Research Centres - Hong Kong Baptist University - Academic ...

CIE Wellness Promotion Centre
The CIE Wellness Promotion Centre is set up with the mission
to enhance the quality of life of Hong Kong people through the
provision of quality wellness programmes. The goals of the
Centre are:
1. To provide quality wellness educational programmes and
activities to diverse populations;
2. To provide opportunities for students of the Hong Kong
Baptist University to develop skills in serving diverse
populations;
3. To provide opportunities for the staff and students to be fully
integrated with the community through sharing of resources;
and
4. To contribute towards building a cohesive community that has
a strong sense of social responsibility.
Comparative Governance and Policy Research
Centre
The Comparative Governance and Policy Research Centre (CGPC)
was established in June 2009. By the endeavour of department
colleagues, the Department of Government and International
Studies (GIS) has developed its research strength in the area of
comparative policy research. Besides getting well-known by
developing academic programmes, the Department proposed
to establish the CGPC which can let the community further
understand the research focus of the Department. In addition,
with the establishment of the Centre, it is hoped that the Centre
membership can be offered that will enhance the Department's
ability to compete for government and non-government policy
research.
Goals
The Centre is established to provide a branding platform for
research and consultancy to the members of GIS Department,
its affiliated and associated colleagues in academia and the
community. It also enables and enhances co-operation and
management of resources for research and consultancy inside
HKBU and in the outside community.
Objectives
To promote better governance by:
1. Providing an institutional, organizational and managerial
platform for policy-related international comparative research
and for the dissemination of research results;
2. Promoting comparative policy research of global significance,
with a special focus on policy of EU-Asian significance;
3. Promoting international comparative research methods;
4. Educating internationally oriented best-practice (quality
assurance) and benchmarking (metrics of evaluation) policy
research; and
5. Seeing international, governmental, academic, community
and business partners to support, promote and employ
programmatic research into public perceptions of and
participation in public policy formulation, evaluation and
reform.
Croucher Institute for Environmental Sciences
The Institute for Natural Resources and Environmental
Management was selected by the Croucher Foundation for naming
as a Croucher Laboratory in celebration of the Foundation’s 25th
anniversary in 2004. The Institute has been re-named as Croucher
Institute for Environmental Sciences (CIES).
The main objective of the Institute is to promote interdisciplinary
research in the management of our natural resources including
air, soil, water, biological resources, and the large amount of
waste materials we generate. The Institute has been involved in
research and consultancy projects related to environmental impact
assessment, revegetation of derelict land and treatment and
recycling of industrial, agricultural and domestic wastes, with the
emphasis on the use of relatively low cost technology.
In the past few years, we have established a strong collaboration
with other local institutions, government departments, mainland
institutions and foreign institutes in waste management,
environmental contamination and toxicity assessment research.
For examples, we have formed three Joint Open Laboratories with
the mainland institutes—the Joint Open Laboratory on “Soil and
Environment” with the Nanjing Institute of Soil Science of the
Chinese Academy of Sciences, the Joint Open Laboratory on “Pearl
River Delta Environment Research” with the School of Life
Sciences of the Zhongshan University, and the newly established
Joint Institute of Environmental Science with the Research Centre
for Eco-Environmental Sciences of the Chinese Academy of
Sciences. In addition, we also have research collaboration with
the United Nations Environment Programme, the CSIRO Land
and Water of Australia and the University of Surrey of the UK.
The CIES organizes international conferences regularly for
facilitating the inter-flow of new technology and research findings.
On the other hand, the CIES also provides training opportunities
for civil servants, personnel from private establishments,
postgraduate students and technical staff from tertiary institutions,
by organizing regular training programmes, workshops and
seminars catering to regional needs such as the MSc programme
in Environmental and Public Health Management, the Croucher
Advanced Study Institutes: Restoration and Management of
Derelict Lands and Wetland Ecosystems in Asia: Function and
Management, etc.
Dr Stephen Hui Research Centre for Physical
Recreation and Wellness
The Dr Stephen Hui Research Centre for Physical Recreation and
Wellness was established and inaugurated on 27 December 1996.
The University is the pioneer in the area of providing professional
training for workers in the field of health fitness and recreational
management. Since this is a new field not only in Hong Kong but
also in the Asian countries, it is essential that research projects
be conducted in this area to generate data for teaching and to
provide norms for information and comparison. The focus on
the development of physical recreation is important because it
represents both the means and the ends of achieving wellness
and increased productivity. The establishment of the Research
Centre would further enhance the linkage between research and
instruction, as well as in the exchange of ideas and dissemination
of research findings.
The major objectives of the Research Centre are as follows:
Research
The focus on the development of physical recreation and wellness
will be highlighted with research in the following areas:
1. Administrative system and policy on promotion and
development of wellness through physical recreation—past,
present and future as well as from a comparative perspective.
2. Acquisition of lifetime sports and recreation, and the role of
school, national sports associations, clubs and other agencies.
3. Physiological implications of various lifetime sports and
recreation on achieving wellness.
4. The prevention of obesity and cardiorespiratory deceases.
5. The incidence of injuries, physiological demands of various
activities, and the influence of gender and age on various
physiological parameters.
6. Development of sports and recreation facilities and
programmes.
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Research Centres
Academic Programmes
An international conference will be held biennially to promote the
awareness of the important of physical recreation and wellness.
At the same time, it would also provide opportunities for exchange
of ideas and interaction with overseas experts in this area. A
referred edited book will be published on a biennial basis.
A journal is published biannually to disseminate information in
this area and made available to local scholars free of charge.
A certificate course entitled Professional Certificate in Fitness
Instruction is jointly organized by the Centre and the School of
Continuing Education.
Professional Services
The Centre can also provide professional consultation on specific
projects if requested.
High Performance Cluster Computing Centre
The High Performance Cluster Computing Centre (HPCCC) at
the Hong Kong Baptist University was established in 2003 with
the acquisition of a 64 node dual CPU PC cluster funded by
the UGC under a teaching development grant. Its purpose is to
provide a learning and research facility for students from various
academic disciplines within and outside the Hong Kong Baptist
University in the area of parallel/distributed computing. In May
2009, HPCCC acquired a PowerEdge M600 Cluster through
a UGC Special Equipment Grant. This facility is currently
the fastest machine in Hong Kong and ranked 486 on the June
2009 release of the TOP500 list of supercomputers worldwide.
As a result, HPCCC is in a very good position to support high
performance computation in various academic disciplines in the
territory.
Over the years, the Centre has assisted a number of teaching
and research programmes and conducted workshops to promote
cluster computing in Hong Kong. Tutorials are given on regular
basis to introduce beginners to cluster computing. An updated
list of software and weblinks to online resources is maintained.
The management team and technical staff have maintained good
working relations with vendors, the grid computing community
in Hong Kong and the neighboring Guangdong province to
stay abreast of the latest developments, acquired the expertise
and experience for hardware and software maintenance, and
implemented an efficient user-support system. More details can
be found at HPCCC’s website http://www.sci.hkbu.edu.hk/
hpccc/.
With the continuing expansion of the tertiary education system in
Hong Kong and the drive towards cutting-edge research in novel
functional materials, nanotechnology, information technology and
various interdisciplinary fields, the demand for high performance
computing facilities can only become greater. HPCCC will
continue to strive to excel in its unique role to support academics
and students in their day-to-day teaching and research activities,
to promote cluster computation in Hong Kong through workshops
and conferences, and to foster interdisciplinary, institutional,
and international collaboration in the area of high-performance
computation.
HKBU–UIC Joint Institute of Research Studies
The HKBU–UIC Joint Institute of Research Studies (JIRS) was
established jointly by the Hong Kong Baptist University and
the Beijing Normal University–Hong Kong Baptist University
United International College (UIC) in July 2008. It aims to
create research and postgraduate training opportunities for both
institutions, through which they can complement one another in
research and development. Specifically, JIRS aims to facilitate
and enhance co-operation and collaboration in graduate studies,
research and development between (1) HKBU and UIC, and (2)
JIRS and research institutes in mainland China and overseas.
Research Postgraduate Programmes
JIRS is responsible for managing the MPhil and PhD programmes
of HKBU in UIC. Academic staff of HKBU and UIC who are
appointed as JIRS Fellows could be the principal supervisor(s) or
co-supervisor(s) of the MPhil and PhD students stationed at UIC.
The research degrees are awarded by HKBU.
Taught Postgraduate Programmes
JIRS is also responsible for managing the taught postgraduate
degrees programmes offered by HKBU at UIC or jointly by
HKBU and UIC (including those jointly offered by HKBU/UIC/
HKBU-UIC and other research institutes in mainland China or
overseas).
Other Activities
JIRS also provides post-doctoral posts for HKBU and UIC. It
endeavours to initiate, host, organize and manage academic
conferences, seminars and meetings for HKBU, UIC or any other
research institutes of international repute. Consultancy work
for external organizations and commissioned work on approved
projects will be carried out.
For more information, please visit the following web site at
http://uic.edu.hk/jirs.
Hong Kong Energy Studies Centre
Energy is an important issue in the contemporary world. Energy
demand and supply, pricing, trade, consumption, conservation
and pollution problems are highly relevant and significant topics
in any modern society.
Energy problems impinge upon quite a few disciplines. Their
resolution calls for the cooperation of experts from various fields
like economics, politics, geography, engineering, architecture,
planning, environmental studies and the natural sciences.
Objectives
The Hong Kong Energy Studies Centre at Baptist University aims
at playing a coordinating role in linking up energy specialists and
interested parties from the various disciplines among the tertiary
institutes and other firms or organizations in tackling energy
issues, with particular emphasis on Hong Kong and Chinese
energy.
Research
Specifically, the Centre will focus on the following tasks:
1. To carry out joint research projects with energy specialists.
2. To hold seminars, workshops and conferences on energy.
3. To formulate and execute policy studies on energy issues
with a view to presenting the results to the relevant bodies or
authorities.
4. To disseminate knowledge relating to energy, as well as
serving the Hong Kong community by educating the general
public about the complex issues facing energy.
The Centre has built up an international network of energy
specialists, including local experts from the universities, energy
firms and consultancy companies as well as foreign experts, to
carry out international energy conferences, focusing on Asian
energy. Since 2001, five international energy conferences have