ACADEMIC TALENT FLOWS IN, BUT NOT ALL PLAIN SAILING
Limited lab space, lack of modern equipment and steep rents deterring more overseas university staff from moving to city, foreign scientists say
Hong Kong has recruited dozens of internationally recognised academics to its universities in recent months, but some said limited laboratory space and lack of modern equipment, as well as high rents, could deter others from opting for the city.
David Parker, 66, became chair professor of chemistry at Baptist University (HKBU) last September after a distinguished career at the prestigious Durham University in England.
Parker, who earned his doctorate from Oxford University, told the Post that HKBU had attracted him to Hong Kong.
“Notably, HKBU chemistry relates to building a community of creative and talented people who can work together in interdisciplinary research,” he said.
The recipient of numerous honours, Parker is a Fellow of the Royal Society and was awarded the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC) Tilden Lectureship and silver medal, as well as the RSC Ludwig Mond Medal for inorganic chemistry.
He was taken on under a government-funded programme designed to lure international talent in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to Hong Kong – the Global STEM Professorship Scheme.
But, after working for about nine months as director of the Jockey Club STEM Laboratory and Global STEM chair professor at HKBU, he said lab facilities in the city were not up to the job.
“Hong Kong does not compare favourably with mainland China, Europe or the US in the provision of high-quality laboratory research space,” Parker said.
“There is an acute shortage of modern research lab space for the chemical and biological sciences.”
Parker added: “Many university labs are overcrowded and lack sufficient key facilities like fume cupboards or controlled temperature and humidity labs.
“There is an unmet and pressing need for the government to launch a modernisation programme through grants for the construction of such facilities, notwithstanding the pressure on space in many university science and engineering departments.”
However, he said he had benefited from multimilliondollar funding through a grant scheme run by the Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust to help buy equipment, computer hardware and software needed to help set up a new research laboratory.
There were 39 academics on the Hong Kong programme in March, with Polytechnic University home to about a quarter of them. About 15 per cent are from overseas and the rest are from the mainland, with experience of study and work in Western countries.
The Education Bureau has told lawmakers that every STEM academic recruited under the scheme could apply for funding to hire up to four researchers.
Takashi Hibiki, 60, a professor in mechanical engineering from Japan, was recruited by City University (CityU) under the government programme in 2021.
Hibiki, who spent 16 years at Kyoto University and 12 years at Purdue University in the US, agreed insufficient lab space could be a problem.
“If we have to conduct demonstration research that requires the use of relatively large experimental equipment, lab space can be a major issue,” he said. “Fortunately, CityU provides sufficient lab space for me.”
He also praised government and university support, which allowed him to have the hardware and software he needed.
Hibiki, an American Nuclear Society Fellow, an Osaka University Global Alumni Fellow and a Fellow of the Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, said he first came to Hong Kong to give a lecture at CityU in 2019.
“It was a conversation with the then-City U president Way Kuo that led me to decide to accept the offer from Hong Kong. Kuo was passionate about higher education,” he explained.
Professors from other countries also highlighted a problem shared with other sectors – the high cost of accommodation.
Chen Qingyan, 64, who has worked as a director at PolyU’s Academy for Interdisciplinary Research since 2021 after he was also recruited under the STEM scheme, said housing prices and tenant regulation made it difficult to call Hong Kong his home and he doubted he would stay long-term.
“The housing condition is really a big issue. In my life, I’ve always lived in my own apartment, our own house,” he said. “Purchasing a property in Hong Kong is an unrealistic dream.”
Chen has worked at top universities in the United States, including the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), for a quarter of a century and has also held posts in the Netherlands and Switzerland. He rents a flat in Hung Hom, but said the landlord could ask him to leave with one month’s notice.
Parker agreed that the cost of living was a deterrent for academics in Hong Kong.
“One key issue in attracting these people is the cost and nature of accommodation,” he said.
Parker also highlighted a shortage of trained personnel at technical, PhD and postdoctoral levels. “We need to attract more international researchers to come to Hong Kong, to train them well and help realise the potential that Hong Kong is capable of for innovative STEM research,” he said.
Public universities also have programmes to recruit talent.
A spokesman for the University of Hong Kong said its “Global Professoriate Recruitment Campaign”, launched in November 2020, had netted 44 distinguished academics from prestigious universities such as Stanford, Princeton, Yale and MIT.
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology said it had recently launched its “30 for 30” Talent Acquisition Campaign to recruit 30 senior academics across six strategic areas covering biomedical science, artificial intelligence, sustainability and green technology.
Chinese University noted that it had added about 100 new non-local academics, including assistant professors and associate professors, each year between 2020 to 2022 under the government scheme or its own recruitment programme.
I’ve always lived in my own apartment, our own house. Purchasing a property in Hong Kong is an unrealistic dream
CHEN QINGYAN, POLYU ACADEMIC