Lingnan University honours 53 outstanding research scholars as total number of patents for research projects hits record high, accelerating technology transfer and practical application
Lingnan hosts the Research & KT Excellence Awards Presentation Ceremony 2026. (From left: Prof Xin Yao, Vice-President (Research and Innovation) and Tong Tin Sun Chair Professor of Machine Learning of Lingnan University; Dr Patrick Wong Chi-kwong, Chairman of the Court; The Hon Andrew Yao Cho-fai, Chairman of the Council; Ms Carrie Leung Ka-lai, Treasurer of the Council; Mr Augustine Lui Ngok-che, Chairman of the Lingnan Education Organization and Court Member; and Prof Sam Kwong Tak-wu, Associate Vice-President (Strategic Research), J.K. Lee Chair Professor of Computational Intelligence, and Dean of the School of Graduate Studies.)
Lingnan recognises 53 scholars’ outstanding contributions to research and knowledge transfer.
The Hon Andrew Yao Cho-fai, Chairman of the Council of Lingnan University, delivers the welcoming remarks and congratulates the award-winning scholars.
Prof Xin Yao, Vice-President (Research and Innovation) and Tong Tin Sun Chair Professor of Machine Learning, delivers an address.
Prof Sam Kwong Tak-wu, Associate Vice-President (Strategic Research), J.K. Lee Chair Professor of Computational Intelligence, and Dean of the School of Graduate Studies, delivers an address.
Lingnan University recently hosted the Research and Knowledge Transfer Excellence Awards Presentation Ceremony 2026. At the “Excellence Beyond Achievement Where Technology Meets Humanity” ceremony, 53 Lingnan scholars were presented with the Outstanding Researcher Award, the Early Career Researcher Award, and the Research & Knowledge Transfer Fund Award for their exceptional contributions to academic research and knowledge transfer that advance societal development. The University’s overall innovation and technology performance reached new heights in the 2025/26 academic year, with the number of granted patents for research projects increasing sixfold year-on-year to set a new record.
Officiating guests at the ceremony included the Hon Andrew Yao Cho-fai, Chairman of the Council of Lingnan University; Ms Carrie Leung Ka-lai, Treasurer of the Council; Dr Patrick Wong Chi-kwong, Chairman of the Court; Mr Augustine Lui Ngok-che, Chairman of the Lingnan Education Organization and Court Member; Prof Xin Yao, Vice-President (Research and Innovation) and Tong Tin Sun Chair Professor of Machine Learning; and Prof Sam Kwong Tak-wu, Associate Vice-President (Strategic Research), J.K. Lee Chair Professor of Computational Intelligence, and Dean of the School of Graduate Studies.
The Hon Andrew Yao Cho-fai congratulated the awardees and praised the University’s rapid progress in research projects and its increasing global influence, saying that “As an industrialist and commercial-sector representative in the Legislative Council, I firmly believe that the Hong Kong SAR’s industrial and commercial community must actively embrace new technologies. Leveraging its geographical proximity to the Northern Metropolis, Lingnan has launched the innovation and entrepreneurship platform ‘LU Xcelerator’ (LUX) to deepen industry-academia-research collaboration and facilitate the translation of university research into commercial applications, infusing new momentum into traditional industrial and commercial industries and opening broader entrepreneurial opportunities for researchers and students.”
Prof Xin Yao said, “Lingnan University has always been committed to fostering an interdisciplinary research environment. In the 2025/26 academic year, the number of granted patents for research projects increased sixfold year-on-year to set a new record, fully demonstrating the research impact of our academic and research staff. In recent years, the University has successfully diversified its funding sources. The University has also secured major grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, the Environment and Conservation Fund, the Lantau Conservation Fund, and the Innovation and Technology Commission, which will enable research teams to take cutting-edge technologies out of the laboratory and translate them into practical applications that deliver real impact and benefit society.”
Prof Sam Kwong Tak-wu said, “We are seeing more grants, more patents, more knowledge transfer and more entrepreneurship. And this is a trend we want to build on. The research is important. But the people it can help are just as important. This is also why interdisciplinary research matters at Lingnan. We bring together the strengths of the arts, sciences, technology and social sciences, connecting research with education, and ideas with the needs of society. Let us keep pushing boundaries, keep working together, and keep turning knowledge into impact.”
Lingnan has secured grants for 49 research projects in the 2026/27 competitive funding rounds of the Research Grants Council (RGC), with total funding approaching HK$27 million. The three key projects with the most substantial grants are: a study that received nearly HK$900,000, led by Prof S. Joe Qin, President and Wai Kee Kau Chair Professor of Data Science, titled “Long-term Error Augmented Predictive (LEAP) Learning with Transformers for Smart Building Cooling Load Predictions”, and two projects that each received over HK$1 million: “Trustworthy Stablecoins: Coordinating Centralised and Decentralised Finance at Scale”, led by Prof Alexandru-Codru Preda, Professor of the Department of Sociology and Social Policy, and “Unravelling the Genomic Basis of Coral-Eating Phestilla Nudibranchs: Host Selection and Climate Resilience”, led by Prof Jack Ip Chi-ho, Associate Professor (Presidential Early Career Scholar) of the Division of Science. (See Table 1 for details).
The University has recently risen dramatically in major international rankings. Lingnan came 84th in its debut appearance in the Times Higher Education (THE) Asia University Rankings, directly entered Asia’s top 100 and in the QS World University Rankings 2027, it climbed sharply by over 120 places to 581st, its biggest leap in recent years. Furthermore, Lingnan scholars won 16 awards at the Silicon Valley International Invention Festival 2026, retaining the University’s position as the higher education institution in the Hong Kong SAR with the most awards and gold medals.
For the full list of awardees, please visit:
Research & KT Excellence Awards | Office of Research and Knowledge Transfer
Table 1.
Scholars | Prof S. Joe Qin, President and Wai Kee Kau Chair Professor of Data Science |
Project title | Long-term Error Augmented Predictive (LEAP) Learning with Transformers for Smart Building Cooling Load Predictions |
RGC funding amount | HK$ 894,156 (General Research Fund) |
Description | Air-conditioning systems in large buildings consume significant amounts of electricity. However, traditional AI models typically optimise only for short-term prediction targets, leading to “accumulated error” in long-term forecasts and resulting in inaccuracy.
To address this pain point, the research team has developed the novel "LEAPformer" model. By incorporating learning methods tailored for long-term prediction, it reduces accumulated error across multi-step forecasts, thereby enhancing long-term prediction accuracy. The team also designed a lightweight version, the "Res-LEAPformer", which simplifies computation by using daily cyclic power consumption patterns to help smart buildings predict air-conditioning energy consumption more precisely.
The project has validated its models using 18 months of actual operational data from two government office buildings in West Kowloon, as well as real-time data from the DAS Smart Building in Shenzhen. The field operational data from the Shenzhen building will be released as open source globally to support the international community in energy conservation and carbon reduction in buildings. |
Scholars | Prof Alexandru-Codru Preda, Professor of the Department of Sociology and Social Policy |
Project title | Trustworthy Stablecoins: Coordinating Centralised and Decentralised Finance at Scale |
RGC funding amount | HK$ 1,217,700 (General Research Fund) |
Description | This project investigates how stablecoins—digital assets circulating on blockchains backed by traditional assets such as US dollars or US Treasuries—can securely bridge traditional banking systems and the blockchain world. Stablecoins rely on banks and traditional financial institutions to manage collateral, whilst operating via code and cryptographic protocols on blockchains. Because these two financial systems function on fundamentally different principles, a lack of effective coordination creates risks in transactions between digital wallets and bank accounts, parity maintenance between stablecoins and underlying assets, and cross-jurisdictional regulatory compliance, ultimately undermining market trust. Through industry interviews and quantitative data analysis, the research team will examine operational practices, technical interoperability, and cross-border regulatory dynamics across both domains. By identifying key factors for secure cooperation, the project aims to establish guidelines for scalable, trustworthy stablecoin transactions capable of supporting millions of daily operations. Licensing regimes for stablecoins were adopted in the Hong Kong SAR and the US in 2025, with the UK and the EU following suit, and this study will provide valuable insights into integrating stablecoins into the mainstream financial system. |
Scholars | Prof Jack Ip Chi-ho, Associate Professor (Presidential Early Career Scholar) of the Division of Science |
Project title | Unravelling the Genomic Basis of Coral-Eating Phestilla Nudibranchs: Host Selection and Climate Resilience |
RGC funding amount | HK$ 1,121,171 (General Research Fund) |
Description | This project investigates the threat posed to the Hong Kong SAR’s coral reefs and marine ecosystem by coral-eating sea slugs of the genus Phestilla. Due to global warming, these sea slugs are proliferating in subtropical waters such as those of the Hong Kong SAR’s, preying on heat-tolerant corals that survive marine heatwaves and directly undermining the resilience of coral reefs against climate change. As different sea slug species exhibit highly specific feeding preferences for particular corals, the research team aims to identify the sea slugs’ underlying genetic traits so as to assess their capacity to survive rising sea temperatures under extreme weather conditions. The team will generate high-precision, chromosome-level genome assemblies for three local species of coral-eating sea slugs with expanding populations, comparing them with non-corallivorous species to identify the genetic basis of corallivory. By analysing gene expression across chemosensory, digestive, and epithelial tissues, the study will uncover the mechanisms governing coral host recognition and digestion. Furthermore, by comparing populations of the same species across subtropical and tropical reefs, the study will reveal genetic signatures associated with thermal adaptation, providing a scientific foundation for the conservation and restoration of subtropical coral reefs. |