Five research projects led by City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) have been awarded a total of HK$26.4 million from the Research Grants Council (RGC) under the Research Impact Fund. This achievement ranks CityUHK first in both the number of projects and funding amount among the top eight UGC-funded universities. The research projects cover sustainable development and energy, medical and drug development and biomedical engineering, showcasing CityUHK scholars’ commitment to advancing cutting-edge research and translating academic results into practical applications to continuously promote sustainable development and contribute to societal advancement.

In the area of green energy and sustainable development, a project led by Professor Zhu Zonglong, from the Department of Chemistry, titled “Advancing Sustainable and Closed-loop Eco-friendly Emerging Perovskite Photovoltaic”, received a grant of HK$7.7 million. Perovskite solar cells are gaining attention for their high efficiency, low cost, and multifunctional applications in building-integrated photovoltaics and tandem solar cells. The research aims to promote environmentally friendly manufacturing of perovskite solar cells, mitigate lead leakage, and create sustainable recycling solutions to reduce the environmental impact, thereby facilitating the widespread application of perovskite technology in the green energy field.

A project led by Professor Zhi Chunyi, from the Department of Materials Science and Engineering, titled “Aqueous flow batteries for peak shaving energy storage”, aims to enhance aqueous Zinc-Iron Flow Batteries (ZIFBs) as a cost-effective energy storage solution for renewable energy. The project will address key challenges, such as low areal current density, dendrite formation and limited lifespan through six tasks: improving electrode materials, developing advanced anolyte formulations, improving current collector, creating better membrane materials, implementing an intelligent battery management system and demonstrating kilowatt-scale ZIFB stacks. The goal is to lower the Levelized Cost of Storage, making ZIFBs a competitive option for supporting renewable energy integration and promoting a sustainable energy future.

The University announced the establishment of the new College of Biomedicine in early 2025 to leverage the strengths of CityUHK’s existing research areas in biomedical sciences, biomedical engineering, neuroscience and digital medicine to tackle pressing challenges in life and health sciences through groundbreaking interdisciplinary collaboration. CityUHK’s biomedical engineering research garnered significant recognition, with three projects related to glaucoma treatment, electrocardiogram monitoring and precision cancer therapy collectively receiving HK$14.7 million in funding.

With the global population aging, glaucoma is expected to affect 112 million people worldwide by 2040. Current treatments focus on lowering intraocular pressure but cannot reverse existing optic nerve damage or restore vision that has already been lost, highlighting the urgent need for new therapeutic strategies targeting neuroprotection and nerve regeneration.

A project led by Professor Eddie Ma Chi-him, from the Department of Neuroscience, titled “Development and validation of novel therapeutic agents for glaucoma treatment through integrated preclinical and clinical studies with a drug repurposing approach”, demonstrating that two United States Food and Drug Administration-approved drugs, glycopyrrolate and mexiletine, promote robust optic nerve regeneration and restore visual function in a preclinical animal model of traumatic optic neuropathy. His team will conduct clinical studies to evaluate the efficacy of these drugs in glaucoma patients through drug repurposing, striving to revolutionise glaucoma treatment and improve the quality of life for patients.

Rapid advances in communications technology and the Internet of Things also have significant potential for improved personal health management, early disease detection and sports health. Led by Professor Yu Xinge, from the Department of Biomedical Engineering, a project titled “Thin, soft, wireless, air and sweat permeable electronics for long term electrocardiogram (ECG) monitoring” aims to develop thin, soft, wireless and permeable electronic products for long-term ECG monitoring, through collaboration with leading research teams and industry partners. This initiative will create advanced materials and structures for cost-effective breathable electronics, fundamentally transforming the digital health for clinics, enhancing comfort and reliability for users and improving public health.

A project led by Professor Chen Chia-hung, from the Department of Biomedical Engineering, titled “Uncovering Dynamically Functional Cells Using a Time-Resolved Intelligent Cell Sorter (TRIC) for Cancer Treatments”, aims to develop a time-resolved intelligent cell sorter to measure the secretion trajectories of individual cells for high-throughput screening. The system will assess cytotoxicity by co-encapsulating cancer and immune cells, allowing for the isolation of tumour-specific immune cells with significant secretion activity and identifying inherently resistant cancer cells based on their secretion patterns. The ultimate goal is to transform cancer treatment through precision medicine by isolating critical, dynamically functional cells for analysis.

CityUHK is also involved in three collaborative research projects across universities, focusing on sustainable development in the environment, science and society: (i) “Hong Kong Historical Spatial Data Platform”, (ii) “EarthBioGenome Project Hong Kong: Butterflies and the Next Generation of Scientists” and (iii) “WASTES to WINGS – Constructing a High-Throughput Sustainable Aviation Fuel (SAF) Research Platform to Facilitate Zero Carbon Air Travel in Hong Kong”. The projects reflect the importance of interdisciplinary and inter-institutional collaboration.

Professor Anderson Shum, Vice-President (Research) of CityUHK, congratulated all the funded scholars, emphasising that their achievements demonstrate CityUHK’s excellent research capabilities and dedication to contributing knowledge for societal benefit and making a significant impact. 

The Research Impact Fund encourages local scholars to actively consider potential research benefits, enabling broader community benefits while promoting more influential and applicable research projects in local universities. It also encourages collaboration beyond academia, including that with government agencies, industry and research organisations.