Over the past three months, UM has organised close to 100 talks, workshops, seminars and forums, including talks by masters in different fields, such as Prof. Yu Kwang Chung, Prof. Chen Ning Yang, and Prof. Joseph J.Y. Sung, in an effort to encourage academic discussion among the students.
The talk “My Experience as Student and Researcher”, by Prof. Chen Ning Yang, winner of the Nobel Prize in physics, attracted a full-house audience both in the auditorium and in the live broadcast room. Prof. Jin Xiaoqing from the Department of Mathematics, whose relationship with Prof. Yang goes way back, also attended the talk. “It was a great honour that we could invite Prof. Yang to give a talk at UM.” says Prof. Jin. “Actually UM has successfully invited quite a few masters in different fields in recent years. For example, Prof. Shing-Tung Yau has given talks at UM twice. Some universities in mainland China have been trying for 30 years without success to invite him to give talks. The fact that he came to UM says a lot about how much he cares about UM.”
“It is very inspiring to listen to the words of wisdom of these masters,” Prof. Jin adds. “These talks and the discussions with teachers and friends that follow could spark new ideas.” In fact, the inspiration for Prof. Jin’s PhD thesis came from a talk by Prof. Tony F. Chan, a renowned mathematician and current president of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.
Merci Leung, a second year student from the Faculty of Business Administration, is a regular at these talks. Recently she attended a talk by Prof. Joseph J.Y. Sung, vice chancellor and president of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. The talk was about higher education, and Merci found it completely engrossing. “I had always been looking forward to his talks,” says Merci. “I remember he was very nice and approachable. In the talk he encouraged us to read extensively, to travel more during holidays, and to be kind and compassionate and care about the world we live in. It was very inspiring.” Merci hopes the residential colleges on the new campus could help to stimulate more academic discussions among the students.
Li Xiang is a second year student from the Faculty of Science and Technology. In the last year, he attended a lot of talks, once every two weeks on average. “I won’t miss it as long as it’s someone that interests me and the talk doesn’t clash with my class,” says Li Xiang. Although a maths major, he doesn’t just attend talks about maths. He cites the talks by the literary master Prof. Yu Kwang Chung and HKUST founding president Prof. Chia-Wei Woo. “I still remember their talks vividly, especially the talk by Prof. Chia-Wei Woo,” he says. “The story he told of how HKUST became a first-rate university in just ten years was already fascinating; the way he told it made it even more unforgettable. I remember thinking UM could learn something from it.” Li Xiang is especially interested in speakers with a lot of different experiences, because he thinks how they deal with the ups and downs of life while staying positive and resilient could set inspiring examples for the students.
