Hong Kong Metropolitan University's Shenzhen Institute gains mainland public institution status

Hong Kong Metropolitan University has registered its Shenzhen Research Institute as a public institution on the Chinese Mainland, a status that enables the new platform to seek government funding, collaborate with state entities and recruit talent across the country.

The Institute, which began operations in its first phase last June and held its official opening in March, currently provides 670 square metres of wet and dry laboratory space. Plans for second and third phases are already underway and will add a further 800 square metres of laboratory facilities.

Applied research across the Greater Bay Area

HKMU is positioning the Shenzhen base as a bridge between industry, academia and research, designed to translate research into real-world impact. The Institute currently houses a team of about 20 principal investigators and researchers from the University, along with about 30 research and other staff members recruited by the Institute and based there.

The Institute has already secured its first grant, worth approximately RMB 2 million, from the Science, Technology and Innovation Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality. Its new status as a public institution allows it to engage with different stakeholders across the country, including government, industry and tertiary institutions, to receive support for research projects and talent recruitment, according to Prof. Kwok. The Institute is actively applying for various Mainland research grants and funding to diversify its research funding sources.

Strategic focus areas and industry partnerships

The Institute concentrates on four major areas in its early stages, with 12 projects currently underway: biomedical life science, net zero and environmental technologies, quantum technology, and digital fabrication and art-tech.

Among its initiatives, HKMU researchers studying the mangrove ecosystem have a longstanding collaboration with Shenzhen University and the administrative body of Guangdong Neilingding Island-Futian National Nature Reserve. This is the base from which the Institute will work to establish a world-class research team dedicated to both fundamental and applied studies of mangroves and coastal wetlands.

Other plans include joint explorations into optoelectronic engineering and healthcare robotics with the Zhongshan Institute of Changchun University of Science and Technology, and into wireless communications with Shenzhen Technology University.

Prof. Kwok believes that HKMU will benefit from the close connections between its Mainland partners and local enterprises, which could expedite the commercialisation of research outcomes and benefit society.

Growing patent portfolio and licensing success

As the city's leading university of applied sciences, HKMU has been committed to advancing research and development in recent years. Since filing its first batch of applications for research outcomes made under its auspices in 2023, HKMU has acquired or sought patents for more than 70 items.

Last year, the University secured its first intellectual property licensing agreement, allowing a health-care firm based in the United Kingdom to further develop an early detection technology for prostate cancer for clinical application.

HKMU President Prof. Paul Lam Kwan-sing has previously emphasised that the University must focus its research efforts on specific strategic areas given its status as a self-financing institution, which came with comparatively limited resources. He called for HKMU research to be application-oriented, with the dual aim of tackling real-world problems and enhancing teaching and learning.

The establishment of the Shenzhen Research Institute represents a concrete step in that direction, providing the infrastructure, partnerships and regulatory framework needed to pursue applied research at scale across the Greater Bay Area.

Source: South China Morning Post