Asian Young Scientist Fellowship Annual Conference 2024 Held at the University of Hong Kong
On October 31st, 2024, the Asian Young Scientist Fellowship Annual Conference 2024, as part of event series of the Future Science Prize Week 2024, was held at The University of Hong Kong.
The conference was jointly supported by the Future Science Awards Foundation, the University of Hong Kong, and the Hong Kong Academy of Sciences. It brought together a total of 26 participants, including AYS Fellows and committee members, actively engaged in the event, sharing insights and discussing future collaboration opportunities.
The event featured presentations by the newly elected 2024 AYS Fellows from China (Mainland and Hong Kong SAR), Japan, South Korea, Singapore, and India. It aims to highlight their groundbreaking research across disciplines and interdisciplinary innovations.
Meanwhile, 150 young scientists, entrepreneurs, investors, business leaders, and educators from the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area and various cities participated in this event, promoting interdisciplinary dialogue and innovative discussions.
“Asian Young Scientists are leading the way, exploring and showcasing the transformative vision of future scientific research.”
In the opening remarks, Professor Yin Xiaobo, Associate Vice President and Professor of Department of Mechanical Engineering at The University of Hong Kong, congratulated the holding of the Future Science Prize Week 2024 and the Asian Young Scientist Fellowship Annual Conference 2024. He pointed out that The University of Hong Kong is a beacon of intellectual curiosity, fueling a passion for knowledge and innovation. Here at HKU, we continue to nurture talents, foster research and innovation, and encourage interdisciplinary collaboration. We are honored to host this Conference, demonstrating our commitment to nurturing and supporting emerging talent. It is a great delight to witness such a remarkable gathering of bright minds and passionate individuals dedicated to the advancement of science and technology. “May this day be filled with enlightening discussions, serve as a source of inspiration, act as a catalyst for new ideas, and be a springboard for future collaborations. Let us embrace the opportunities that lie ahead and strive to make meaningful contributions to society.” He further expressed.
In the opening ceremony, Professor Hong Wu, the Steering Committee Chair at the Asian Young Scientist Fellowship and Professor at the School of Life Sciences, Peking University, expressed that “In 2024, I have had the privilege of witnessing the remarkable growth of the AYSF program over the past year. We engaged with more leading universities across Asia, which played a significant role in the nomination process and contributed to a 67% increase in the number of outstanding applications we received, including a 3-fold increase from woman scientists. Additionally, for the first time, we introduced an interdisciplinary category, and we are excited to have three fellows selected in this category, highlighting the growing importance of cross-disciplinary research. I am truly grateful to the 17 Selection Committee members who played an essential role in upholding the highest scientific standards. Thanks to their thorough evaluation and recommendation, we proudly welcome 12 outstanding individuals as the 2024 AYS Fellows! Congratulations!”
Highlighted Presentations in Life Science Session
In the Life Science Session, Professor Jing-ke Weng, Inaugural Director, Institute for Plant-Human Interface; Professor of Chemistry, Chemical Biology, and Bioengineering, Northeastern University; Member of the Steering Committee of the Asian Young Scientist Fellowship, delivered a welcome remark. He introduced the academic backgrounds and research experiences of the Life Science Fellows, including Dr. Mengdi Han, Dr. Yi Lin, Dr. Wei Wu, and Dr. Shuangjia Zheng. He also expressed his gratitude to Dr. Vishva Mitra Dixit, Professor Shigetazu Nagata, Professor Feng Shao, Professor Hong Wu, Professor Florent Ginhoux, and Professor Hee-Sup Shin for their hard work during the selection process.
Dr. Mengdi Han, Assistant Professor in Peking University, 2024 Asian Young Scientist Fellowship – Life Science Fellow presented a keynote speech on the topic of “Soft, Deformable Bioelectronics.” This presentation introduced a set of soft, deformable bioelectronics with advanced sensing capabilities, with the focus of the development of passively deformable 3D structures for tactile sensing and deformable magnetic structures for wireless biosensing. Dr. Han pointed out that these soft, deformable bioelectronics can serve as a powerful tool for both clinical diagnosis and fundamental studies in biology and may support the discovery of digital biomarkers.
Dr. Yi Lin, Associate Professor from Tsinghua University, 2024 Asian Young Scientist Fellowship – Life Science Fellow, presented a keynote speech on the topic of “Phase Separation in Biology.” She pointed out that phase separation is a prevalent physical and chemical process. The study of phase separation is a highly interdisciplinary field, bridging biology, physics, chemistry, etc. Given that abnormal phase separation is associated with aging or various diseases, particularly neurodegenerative diseases, future research into the mechanisms, functions, and disease relevance of phase separation will greatly deepen our understanding of biological processes and the mechanisms of disease onset, potentially offering new therapeutic approaches for related diseases. Dr. Lin and her group aimed to study phase separation on multiple levels, including understanding the molecular basis and mechanisms that drive phase separation, as well as understanding its functions in biology, especially within the nervous system. They are particularly interested in how dynamic phase separation relates to active biological processes and how it may promote cellular activities, such as higher-order chromatin organization, gene expression, and the assembly of signaling clusters.
Dr. Wei Wu, Principal Investigator at A*STAR Singapore Immunology Network, 2024 Asian Young Scientist Fellowship – Life Science Fellow, presented a keynote speech on the topic of “Expanding the Neoantigen Space to Treat Low Tumor Mutational Burden Cancers.” She pointed out that Neoantigens that contain tumor-specific mutations are highly sought after for personalized immunotherapy by therapeutic vaccination and adoptive T-cell transfer. Yet, low tumor mutational burden (TMB) cancers, by definition, have few protein-coding differences that can be exploited in such strategies. Also, Dr. Wu expressed that besides improvements in antigenic peptide detection and fundamental understanding of the antigen processing and presentation pathways, she and her group have exploited cancer-specific RNA editing and non-canonical translation to expand the neoantigen space. The goal of this work is to provide antigen-based immunotherapy for broad patient populations, including cancers with minimal genome-level mutations.
Dr. Shuangjia Zheng, Assistant Professor from Shanghai Jiao Tong University, 2024 Asian Young Scientist Fellowship – Life Science Fellow, presented a keynote speech on the topic of “Intelligent Drug Discovery in Practice.” He pointed out that the typical drug discovery paradigm is a tedious process, requiring extensive manual effort and relying heavily on expert intuition. Artificial intelligence (AI) has already started to transform this process and promises to transition drug discovery from intuition-driven to information-driven. In this talk, Dr. Zheng and his group described their efforts to expand the scope and ease the applicability of deep representation learning on real-world drug discovery. Among them, he outlined their methods for molecular representation learning, where they designed several algorithmic tools to effectively capture the interactions between proteins and chemical ligands. Our methods comprehensively model the interaction relationships, structures, and dynamic behavior between proteins and ligands. In this presentation, Dr. Zheng showed how these models enable real-world drug development and the discovery of dozens of molecular candidates that have considerable potency across multiple challenging drug discovery scenarios.
Highlighted Presentations in Physical Science Session
In the Physical Science Session, Professor Dawei Ma, Research professor of Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry; Chaired Professor of Southern University of Science and Technology; Chair of the 2024 Physical Science Sub-Committee, introduced the academic backgrounds and research experiences of scholars Dr. Mahipal Ganji, Dr. Jiheong Kang, Dr. Kai Leng, and Dr. Hoi Chun Po in his welcome remark. He also expressed gratitude to the Physical Science Selection Committee Professor Hong Ding, Professor Hongming Weng, and Professor Hiroshi Yamamoto, for their hard work during the selection process.
Dr. Mahipal Ganji, Assistant Professor in the Indian Institute of Science Bengaluru, 2024 Asian Young Scientist Fellowship – Physical Science Fellow, presented a keynote speech on the topic of “Delineating Genome Organization Using Single-Molecule Approaches.” This presentation shared single-molecule imaging and super-resolution microscopy data that provide insights into the mechanisms of DNA compaction and protection. Dr. Ganji pointed out that our genomes are compacted by several orders of magnitude to fit into a small compartment in a hierarchical manner. The specific three-dimensional organization of the genome plays a crucial role in various cellular processes.
Dr. Jiheong Kang, Associate Processor from Seoul National University, 2024 Asian Young Scientist Fellowship – Physical Science Fellow, presented a keynote speech on the topic of “Impact of Supramolecular Chemistry on Soft Material Science.” This talk explored the role of supramolecular chemistry in advancing soft materials science. He delved into the design principles of the supramolecular motifs and polymer structures behind these materials. And he said, the creation of a supramolecular elastomer that exhibits high elasticity, toughness, and autonomous self-healing properties, mimicking human skin. Meanwhile, Dr. Kang believed that achieving long-range assembly is essential to maximize the performance of nanomaterials and polymers in composite structures. To this end, he introduced his group has recently developed an acoustic assembly technique for liquid metal droplets in polymers, and explained the underlying mechanisms and their potential impact.
Dr. Kai Leng, Assistant Professor in The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, 2024 Asian Young Scientist Fellowship – Physical Science Fellow, presented a keynote speech on the topic of “Molecularly Thin 2D Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Perovskite: Structure, Properties and Device Applications.” She pointed out that 2D Organic-Inorganic Hybrid Perovskites (OIHPs) are functional materials that exhibit unique properties. The chemical composition of OIHPs can be easily modified, encouraging researchers to design new crystals with diverse properties. In this talk, she presented recent advancements in molecularly thin 2D OIHPs, focusing on my work with devices such as photodetectors, FETs, and charge-to-spin converters. Dr. Leng and her group also addressed the challenge of determining surface atomic structure of OIHPs. They employed Scanning Tunneling Microscopy (STM) and Qplus AFM to directly visualize surface octahedral tilting in molecularly thin 2D OIHPs. The observed surface-enhanced octahedral tilt was found to correlate with their excitonic and spin properties. Upping the ante in design of new perovskites, they invented a new class of molecularly thin 2D all-organic perovskites, showing significant potential as gate dielectrics for thin-film transistors.
Dr. Hoi Chun Po, Assistant Professor from The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, 2024 Asian Young Scientist Fellowship – Physical Science Fellow, presented a keynote speech on the topic of “Entanglement and Locality of Electrons in Solids.” He pointed out that from basic electronics to semiconductor-based devices, humanity has mastered the art of information processing through electrons. Yet, surprisingly, much remains unknown about the properties of electrons when we start probing them on an even smaller scale—a necessity as we continuously shrink the sizes of electronic components. Dr. Po stated, that in a piece of solid, electrons can lose their individual identities and behave collectively, giving rise to a range of intriguing phenomena, from magnetism to superconductivity and beyond. He and his group explored how the seemingly abstract concepts of entanglement and locality can guide our quest to understand electronic properties. Investigations along these lines could lead to a new paradigm for understanding, predicting, and eventually designing the physical properties of electronic materials.
Highlighted Presentations in Mathematics Session
In the Mathematics Session, Professor Kaoru Ono, Professor of the Research Institute for Mathematical Sciences, Kyoto University, and Chair of the 2024 Mathematics Sub-Committee of the Asian Young Scientist Fellowship, introduced the academic backgrounds and research experiences of AYS Fellows Dr. Kento Fujita and Dr. Man-Chun Lee. He also expressed gratitude to the Mathematical Sciences Selection Committees, Professor Jong Hae Keum, and Professor Gang Tian, for their hard work during the selection process.
Dr. Kento Fujita, Associate Professor from Osaka University, 2024 Asian Young Scientist Fellowship – Mathematics and Computer Science Fellow, presented a keynote speech on the topic of “A Brief Introduction to the K-Stability of Fano Manifolds.” Dr. Fujita's research area is algebraic geometry and focusing on algebraic varieties. He is especially interested in certain “positively-curved” algebraic varieties called Fano manifolds. Dr. Fujita explained the brief history for the K-stability of Fano manifolds, which is recently known to be equivalent to the existence of “good metrics” named Kaehler-Einstein metrics.
Dr. Man-Chun Lee, Assistant Professor from The Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2024 Asian Young Scientist Fellowship – Mathematics and Computer Science Fellow, presented a keynote speech on the topic of “PDE and Geometry.” Dr. Lee pointed out that in geometry, it is classical to classify manifolds using metrics and curvature. It is very often used to use the most canonical metric to serve the purpose and thus, identifying the most canonical metric on a manifold is important. It usually involves solving a partial differential equation. The Ricci flow, a geometric evolution of metrics introduced by R. Hamilton, was later found to be a powerful tool in searching for the best metric. It plays an important role in the resolution of Poincare conjecture, differentiable sphere Theorem, and many geometrization problems. In this presentation, Dr. Lee focused on some applications of Ricci flow on complete non-compact manifolds. Especially he discussed how Ricci flow can be used to study Yau’s uniformization on Kaehler manifolds, Hamilton-Lott pinching conjecture, and its higher dimensional generalization. He also discussed briefly the general behavior of Kaehler-Ricci flow on compact manifolds.
Highlighted Presentations in Computer Science Session
In the Computer Science Session, Professor Kwang-Ting Cheng, Vice-President for Research and Development, Chair Professor of Departments of Electronic and Computer Engineering and Computer Science and Engineering, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, as well as the Chair of 2024 Computer Science Sub-Committee of the Asian Young Scientist Fellowship, delivered a speech. He introduced the academic backgrounds and research experiences of scholars Dr, Ziwei Liu and Dr. Gao Huang, and expressed gratitude to the Computer Science Selection Committees, Professor Katsushi Ikeuchi and Professor Vijaykrishnan Narayanan, for their hard work during the selection process.
Dr. Ziwei Liu, Assistant Professor from Nanyang Technological University, the 2024 Asian Young Scientist Fellowship – Mathematics and Computer Science Fellow, presented a scientific presentation online on the topic of “Multi-Modal Generative AI with Foundation Models.” He stated that generating photorealistic and controllable visual contents has been a long-pursuing goal of artificial intelligence (AI), with extensive real-world applications. It is also at the core of embodied intelligence. In this talk, Dr. Liu discussed their work in AI-driven visual context generation of humans, objects, and scenes, with an emphasis on combining the power of neural rendering with large multimodal foundation models. Their generative AI framework has shown its effectiveness and generalizability on a wide range of tasks from 2D, 3D to 4D.
Dr. Gao Huang, Associate Professor in Tsinghua University, the 2024 Asian Young Scientist Fellowship – Mathematics and Computer Science Fellow, presented a keynote speech on the topic of “Dynamic Neural Networks for Efficient Visual Learning.” He expressed that deep learning models in computer vision, such as CNNs and Vision Transformers, are primarily static; once trained, their computational graphs remain fixed. As a result, these models allocate equal computational resources to different samples and across various pixels or frames, leading to significant computational redundancy. Dr. Huang introduced a family of dynamic neural networks that allocate computation unevenly across varying samples and adaptively adjust their processing both spatially and temporally, conditioned on each individual inputs. In popular image and video recognition tasks, dynamic neural networks can accelerate inference by up to an order of magnitude.