A Personal Perspective on Doing Good Research Seminar Series – Prof Richard M. Walker: Networks create opportunities for Collaboration, Identity, and Ownership

The fifth session of the A Personal Perspective on Doing Good Research Seminar Series for the 2025/26 academic year, organised by the School of Graduate Studies of Lingnan University, was held on 4 February 2026 at the Leung Fong Oi Wan Art Gallery.

The seminar featured a thought-provoking talk titled “My Research Journey: The Importance of Networks and Contexts”, delivered by Prof Richard M. Walker, Lee Shau Kee Foundation Chair Professor of Public Administration in the School of Graduate Studies and the Department of Government and International Affairs. Prof Walker is also the Head of the Department of Government and International Affairs, as well as Director of the Lingnan University Institute for Advanced Study, the Institute of Policy Studies, and the Governance and Bureaucracy Lab. About 60 faculty members and students attended the session, which sparked keen interest and a lively discussion.

Prof Walker is a distinguished scholar of public administration, specialising in citizen–government relationships and the effective management of government. His research combines experimental methods, integrative studies, and computational social science to advance both the theory and practice of public administration. His achievements have received wide international recognition, including the prestigious 2025 H. George Frederickson Award for Career Contributions to Public Management Research from the Public Management Research Association (PMRA) in recognition of his valuable contributions to intellectual development. He is also a Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences (The UK), reflecting his prominent standing in the international academic community.

During the seminar, Prof Walker traced his academic journey from his studies in housing and urban studies to his later career in public administration and management, showing how research agendas evolve across disciplines and contexts. He noted, having worked in Hong Kong for over two decades, that Western-developed theories are widely applied in research and education across Asia, highlighting replication challenges in social psychology arising from exogenous factors, and underscoring the importance of context in research.

A key theme of the seminar was the role of academic networks – not only in building collaborations, but also in broadening the intellectual horizons of researchers. Drawing from his extensive experience in organising international conferences, serving on editorial boards, and working with over 130 co-authors, he encouraged the students to actively develop their own academic network. "Networks create opportunities for people to come together, giving them identity and ownership, and they are useful for promotion and development," he said. He added that attending and organising conferences may facilitate grant applications, and strengthens international collaboration.

Prof Walker also spoke on the concept of “serendipity” in academic life. While often associated with chance, coincidence or luck, he suggested that “serendipity” is closely tied to persistence and hard work in research. “My work - my past experience and hard work - bring me good luck,” he said, emphasising that continuous effort and curiosity create opportunities for discovery and success in research.

Gavin Huang, a student in the Master of Arts in International Higher Education and Management programme, said that Prof Walker’s valuable insights drawn from his own research experience “explained how his perspectives have evolved over time and across different contexts, reminding us that research should keep pace with changing times and continue to develop alongside society.”

The A Personal Perspective on Doing Good Research Seminar Series invites senior university management and leading scholars to describe their research paths and perspectives. The series aims to create a platform for exchange, enabling doctoral students and early-career researchers to hold in-depth discussions with leading scholars, and draw inspiration from their experience.

The seminar series will continue on 5 March 2026, when Prof Jean-Michel Morel, Chair Professor of the Division of Industrial Data Science will give a talk titled “Can Old Books Be Brought Back to Life?” in which he will explain how printed characters can be digitally extracted, recognised, and restored from scanned documents into printable formats based on mathematical theory.