MAKING SOCIETY FIT FOR AGEING

Hong Kong society is ageing rapidly. In 2018 the city had 1.27 million people over 65, representing 17.9 per cent of the population; by 2038 the number will soar to 2.44 million, or 31.9 per cent of the population. HKU scholars in social sciences, architecture, engineering and medicine have been testing physical and social improvements that would allow the elderly to be more mobile, receive better support for problems like dementia, and have a healthy, meaningful old age.

EMBRACING AN ACTIVE OLD AGE

People can have active, productive and meaningful lives in their senior years, especially with the right systems and support in place.

NO PLACE LIKE HOME

Elderly residents can feel lost and depressed when redevelopment or changing needs force them from the homes they have lived in for decades. HKU scholars are searching for ways to ease the blow.

TECHNO-AGEING

HKU scholars are using robotics and artificial intelligence to develop smart devices and better services for the elderly.

RAISING THE ALARM ON DEMENTIA

About 100,000 people in Hong Kong suffer from dementia, a number that is expected to triple by 2040. Scholars in the Department of Social Work and Social Administration are trying to jumpstart the city’s dementia policy and improve the lives of patients and caregivers.

MOOD ENHANCERS

Elderly people and the caregivers of elderly with dementia all have a high risk of depression. Programmes developed at HKU are helping to lift their mood.

FILLING THE VACUUM

Recent research by HKU’s President and Vice-Chancellor, Professor Xiang Zhang, has caused a stir in the scientific world by demonstrating that vacuums are not empty spaces and by manipulating activity within them.

GUT REACTION

The discovery that an individual’s gut microbes may determine how much benefit they get from exercise, has significant implications for preventing diabetes and for improving exercise efficacy in general.

THE PARADOX OF INFORMATION CONTROL IN CHINA

Chinese law allows access to information on the one hand but restricts it on the other, which has a troubling impact on everything from virus outbreak controls to the country’s new social credit system.

LESSONS FROM THE PAST

A new major archaeological research programme enables students to study the past of Armenia and the Ancient Near East and to excavate an ancient fortress and other settlements. The project also engages the public directly in field archaeology through an interdisciplinary knowledge exchange initiative.

CAPITAL GRAINS

The discovery by HKU plant biotechnology scientists of a protein that can not only increase rice yield but also enhance the grain’s composition and nutritional content marks an important step forward in food security on our crowded planet.

FINDING ANSWERS TO AN AGE-OLD QUESTION

Astronomers shed new light on the origin of globular clusters surrounding giant galaxies.

DEMOCRACY AND JUDICIAL BEHAVIOUR IN ASIA

Judiciaries can shape – and are shaped by – the political systems they operate within, for better or worse. Professor Yap Po-jen of the Faculty of Law has been investigating this interplay between law and politics in Asia.

GREEN BONDS ARE ON THE MONEY

A new approach to financing is found to benefit both shareholders and society.

THE SUSTAINABLE PRACTICE OF BACKPACKING

Backpackers typically try to do things on the cheap in ways that turn out to be good for the planet, as Dr Benjamin Iaquinto of the Department of Geography discovered.