Know more: asanet.org/paul-joosse-named…

Professor Paul Joosse (@PaulJoosse) from HKU’s Department of Sociology has been appointed as co-editor of the prestigious journal Sociological Theory – the first time that position has been held by a scholar based outside North America! The flight between Hong Kong and North America takes roughly fifteen hours. It’s a journey Professor Joosse has made annually for over a decade in order to attend the American Sociological Association's (ASA) annual meeting. This year, however, that geographic distance narrowed in a profoundly historic way. Professor Joosse, an expert in the sociology of charisma, was recently named co-lead editor of the ASA’s theory journal, Sociological Theory - marking the first time the journal's leadership will have a base outside of North America. “Don’t think that if something is far away, or if it’s not part of your cultural heritage, that it’s impossible to publish in these journals, join their editorial boards, or become an editor,” Joosse says, offering encouraging words to younger scholars in Asia. “These things are possible, and I'm continually inspired by what colleagues and students are doing here in the Sociology Department at HKU.” Professor Joosse also encourages students not to see sociological theory as a collection of dusty, old books but as dynamic lens for understanding the world. “Often times, things in your social environment that previously seemed mundane or run-of-the-mill will suddenly pop out into sharp, fascinating relief the moment you apply a particular theoretical framework,” he explains. In his new role, he hopes to further internationalise the journal’s board and ensure that global scholarship truly reflects a diverse range of voices, balancing technological shifts while safeguarding the best of human theoretical imagination. Our warmest congratulations to Professor Joosse on this landmark appointment, as he paves the way for a more globally interconnected and inclusive future in sociological research!

From the Amazon to Southeast Asia, the world’s tropical rainforests are under threat. Ahead of the 62nd Annual Meeting of the Association for Tropical Biology and Conservation (ATBC2026) – one of the most important gatherings of tropical ecologists each year – HKU’s School of Biological Sciences brought experts from around the world together for a pre-conference workshop on climate change, human pressures, and pathways to resilience. Featuring panelists based in the United States, Brazil, Australia, and China, the workshop sought to stimulate international, inter-institutional and interdisciplinary collaboration to overcome some of the biggest challenges facing tropical ecosystems. Talks covered everything from how to manage long-term, large-scale research collaboration projects – an area of particular interest to China-based scholars as the country steps up investment in ecological protection – to local efforts like ongoing restoration work at the Kadoorie Farm and Botanic Garden. “Hong Kong is unique because we’re located in a border tropical region,” says HKU Professor Jin Wu, who helped organise the event. “As an institution, we have a highly international faculty that works across both marine and terrestrial conservation. We can serve as a bridge between traditional centres of ecology research in the US and Europe and an emerging Asia.” #hku #UniversityofHongKong #ESGatHKU #ecology #港大 #香港大學 #生態學

Researchers from @hkumed have found that using a commonly used pain killer (paracetamol or acetaminophen) during pregnancy does not increase the risk of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) or attention‑deficit/ hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) in children. This represents the first study in Hong Kong to apply a rigorous sibling-matched approach to compare siblings from the same mother to effectively account for shared genetic and environmental influences. The findings, published in JAMA Internal Medicine, offer timely reassurance for expectant mothers and clinicians in Hong Kong and globally regarding the safety of paracetamol use during pregnancy. Read more: hku.hk/press/press-releases/…

From graphs to caregiving: at HKU’s Social Technology & Research Lab, the team turned HIN (Heterogeneous Information Network) research into HINCare & TimeTeer — practical, affordable platforms linking volunteers with elders. Key ideas: listen first; build single‑app subscription models so NGOs can join easily; use AI to recommend people-to-people matches that strengthen long-term mutual support; and design for privacy, accessibility and low cost. Not every social-good AI needs the most advanced and expensive model — often what matters most is humility, iteration and partnerships. Want to pilot in your community? Let’s talk. 🤝🧡 #HKUESG #HINCare #HKU #SocialImpact #AIforGood @reynoldcheng

Read more: hku.hk/press/press-releases/… #hku #UniversityofHongKong #heatwave #climate #geography

Researchers at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) have uncovered a critical, under-recognised trade-off in global environmental policies: While essential for improving public health, large-scale air pollution reductions are unintentionally intensifying warm-season surface urban heat islands (UHI) in humid climates. A research team led by Professor @Zhou_HKU, Department of Geography, Faculty of Social Sciences, and Professor Peng Gong, Vice-President and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic Development), Chair Professor of Global Sustainability at the Department of Geography and the Department of Earth Sciences at HKU, has demonstrated that UHI responses to background aerosol mitigation diverge significantly depending on the local hydroclimate. When aerosols are reduced, more downward solar radiation reaches the Earth, warming both urban and rural surfaces. In humid climates, such as East Asia and Indonesia, this creates a severe imbalance. Urban areas, dominated by impervious surfaces like concrete and asphalt, have limited capacity for evaporative cooling. In contrast, surrounding rural areas benefit from the increased sunlight, rainfall, and vegetation growth, which enhance their natural cooling processes. Consequently, urban warming significantly outpaces rural warming, exacerbating the UHI effect. The urgency of this issue is most acute in rapidly urbanising humid zones, including parts of Asia, Africa, and South America. Published in the prestigious journal @NatCities, the findings highlight the urgent need for integrated policies that address both air quality and urban heat adaptation, particularly in rapidly urbanising, humid regions.

Meet the missing piece of the puzzle! 🪐 Professor Nicolas Dauphas, Chair of Cosmochemistry at HKU, is one of the world’s leading planetary scientists and geochemists. When he joined the University in 2025, he saw the chance to be the “missing piece” that could elevate its already excellent Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences to a new level. We asked Professor Dauphas why fundamental research into the galaxy is so important, how HKU-involved space missions like the Mars-bound Tianwen-3 could revolutionise the field, and what drew him to HKU. 🌌 #hku #UniversityofHongKong #science #space #mars #Tianwen3 #港大 #香港大學

🎶💼 Pioneering arts initiative gives creatives the business savvy and tech awareness they need to thrive in today’s music industry. 📖Read and 🎧listen now at the #HKUBulletin: bulletin.hku.hk/teaching_lea…

Patients with back pain and other muscle and bone conditions can wait up to eight years⏳for treatment. An AI-enhanced tool was developed to reduce the bottleneck, and is already in use in three cities. 📖Read and 🎧listen now at the #HKUBulletin: bulletin.hku.hk/knowledge-ex…

pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.25… #hku #UniversityofHongKong #biology #science

A research team led by Professor Chaogu Zheng from @HKUSBS at The University of Hong Kong, in collaboration with scientists from Princeton University and Columbia University, has discovered how sensory-motor circuits — nerve circuits that turn sensory signals into reflex actions — remain reliable even when some genes or neural connections are disrupted. Using the gentle touch reflex of the nematode Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) as a model, the team found that this essential survival response is not controlled by a single biological component. Instead, it is supported by several overlapping mechanisms, including existing alternative neural pathways and molecular components that enable neurons to send and receive signals. These layers of genetic redundancy help maintain the touch response and improve the animal’s ability to escape from predators. The study provides new insight into how nervous systems protect essential behaviours. It shows that robust neural circuits can be built through overlapping genes, synapses, and neural pathways, so that the loss of one component does not necessarily stop the behaviour. “From an evolutionary perspective, the findings suggest that components which appear redundant in a standard laboratory test may still be preserved because they improve survival in real-life situations, such as escaping from predators,” Professor Zheng explained. “In this way, redundancy is not merely a backup system, but part of how neural circuits produce reliable and effective behaviour.”

🎥👀VR technology, now assisted by AI, is changing how stories are told and experienced. Professor Tim Gruenewald of HKUArts has been following VR’s development for over a decade and explains its significance. 📖Read and 🎧listen now at the #HKUBulletin: bulletin.hku.hk/cover-story-…

Want to see their work for yourself? Check out the Global Migration Data Explorer here: socsc.hku.hk/rhps/global-mig…

You’ve heard people say “the world is more connected than ever before.” But what does that mean in practice? What do these connections look like? Where are people leaving, and where are they going? For decades, a complete picture of global migration has eluded researchers – the result of insufficient data, differing definitions, and an overreliance on fixed data points like censuses. Now, HKU sociologist and demographer Professor Guy Abel @guyabelguyabel is using new data sets and innovative new tools like deep learning to fill in the blank spaces on the map. Professor Abel’s most recent paper, published this month in Nature, features a transformative new dataset – developed together with Dr Thomas Gaskin of LSE – showing that global migration nearly tripled in the 2000s, from 13 million people per year in 2000 to 35 million in 2023. Equally important, the pair’s work sheds new light on often-overlooked or misunderstood aspects of the global migration picture, from the rise of South Asian migration to the Middle East to migration within the Global South. “As populations age, migration within the global north is declining and increasing in the global south,” Professor Abel says. “Having a better understanding of these patterns is important. It’s not just about migrating to rich regions, people also move to neighbouring countries.” #hku #UniversityofHongKong #sociology #香港大學 #港大

Read more: hku.hk/press/press-releases/…

The "Jockey Club Children Oral Health Project”, organised by the Faculty of Dentistry at The University of Hong Kong and funded by The Hong Kong Jockey Club Charities Trust, held a "Safeguard Our Children by Oral Health" milestone celebration on June 15! Since its inception in 2019, the Project has conducted oral screenings for kindergarten children in school settings with the objective of identifying caries risk early and implementing preventive interventions. In addition, the Project delivers workshops, seminars, and supplementary educational materials to promote proper oral hygiene among children, parents, and kindergarten teachers, aiming to enhance the overall oral health status of preschool-aged children. Over the past six and a half years, the Project has yielded significant results, successfully reducing the incidence of dental caries among young children. In addition to commemorating these milestones, the event also aimed to update the public on the Project’s progress and outstanding achievements, including following up on Silver Diamine Fluoride treatment effectiveness and reducing dental fear and anxiety among young children.

To learn more about how Dr Andersson is working to conserve Hong Kong’s yellow-crested cockatoos, check out our video here: youtube.com/watch?v=USCp98K8…

A new genomic study by researchers from the HKU School of Biological Sciences (SBS) has found that Hong Kong’s introduced population of yellow-crested cockatoos retains unexpectedly high genetic diversity and could serve as a genetic reservoir for this critically endangered species! Hong Kong is home to around 200 Yellow-crested Cockatoos—about 10% of the remaining global population. Although this urban population is small and isolated, it has so far avoided the severe genetic decline often expected in such cases. Some individuals may even carry genetic lineages that have disappeared from parts of the species’ native range in Indonesia. “Hong Kong’s population presents a natural, 60-year test case for the genetic impacts of interbreeding Yellow-crested Cockatoos subspecies,” says Dr Astrid Andersson of HKU SBS, lead author of the study. “Instead of dismissing urban, introduced populations as ecologically redundant, we should view them as a potential ‘Biodiversity Ark’ that can actively help prevent extinction.”

📕A new book by Professor Xu Guoqi of @ITHC_HKU argues that Chinese and foreigners alike struggle to pin down what is meant by ‘China’ and what exactly defines ‘Chineseness’. 📖Read and 🎧listen now at the #HKUBulletin: bulletin.hku.hk/books/notion…