Joined April 2010
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You’ve heard about “Playing God,” but what about “Playing Heaven”?
That’s the name of a new inter-university research collaboration between HKU, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and the National University of Singapore that just launched this month. Led by Professor Javier Cha of the HKU Faculty of Arts, the team is exploring how advances in artificial intelligence can reshape the study of East Asia’s intellectual and cultural history.
That involves developing domain-specific AI systems capable of re-examining semantic features, stylistic variation, and patterns of argumentation in texts from hundreds of writers and philosophers. Previously, that would have been an “overwhelming” task, Professor Cha says, but the rise of transformer-based models has made it possible to leverage machine learning to interpret texts and map arguments.
The project also seeks to move beyond established intellectual genealogies and canonical figures. By examining hundreds of writers, scholars, and texts simultaneously, the researchers hope to uncover overlooked connections, forgotten actors, and alternative pathways of intellectual transmission that conventional methods often miss.
Supported by a prestigious Humanities and AI Virtual Institute grant from Schmidt Sciences – “Playing Heaven” is among HAVI’s first funded projects and the only one so far primarily based in Asia – the project brings together expertise in history, computational humanities, complexity science, machine learning, and archival science from three leading universities.
The HKU team consists of Professor Cha, Dr Eric Chow, Dr Donghyeok Choi, and Solomon Ho. In addition to the HKU team, “Playing Heaven” will feature projects led by HKUST historian Professor Michael Yan Hong and computational humanities experts Professor Yumeng Hou and Professor Miguel Escobar Varela of NUS.
“The point is not to let the machine play historian, but to use it to sharpen the questions historians can ask,” Professor Cha said at the launch event. “Recent developments in agentic AI are prompting us to rethink where the boundary lies between assistance and automation. We still have much to learn about what future systems may be capable of, but one of the project’s goals is to explore those possibilities critically while keeping historical judgment and interpretation at the centre of the research process.”
To learn more about Playing Heaven, visit the project page here: bigdatastudies.net/playing-h…
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Welcome to HKU, Professor Sir Andre Geim!
Professor Geim gave his inaugural lecture – titled “A Random Walk to Graphene” – to about 800 students, staff, and members of the community Tuesday night. We asked two HKU science majors what the chance to hear from this Nobel Laureate meant to them.
#HKU #UniversityofHongKong #science #nobel #香港大學 #港大 #科學
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Professor Sir Andre Geim, Nobel Laureate and Chair Professor in the Department of Physics under the Faculty of Science at the University of Hong Kong (HKU), delivered his inaugural lecture titled "Random Walk to Graphene" Tuesday night!.
Held at the Grand Hall of the Lee Shau Kee Lecture Centre, the lecture delved into how simple curiosity — and a willingness to embrace the unexpected — led to one of the most groundbreaking discoveries of our time. The event drew an audience of about 800 participants, spanning academic, policy, practitioner and student communities.
Taking the podium, Professor Geim offered a refreshingly candid look behind the scenes of high-level scientific discovery. “When someone wins a Nobel Prize, people naturally want to know how and why it happened”, Professor Geim shared. “In this talk, I wanted to recount my rather unpredictable path in academia – a story marked by curiosity, wrong turns, and a few strokes of good fortune.”
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Read more: hku.hk/press/press-releases/…
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👥🆚🤖A groundbreaking study comparing creativity in humans and AI models finds their average scores are nearly identical. But closer inspection reveals that human diversity gives people a decisive edge.💪
📖Read and 🎧listen now at the #HKUBulletin: bulletin.hku.hk/cover-story-…
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From household plastic packaging to the flexible frameworks that support wearable electronics, polymer materials form the invisible backbone of modern life. But for all their ubiquity, their long, disorganised molecular chains have made it difficult for scientists to control, map, or customise the behaviour of the final material.
Until now. A research team led by Professor Yufeng Wang @HkuWang and Professor Ho Yu Au-Yeung @HYAGroup from HKU’s Department of Chemistry has achieved a breakthrough to address this challenge. By using discrete molecular rings as precise structural models of polymer knots, the team untangled the complex relationship between molecular architecture and material properties, allowing them to correlate characteristics such as stiffness, strength, and elasticity.
This discovery provides a blueprint for creating a new generation of ‘smart’ materials with highly specialised functions. By identifying these distinct mechanical pathways, the HKU team has provided a new framework for guiding the design of new materials with specific properties, with implications for fields like soft robotics, tissue engineering, and wearable electronics.
#hku #UniversityofHongKong #chemistry #innovation #robotics #wearables
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Read the paper here: pubs.acs.org/doi/10.1021/jac…
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Congratulations to HKU Professor Wang Yao for receiving a Certificate of Merit at the Fourth National Award for Excellence in Innovation – given in recognition of his outstanding contributions to valley optoelectronics in two-dimensional semiconductors!
“Fundamental research demands a special kind of courage — the willingness to venture where no maps exist,” said Professor Xiang Zhang, President and Vice-Chancellor of HKU. “As a fellow physicist, I am inspired by the endurance and intellectual spirit Professor Yao has shown in his work. This national recognition not only honours Professor Yao’s brilliance but also underscores HKU’s leading global position in fundamental scientific research. We remain steadfast in our pursuit of frontier exploration, contributing to technological transformation both nationally and globally.”
“I am honoured to receive this recognition,” said Professor Yao, Chair Professor in the Department of Physics. “I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to my team members, students, collaborators and fellow researchers for their continued support and efforts. Looking ahead, we will continue to advance research in quantum materials and contribute to the development of basic science and innovation technologies.”
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Read more about the award and Professor Yao’s work here: hku.hk/press/press-releases/…
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🆕The new issue of the #HKUBulletin is now available!
🎨💡How is AI impacting human creativity? #HKU scholars examine whether AI can outperform imagination, reshape storytelling, and what it means for society and regulation.
📖Read now at bulletin.hku.hk
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🏆 #HKU’s Outstanding Research Student Supervisor Award celebrates academics whose mentorship helps students excel in research. Learn more about this year’s four awardees at: youtube.com/watch?v=hopNkPQ9…
#HKUExcellence #HKUExcellenceAwards
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Get the inside story of one of the most significant scientific discoveries of modern times!
Two decades on, graphene continues to redefine and reshape the scientific landscape. Nobel Laureate and new Chair Professor in the HKU Department of Physics, Professor Sir Andre Geim, a founding figure in graphene research, will deliver his Nobel Laureate Inaugural Lecture at HKU on Tuesday, June 9, 2026.
Hear his insights into what makes graphene so special, why it fascinates researchers across disciplines, and how its unique properties are shaping new technologies.
Date: June 9, 2026 (Tuesday)
Time: 6:15pm – 7:30pm (HKT)
Venue: Grand Hall, Lee Shau Kee Lecture Centre, Centennial Campus, HKU
The lecture is free and open to the public. No background in physics needed! Register: tinyurl.com/jy3pbx5s
#HKU #香港大學 #UniversityofHongKong #science #Nobel #科學 #諾貝爾獎
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What if you could step into one of China’s most famous paintings?
HKU Professor Chen Yuqi spent six months and hundreds of hours to create “Into the Painting,” an AI-driven game that lets players experience ordinary life in 12th century China through the masterpiece “Along the River During the Qingming Festival.”
The result is a historical simulator with nearly unlimited branching paths. “The thing about AI-driven games is that they are truly unlimited,” she says. “You can have hundreds of different endings. It’s all open.”
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Read more about Professor Chen’s groundbreaking work here: aiblog.hku.hk/chen-yuqi-rede…
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Check out “Into the Painting” for yourself: fishframe.net/itp.html
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🏆💡 #HKU’s Teaching Innovation Award celebrates educators whose creative approaches improve learning and student outcomes. Watch the video to learn about the winning projects of this year’s awardees: youtube.com/watch?v=31qxY6l0…
#HKUExcellence #HKUExcellenceAwards
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Assessing and undertaking building maintenance in densely populated cities like Hong Kong isn’t easy, and manual inspections are often time-consuming and costly, leading to delays in identifying structural defects that can compromise public safety.
To address this problem, the team at #HKU’s iLab, led by Professor Junjie Chen and Professor Wilson Lu, developed eCheckGo, an innovative artificial intelligence (AI) system powered by a proprietary Large Defect Model (LdM) combined with traditional AI algorithms.
Designed for ease of use, eCheckGo allows users to capture images inside and outside buildings using a mobile app, or to leverage readily available Google Street View images. The AI system automatically detects defects such as cracks and spalling where concrete breaks away and integrates these findings into generated 3D data point clouds . This interactive 3D model allows users to zoom in and out to view the exact geometry and dimensions of the issues.
“You can easily understand the overall condition of a building, pinpoint where defects are located, and assess their scale, geometry, and dimensions,” says Professor Chen. “Having all this information consolidated in one place is extremely helpful for making informed and timely decisions about maintenance or renovation.”
No wonder eCheckGo recently received the Gold Medal with Congratulations of the Jury at the 51st International Exhibition of Inventions in Geneva!
Moving forward, the iLab team will work on turning their lab-based prototype into an industry-level software solution, including through algorithm optimization in computing-constrained environments and shifting some existing functions (data query, 3D visualization) from Web to local mobile phones.
#HKU #UniversityofHongKong #architecture #HongKong #urbanism
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Read more: hku.hk/press/press-releases/…
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🏆🔬 #HKU’s Outstanding Young Researcher Award acknowledges the exceptional work of emerging researchers. Check out the video to learn more about this year’s five award recipients: youtu.be/YaN61g8h5l8
#HKUExcellence #HKUExcellenceAwards
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🏆🎓 #HKU’s Early Career Teaching Award recognises outstanding early‑career educators for their excellence in teaching and commitment to student learning. Check out the video to learn more about this year’s five award recipients: youtu.be/Bv4GTZUcLVs?si=Jmnj…
#HKUExcellence #HKUExcellenceAwards
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