Always up for a challenge

Developing new strengths

After spending 15 years focusing on improving collaboration mechanisms and teaching quality, Tang said, it's time for the school to cultivate new strengths, such as science and engineering subjects like big data and artificial intelligence.

With the release of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area Development Outline in 2019, a national-level strategy aiming to turn Hong Kong, Macao and nine Guangdong cities into a world-class inno-tech center, the region's demand for tech talent will be huge.

To meet the demand, Tang added a new bachelor's program in applied mathematics, his own research field, and recruited some 20 scholars with strong research ability for different disciplines. The school also set up a base in 2020 to transform research results in Zhuhai.

Tang also strengthened scientific collaboration with other universities. To secure more research funding, the school set up several joint research centers with Beijing Normal University, a mainland university enjoying far more national support, to share scientific-study funds and talent.

The school is also in discussion with Baptist University on how to jointly conduct research involving large scientific installations. Due to limited laboratory space, such research is hard to conduct in Hong Kong. The Hong Kong university plans to transfer funds to the Zhuhai school and dispatch its staff there to jointly conduct research.