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Macro-Science --- Seeing the big picture of our world
The “Macro-Science Program” is a grass-root effort organized in the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST). What do we mean by “Macro-Science”? It has two meanings: First, it is focused on important or fundamental scientific questions (e.g., origin of our universe or evolution of life). Second, it involves interdisciplinary studies (including physics/cosmology, life science and social science). Today, many leading international universities are aware of the importance of promoting cross disciplinary studies of science in a broader view. For example, Yale, Stanford, Harvard and Cambridge universities all have some sort of research programs that are interested in issues at the intersection of science, technology, and humanity. Their common goals are to break down the barriers that separate scholars specialized in different fields. Therefore, we hope by promoting integrative studies of science in a macroscopic view, we can see a bigger picture of our world.
宏觀科學---如何從“觀微”到“知巨”？
這個項目的目的是在香港科技大學建立一種新的科學研究文化。現在人們關注的主要是技術上的發展。但除此以外，我們更需要在科學和教育上開拓出新的視野。這會讓我們更好地了解這個世界，甚至在探求真理的道路上找到新的方向。現在許多世界頂級大學都意識到，推廣跨學科研究非常重要。例如耶魯、斯坦福、哈佛和劍橋等大學都有一些研究項目，去探討科學、技術和人文相結合的課題。這些項目的共同目標就是要打破阻隔不同領域的壁壘，使不同領域的學者能夠互相啟發。我們希望，通過在宏觀層面的科學研究，我們能夠在“見樹”以外還能“見林”。
Macro-Science Program at HKUST
香港科技大學 宏觀科學計劃
香港科技大學 宏觀科學計劃
Introduction
The motivation of this project is to build a new culture of scientific research at HKUST (the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology). Besides technological development, we want to broaden our view of this world, and to find new directions in our explorations of truth. This program is not a government-supported project. Instead, it is a bottom-up cultural activity voluntarily organized by scholars.
Why we want to organize this program? With the rapid rise of East Asia, Hong Kong is now becoming an important international hub for scientific exchange and innovation. Besides facilitating the technological development, we also need to develop an advanced scientific culture in this area. Hence, our university should build some innovative programs beyond conventional disciplines; they should have high impact potentials and can contribute to the nourishment of a progressive scientific environment.
Program
At present, this Macro-Science Program involves three major parts:
To educate. Starting from 2014, we organized a general course to help UG students to get an updated understanding of our world based on scientific studies. This course is called “Scientific Understanding of Our World”. (See Education)
To build a friendly dialog platform. We encourage faculty members from different disciplines to exchange views on interesting scientific issues. This platform is called the “Macro-Science Salon”. (See Other Activities)
To promote interdisciplinary research on exciting scientific topics from a macroscopic view. This program may involve both scholars from HKUST and visiting fellows from other leading universities.
Many leading universities in the world are now aware of the importance of promoting cross disciplinary studies of science in a broader view. For example, Yale University has a Franke Program in Science and Humanities. Their Introduction statement says: “Academic specialization increasingly leads to isolation among scholars and the disciplines they study, resulting in misunderstanding and the erosion of common intellectual goals of the university. Isolation is also a barrier to research progress on interdisciplinary questions situated between traditional areas of study.” Our purpose of building this Macro-Science program is to break down such barriers.
People
Organizer
Prof. Donald C. Chang
張東才 教授
Prof. Chang studied Physics in the National Taiwan University (1961-65) and obtained a Ph.D. degree (Physics) from Rice University (USA) at 1970. He was Assistant Professor and Associated Professor in the Baylor College of Medicine (Houston, Texas, USA) and Rice University (Physics Dept). In 1991, he joined the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) as a founding faculty member. He was appointed Professor and later Chair Professor. Prof. Chang was a visiting professor in Peking University (1981) , Tsinghua University (1986), and University of California at San Diago (1996), where he collaborated with Prof. Roger Y. Tsien (2008 Nobel Prize in Chemistry). Prof. Chang is currently Professor Emeritus and Adjunct Professor in HKUST.
Prof. Chang has very broad research interests, including bio-medical physics and quantum physics. He was a pioneer in using NMR for detecting cancer, and a major inventor of electroporation. He has published four books, over 130 papers in scientific journals, including Nature, Science, and PNAS, and has more than twenty international patents.
Prof. Chang was the founding President of the Hong Kong Biophysical Society. He was elected a Fellow of the Hong Kong Institution of Science. He had served in many scientific committees. In 2022, he was appointed by the Biophysical Society (USA) as Ambassador for China.
Project Assistant
Project Assistant
Lan Fu
MPhil, Bsc (Hong Kong University of Science & Technology)
Contributors
Prof. King Chow (Div. of Life Science, HKUST)
Prof. Michael Wong (Dept. of Physics, HKUST)
Prof. Yi Wang (Dept. of Physics, HKUST)
Prof. Ning Li (Div. of Life Science, HKUST)
Prof. Kai Tang (Dept. of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, HKUST)
Prof. Tony Chan (Former President, HKUST)
Prof. Karl Herrup (Former Head of Div. of Life Science, HKUST)
Prof. Henry Tye (Institute of Advanced Study, HKUST)
Prof. Kwing-Lam Chan (Institute of Space Science Research, Macau University of Science and Technology)
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