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Month: November 2021

Lingnan University is committed to achieving Sustainable Development Goals

Posted on by Editorial Team

In 2015 the United Nations adopted 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) as the focal point of a global campaign to end poverty, protect the planet, and ensure that every person in the world is in a position to enjoy peace and prosperity by 2030.

The spirit of the SDGs aligns perfectly with Lingnan University’s commitment to “Education for Service”. This commitment is embedded in the university’s research programmes, teaching and learning practices, knowledge transfer activities, social engagement projects, entrepreneurship initiatives, corporate governance, and administration.

While initiatives launched at Lingnan University have had success across the full range of SDGs, some particularly impactful projects are well worth highlighting.

To mitigate the effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on less privileged households, including those in subdivided flats, the Lingnan Entrepreneurship Initiative (LEI) team devised a Mobile UV-C system. This has provided a free and efficient UV disinfection service for 1,000 such homes, helping to prevent the spread of the virus in Hong Kong. Based on this technology, a smart Autonomous UV-C Disinfection Robot was also developed to provide fast and effective UV disinfection in large indoor establishments.

Two other inventions devised by the LEI team have recently received ‘Golds’ at the MUSE Design Awards in the Conceptual Design category. One is a control system that improves wheelchair safety for both users and carers. The other is a transparent air-filtration mask, the 12° Mask, that allows the hearing impaired to read lips while still providing ASTM Level 3 protection, the highest level.

In terms of the UN goals, these innovations fall within the criteria for achieving SDG 3, Health and Well-being; SDG 4, Quality Education; and SGD 9, Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure.

To help graduates in tackling the adverse effects of the pandemic, Lingnan established the 2020 Graduate Support Fund. The assistance provided by the fund ranges from training and tuition fee waivers to psychological counselling. More broadly, the increased range of  financial aid Lingnan University offers local and non-local students is in line with the aims of SDG 1, No Poverty; SDG 10, Reduced Inequality; and SDG 4, Quality Education.

Because it is often possible to achieve a greater impact working together with other institutions and bodies, Lingnan has formed several key external partnerships. One such collaboration is with the South China University of Technology, which has resulted in the establishment of the Joint Research Centre for Greater Bay Area Social Policy and Governance. This exciting project fulfils key criteria in SDG 17, Partnerships for the Goals, and SDG 8, Decent Work and Economic growth.

In partnership with the Hong Kong Jockey Club, and in line with SDG 3, Good Health and Well-being, and SDG 17, Partnerships for the Goals, the three-year LU Jockey Club Gerontechnology and Smart Ageing Project has been established to support local communities, educators, students, service providers, and most importantly, the elderly and their carers.

More information on the contribution Lingnan University has made to achieving the full spectrum of SDGs can be found on the University’s SDG website.

Thammasat University Rector on how universities can adapt to Gen Z students

Posted on by Thammasat University

Associate Professor Gasinee Witoonchart, Rector of Thammasat University, says that Gen Z was identified as those born during 1997-2012 which is the era where technology completely changed the way of life in all aspects.

“Thai universities must consider carefully because these people will be new members of the university system. They expect new experiences and require new competencies to cope or live in a changing world,” Professor Gasinee says.

“Universities, which include all organizations, must first change their mindset in educational management. We need to understand that Gen Z people will be sceptical about university system. Universities are no longer the “choice”.”

“University administrators must have the courage to change, select people who are ready to change and reject those who refuse to change in order to move forward. The provided courses must be beneficial for a future career. Students do not care whether it is a public or private university as long as they are guaranteed that they will be able to make a living in the future,” Professor Gasinee adds.

“Universities then need to build an image and communication channel for this generation who has escaped from the obsolete world which includes teaching methods and teachers. This generation expects a classroom that combines a variety of technologies, including textbooks, online videos, VR and AR technologies, using games and new techniques for learning as well as interaction with peers across the university through various online media.”

Professor Gasinee adds that universities must have good measures to support Gen Z people who grew up in an era that accepts diversity in society.

In addition, the convenience of online learning and contact with digital technology at the cost of a lack of human touch and close contact will cause this generation to face more stress than the previous generation. Mental health problems are therefore a problem that universities must handle properly. Professor Gasinee explains that there are agencies that are available to help.

“We can create an extensive communication channel with a wide range of supportive activities and therapies to reduce stress for Gen Z and make them feel like they are not left alone.”

“There are still many challenges from Gen Z that have an impact on education that will be discussed in the future, but currently, universities need to consider and adapt themselves to meet the new expectations and move towards that can answer the needs of Gen Z and the next generation. Otherwise, the university system would be depreciated as a place that issues a certificate,” the Rector concludes.

TPU receives special grant as Research University within Priority 2030

Posted on by Tomsk Polytechnic University

Tomsk Polytechnic University has passed the additional selection for receiving a special grant within the Priority 2030 program. The selection results were officially announced on October 5. In accordance with the results, TPU entered the first group of universities in the Research Leadership track.

Priority 2030 is the largest national program to support the development of universities in post-Soviet Russia. It started for the first time in 2021. To take part in the Program, Russian universities had to present complex development programs for the next 10 years. The selection was made in two stages. The first selection was made for the basic grant that is equal to up to 100 million rubles per year, then, the second selection was made for special grants in various tracks. The amount of the special grants is set by the Competition Committee, the maximum amount of this grant is 1 billion rubles.

As a result, the Expert Committee selected 106 universities for the basic part of the program and 46 universities for the special one. For the special grant, the universities were divided into three groups. The winners of the first group will receive 994 million rubles, while the winners of the second group will receive 426 million rubles and the winners of the third one will receive 142 million rubles until the end of 2022.

The university team headed by Acting Rector Dmitry Sednev defended the TPU program in two selection stages.

“The program presented to the Expert Committee and received high appraisals is the result of serious work of the large TPU team during the last year. It describes the current situation in all key areas of the university work: from research and education to management of our campus, the youth policy and financial model, and the most essential part of the program is goals and specific steps to develop these areas during the next decade. The TPU program was formed taking into account already existing groundwork, the best experience of TPU members, but the program is focused on the future. At the moment, there is a strategy and firm plan of action. I am grateful to every TPU member, whose work allowed creating this program and helping to implement it,” Dmitry Sednev says.

The TPU development program consists of three strategic projects. These are Energy of Future, Healthcare Engineering and New Engineering Education. The goal of the first project is to provide technological and staff groundwork for the transition of the Russian Federation to environmentally friendly resource-saving energy, decarbonization of the industry, improvement of recovery efficiency and deep conversion of hydrocarbon raw materials, new technology development of nuclear power, formation of new sources, methods of transportation and storage of energy.

The second project entitled New Engineering Education will allow forming a system, environment for the creation and verification of new models of engineering education and technological entrepreneurship in Russia.

The Healthcare Engineering project aims at creating a federal reference center for experimental medical technology to accelerate the transition from ideas and concepts to clinically approved products.

Dmitry Sednev noted that three more Tomsk universities: Tomsk State University, Tomsk State University of Control Systems and Radioelectronics, and Siberian State Medical University became receivers of the special grant of Priority 2030. He also emphasized that such an appraisal demonstrates the high potential of the research and education complex of Tomsk Oblast, as well as confirms that joining efforts within the Big University project gave the synergetic effect for each its member and the entire region.

UiTM Olympic athletes have gone from strength to strength

Posted on by geikyong

Two national sailors who are students from the Faculty of Sports Science and Recreation (FSR), Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) represented Malaysia at the Tokyo Olympic Games that took place from July 23 to August 8, 2021.

Seasoned national sailor Khairulnizam Afendy is a three-time Olympian and a final year Bachelor of Sports Science (Hons) student whereas Olympic debutant Juni Karimah Noor Jamali is the first-year Diploma in Sports Studies student.

In the men’s Laser Standard event, Khairulnizam succeeded in improving his ranking for three consecutive Olympic Games as he finished at the 28th spot as compared to the 35th and 47th spots in Rio 2016 and London 2012, respectively.

Out of the ten races, his best performance was recorded in race six where he finished at 13th place. The 28-year-old was also the first Malaysian to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics after he took home the silver medal in the Laser Standard event at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.

Juni, along with her teammate Nuraisyah Jamil, qualified for the Tokyo Olympic Games after finishing 5th in the women’s international 470 events at the 2019 Asian Championships in China. Although the duo faced a tough debut at the Games, including a damaged spinnaker in race eight that sent them to the bottom of the standings, the sailing pair fought back with an 11th place finish in the last race and completed their maiden Olympic campaign at the 19th spot.

Despite facing unprecedented challenges due to the COVID-19 pandemic, Khairulnizam and Juni gave their very best at the Tokyo Olympic Games. Undeterred by the pressure and stress that come with the anticipation of competing against the world’s best, Khairulnizam and Juni even elected to take their online semester examinations while under quarantine in Tokyo ahead of the Games. Before leaving for Tokyo, UiTM developed and delivered bespoke polyester spandex sailing apparel that are adaptable to both hot and cold climates to Khairulnizam.

The Faculty of Sports Science and Recreation, UiTM is proud of their accomplishments. The perseverance, dedication and determination that they have shown to achieve academic excellence, as well as their athletic dreams, will be an inspiration to all the other student-athletes in UiTM to follow in their footsteps.

President University’s Law student makes it to finals of a language competition

Posted on by President University

Ribka Hidayati Munthe, a student of the Law Study Program, President University (PresUniv) batch 2020, was successfully selected as a finalist for Duta Bahasa Jawa Barat, a language competition.

Ribka said, “The special requirements to become a Duta Bahasa Jabar are the ability in Bahasa, master one of the regional languages in West Java, such as Sundanese, Cirebonan, or Malay-Betawi, and master a foreign language. The finalists of the Duta Bahasa must also have artistic skills from West Java.

“Through this election, Ribka said, she wants to improve the technology sector’s language. She persuades people to apply the Trigatra Balai Bahasa, namely, prioritizing Indonesian, preserving regional languages, and mastering foreign languages.

The selection of Duta Bahasa Jabar was held from March 6 to June 15, 2021, online and offline in Bandung, West Java. In this election, Ribka competed with 295 applicants and was successfully selected as a finalist to participate in the final stage at Hotel el Royale, Bandung. This selection consists of several selections, namely psychological tests and the Foreign Language Proficiency Test, marathon essay writing, and interviews.

“After selecting Duta Bahasa finalist, a special program must be carried out to help implement the Balai Bahasa program. This program is in the form of a Language Mutual and Language Criteria program created by the Duta Bahasa through a linguistic design in the field of technology which the language ambassadors have finalized during the selection process,” she concluded.

HKAPA names its on-campus expansion building as “TML Artist Block” in recognition of support from Toyo Mall Limited

Posted on by Communications Office

The On-campus Expansion Building of The Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (the Academy) has been named after Toyo Mall Limited (TML) as “TML Artist Block”, in appreciation of the staunch support by TML. The generous donation from TML is a significant contribution to the establishment of an endowment fund to support the ongoing development of the Academy.

To recognise Toyo Mall’s support, the Academy organised a naming ceremony of TML Artist Block on September 24, 2021. The ceremony was officiated by the Executive Director of Toyo Mall Limited, Mr Francis Law; Dr Elina Leung; Academy Council Chairman, Professor Stephen Chow and Academy Director, Professor Gillian Choa.

Academy Council Chairman Professor Stephen Chow expressed his heartfelt gratitude to Mr Francis Law, Dr Elina Leung, and Toyo Mall for their generous donation and continued support. “This is the biggest gift the Academy has received in recent years. The Academy has successfully applied for the Government’s Eighth Matching Grant Scheme with this donation. The endowment fund established by the donation would provide important support to the Academy in nurturing students to become all-around performing artists.”

Mr Francis Law, Executive Director of Toyo Mall Limited, remarked, “We are very glad to be introduced to the Academy by Professor Stephen Chow and be provided a good understanding of the Academy’s mission and development. The Academy has remained the first in Asia for three consecutive years in the latest QS World University Rankings’ Performing Arts category, which has proven its great success. We are thankful to the Academy for naming this building ‘TML Artist Block’. We sincerely wish that the Academy will continue to nurture more outstanding performing artists and professionals for Hong Kong and scale new heights.”

Academy Director Professor Gillian Choa added, “The Academy has been facing many challenges under the pandemic, so we are particularly grateful for the generous donation from Mr Law, Dr Leung and Toyo Mall. The endowment fund established with their donation will provide stable support to the Academy’s developments.”

St Petersburg University and the global online learning platform Coursera: prospects of cooperation

Posted on by Alina Perevizintsova

St Petersburg University has welcomed a Coursera delegation comprising its Director of partnerships for EMEA and APAC Nayeli Wild and its Associate Director for University and Industry Partnerships Nora Juraboeva.

St Petersburg University has been a Coursera partner since 2017. Today, the platform hosts 169 online courses with more than 840,000 students. With its impressive indicators, the University ranks among the top five Coursera universities. With its predominant number of online courses posted on the platform, it has become number one in Europe.

During the meeting, the Coursera leadership and Marina Lavrikova, Senior Vice-Rector for Academic Activities, discussed the prospects of joint courses involving the University. Among them were objectives to launch: digital master’s programmes; master-track certificate programmes; and some pilot courses for specialities in various fields of study. They also gave their attention to the issues on programmes taught in English and on how to increase the relevancy of the standard courses.

The platform’s most sought-after online courses are: ‘Japanese for Beginners’, ‘Neurolinguistics’, ‘Competitive Programmer’s Core Skills’, ‘Psychology of Consciousness’, and ‘Psycholinguistics’.

The participants of the meeting visited the St Petersburg University Centre of E-learning Development. The state-of-the-art equipment of the video studio impressed them greatly. After that, the guests had an excursion around the University.

‘The spirit of generation continuity prevailing at the University resembles me Oxford where I studied,’ noted Nayeli Wild.

TPU scientists study how to adjust MXene properties

Posted on by Tomsk Polytechnic University

Scientists of Tomsk Polytechnic University jointly with their colleagues from China have conducted an extensive analysis of the latest data in processing MXenes, new two-dimensional inorganic materials. The research findings are published in the article of Chemical Engineering Journal.

MXenes, a new family of nanomaterials, were discovered around 10 years ago. These are two-dimensional materials consisting of transition metals, carbon and/or nitrogen. MXene thickness is only a few atoms, due to which these materials become the best option to be used as efficient accelerators, chemical sensors.

Although, at the moment, the new material process is imperfect — impurities and defects can be contained in a processed MXene. It leads to the fact that the properties of experimentally processed materials are seriously distinguished from theoretically predicted ones. Moreover, these materials are distinguished by low chemical stability in the air, their mechanical properties also require improvement. At the moment, various strategies, for instance, post-processing by alloying, functional group modification, composite formation are used for the improvement of MXene properties.

“Our research team studied strategies, which will help better adjust the properties of these new materials and summarized the most highly promising. There is one specific strategy, which, in our opinion, is the most essential. It is the formation of composite structures. When forming composites based on MXenes and polymers, chemical and mechanical stability improve, however, electrical conductance declines,” Evgeniya Sheremet, Professor of the TPU Research School of High-Energy Physics, one of the article authors, says.

Raul David Rodriguez Contreras, Professor of the TPU Research School of Chemistry and Applied Biomedical Sciences, a member of the international research team, adds that TPU was the first to develop a method that allows processing polymer composites with various nanomaterials as fillings.

“Such composites are distinguished by their electrical conductance, chemical stability and mechanical strength. In this case, laser irradiation is used for processing. It is a strategy, we are adjusting to MXenes,” he explains.

As the scientists specify post-processing allows combining MXenes with other 2D materials, forming composites using new processes (laser irradiation, 3D printing), as well as discovering new MXene structures. Furthermore, post-processing is also aimed at solving more practical-oriented tasks. For instance, developing more efficient methods of material synthesis, methods for controlling surface quality, as well as using MXene in flexible electronics and wearable devices such as sensors, optical lenses, membranes for filtration and water purification).

The research work was conducted jointly with the partners from the Shanghai Institute of Ceramics of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and the University of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The scientists intend to continue researching MXene properties.

“The next research stages are experiments to adjust electrical, mechanical, physical and chemical MXene properties and composites based on MXenes for using obtained materials in the energy industry, ecological applications, sensorics. The combination of MXenes with other two-dimensional materials for the formation of quantum heterostructures is a highly promising research area. For instance, MXenes can complement properties of other 2D materials modifying electrical conductance, plasmonic, electrochemical and catalytic properties,” the scientists say.

International Student Forum 2021

Posted on by Corporate UCYP

On the 14th of August 2021, an ‘International Student Forum 2021 – Expand Your Horizon’ program was held online through the Zoom application, with an estimated 200 people in attendance.

The program was attended by Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Professor Dr Noorul Ainur binti Mohd Nur, UCYP Chairman, Board of Governors and Professor Emeritus Dato’ Dr Ahmad bin Haji Zainuddin, UCYP Vice-Chancellor.

The discussion featured panellists from three institutions which are University College of Yayasan Pahang, Universitas Negeri Padang (UNP), and Imperial College London, who discussed psychological wellbeing among students and underlined the importance of taking the issue seriously.

In a speech by Professor Emeritus Dato’ Dr Ahmad bin Haji Zainuddin, he said that the freedom we once had is long gone as a result of the unanticipated COVID-19 outbreak.

“In studying, we have lost face-to-face interaction between students and instructors, as well as the dormitory environment,” he continued.

Professor Emeritus Dato’ Dr Ahmad bin Haji Zainuddin advised students to communicate frequently with friends and family members to help them cope.

Apart from that, Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Professor Dr Noorul Ainur binti Mohd Nur shared that the psychological wellbeing subject has affected her because it was taboo to talk about psychological wellbeing in the 1990s. “I am glad that this generation is open about this subject”.

At the same time, Tan Sri Dato’ Sri Professor Dr. Noorul Ainur binti Mohd Nur suggested that the university needs to create a strong support structure in order to aid students with their psychological well-being, including qualified counsellors.

Thammasat University and ThaiHealth promotes social telemedicine to fight COVID-19

Posted on by Thammasat University

Thammasat University, ThaiHealth and their network promoted social telemedicine innovations to assist volunteers in addressing problems during the COVID-19 crisis.

Prof. Rapeepan Kumhom, Dean of the Faculty of Social Administration, Thammasat University as the project leader said that according to the project operation, the problem of patients being bullied, discriminated and blamed was found resulting in depression and risk of suicide.

The project trained the social workers who volunteered from all sectors to work on an online platform. They were trained on basic counselling, empowerment skills, counselling techniques for cognitive behavioural therapy and child care. This is to develop social workers’ skills including providing a social telemedicine platform to follow up with patients as an assessment tool that will reduce the work process of social workers and facilitate care planning.

Social media platform for telemedicine is beneficial for the development of treatment result monitoring and evaluation system allowing patients to have continuous health care, good quality of life having good relationships within the community, get easier and faster access to the public health care system, and it enables an increase of efficiency of health services so that patients are not abandoned if there is another crisis in the future. Therefore, social workers needed to develop the competence for the use of digital platforms that have been developed and deployed in social works.

Dr. Kachirat Prak-Eko, Director of Health System Development Support Office, Thai Health Promotion Foundation (ThaiHealth) said, “ThaiHealth promoted the project of social workers’ competency development and social care model empowering communities in surveillance, managing social care for patients including those affected by the COVID-19 pandemic since the beginning of the first wave. ThaiHealth together with a team of social workers from the Faculty of Social Administration, Thammasat University and Thammasat University Field Hospital, Public and Private Sector Network, a total of 11 network partners have operated at the community level. During the 2nd and 3rd wave of outbreaks, network partners had constantly developed their work.”

“Recently, Social Telemedicine has been developed as a social care platform that connects to the primary care system and the primary care network. It has enhanced the efficiency of the referral systems, social rehabilitation therapy and monitoring of social care in the community.”