Prof Helen Geng Hongyan wins UGC Teaching Award

On 29 September, the University Grants Committee (UGC) presented the 2026 UGC Teaching Award to Prof Helen Geng Hongyan, Assistant Professor of Teaching of the Division of Science at Lingnan University. She received the award in the General Faculty Members category. The award recognises her student-centred, innovative teaching approach, which breaks through traditional boundaries between the arts and sciences, incorporates artificial intelligence (AI) and Service-Learning in science education, stimulates students’ interest in interdisciplinary learning, and demonstrates excellence in teaching.

Prof Geng explained, “Students in the core course come from different disciplines, and many of them have limited interest in science before taking the course. I therefore developed the ‘C.O.R.E’ — Co-creation, Operationalisation, Realisation and Empowerment — teaching framework, which concentrates on student participation, practice, and reflection. This enables students to progress from understanding science and sustainability issues to participating in addressing real-world problems.”

Using AI to promote interdisciplinary learning and inspire creative thinking in students

Prof Geng, serving as Principal Investigator of a UGC-funded project, is currently leading an Inter-institutional Collaborative Activities teaching initiative across all eight UGC-funded universities, aiming to build an AI-Empowered Tripartite Platform connecting industries/NGOs, educators, and students to cultivate students’ spirit of autonomous learning, cognitive resilience, and interdisciplinary collaboration, and to extend the C.O.R.E. framework across UGC-funded universities. In addition, Prof Geng has also collaborated with Imperial College London in the UK, the University of Wollongong in Australia, the University of Oulu in Finland, Nanjing University, and the Shandong University of Science and Technology to introduce the C.O.R.E. framework among these international partner institutions.

Established by the UGC, the Teaching Award is the most authoritative teaching award in the Hong Kong SAR’s higher education sector. The three awards, presented each year (one in the General Faculty Members category, one in the Early Career Faculty Members category, and one in the Collaborative Teams category), recognise academics’ excellence in teaching performance, leadership, and scholarly contribution. Recipients are hailed as “ambassadors of good teaching” who advance teaching excellence throughout the Hong Kong SAR.

In addition to Prof Geng, the interdisciplinary innovation team behind the Global Development and Sustainability programme, comprising Prof Paul Whitla, Professor of Teaching of the Department of Marketing and International Business; Prof Bradley R. Barnes, Special Advisor to President on Internationalisation, Director of Global Education; Prof Paulina Wong Pui-yun, Head and Associate Professor (Presidential Early Career Scholar) of the Division of Science; and Dr Nicole Lee Man-ying, Associate Programme Director of the Office of Service-Learning, was the finalist in the Collaborative Teams category.