Young researchers at the University of Hong Kong (HKU) have achieved excellent results in the inaugural round of the 2019 Excellent Young Scientists Fund (Hong Kong and Macau). Professor Anderson Shum of the Department of Mechanical Engineering is among the seven HKU scientists who have been awarded this prominent fund under the National Natural Science Foundation of China, an organisation directly affiliated to the State Council for the management of the National Natural Science Fund.
The Excellent Young Scientists Fund is granted annually to support young scientists (male below 38 and female below 40 years old) with achievements in basic research to conduct research in areas of their own choice. This year, only 25 projects are funded for Hong Kong and Macau. HKU is funded the highest number of projects. Each project will receive a funding of RMB1.3 million (HKD1.5 million) for a maximum period of three years, in the form of cross-border remittance to directly support researchers’ work in Hong Kong.
Details of Professor Shum’s project:
Project Title: All-aqueous Interfacial Engineering
The engineering of interfaces has enabled new technologies in electronic, petrochemical and chemical applications. The project aims to integrate the all-aqueous formulation and droplet microfluidic techniques for processing of biological cells and biomacromolecules. While all-aqueous processing offers biomimetic control and compatibility, droplet microfluidics provides the precision in selecting and manipulating the cells and molecules. The first-of-its-kind precision assembly of cellular structures through all-aqueous interfacial engineering will create a platform for artificially constructing new class of materials that consist of individually selected cells. The all-aqueous interfacial engineering approach can thus target precision medicine and therapies, such as organ transplantation.
For more details of the fund, please visit https://www.hku.hk/press/press-releases/detail/20059.html.