On the same day, Professor Pierre-Louis Lions, the 1994 recipient of the Fields Medal, engaged the audience with a discourse on the intersection of mathematics and artificial intelligence (AI).
14 October: Professor George Fu Gao, a world-renowned virologist, delivered an insightful lecture on AI-empowered vaccine and antibody development. Additionally, Professor Mu-ming Poo, a distinguished figure in neuroscience and brain-inspired technology illuminated the audience on brain science and its implications for AI development.
15 October: Professor Dame Madeleine Atkins, President Emeritus of Lucy Cavendish College at the University of Cambridge, led a Round Table Discussion on Additional Models of Research Grant Funding, with Mr David Foster, Executive Director of the Croucher Foundation, as the online guest speaker.
Throughout the AGM week, interdisciplinary meetings and networking events were integral to fostering mentorship opportunities and collaboration among HKIAS Senior Fellows, CityU Faculty members, emerging researchers and students from various disciplines.
These events reaffirmed HKIAS’s unwavering commitment to fostering global collaboration and scientific excellence over the past decade. As the Institute celebrated its 10th anniversary, we look forward to organizing further initiatives that will enhance the international profile of the science and engineering community at CityUHK and explore new frontiers in research and collaboration.
For more details on the celebration events, please visit HKIAS past events.
