Basic

Research pioneer
Associate Professor Kevin Lee, Department of Biology, became the first researcher in Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland to receive funding from the highly regarded UK-based Association for International Cancer Research. Prof Lee received HK$1 million to identify inhibitors of the abnormal protein EWS that causes a group of rare and lethal cancers.

Liquid assets
Researchers in the Department of Physics developed a new generation of dielectric electrorheological (ER) fluids. These 'smart'materials can change within milliseconds into a solid state when an external electric field is applied, reverting instantly to liquids when the electric field goes off. Potential applications include shock absorbers, brakes and valves.

Capital results
HKUST's economics and finance research gained top ranking in Asia and Australia in two independent studies, submitted to the official Journal of the European Economic Association and Financial Management respectively.

Word power
School of Humanities and Social Science faculty have expanded the literature considerably during 2002-03. Among the many works they have contributed over a range of fields are Asst Prof Zongli Lu's Power of the Words: Chen Prophecy in Chinese Politics, AD265-618 and Prof David Zweig's Internationalizing China: Domestic Interests and Global Linkages.