Research at SYU

HKSYU seeks to enhance its reputation as a leading teaching-led research-active liberal arts tertiary institution so as to produce well-rounded graduates with abilities to think critically, apply their specialist knowledge and be creative in their chosen field of employment.

The University’s research policy aims at enhancing its research culture by:

  • encouraging academic staff to undertake more research for informing and invigorating their teaching;
  • strengthening its capabilities in both basic and applied research that is socially relevant and, where appropriate, collaborative.

The University believes that research enhances the quality of undergraduate education, and leads to the creation of opportunities for students to pursue research postgraduate degrees. It recognizes that it must be fully accountable for the effective management of the public and private resources it deploys towards its research aims, and welcomes the opportunity to act I partnership with the wider community to generate, disseminate and apply knowledge.

Research Foci 

HKSYU’s existing foci of research are interdisciplinarity and evidence-based practice. Our Interdisciplinarity goes with the University’s ‘digital humanities’ strategic development theme that combines social sciences and humanities with digital technology in research and creating knowledge. 

HKSYU has identified several Research Clusters in order to:

  • produce and pool knowledge for informing teaching, learning and further research
  • develop networks with academics, professional associations, industries and communities
  • generate social impact that benefits the society / meets the society’s needs
  • develop and maintain research excellence in terms of profile and impact

Research Clusters

Youth: Identities and Practices
In view of the recent socio-cultural and political environment in Hong Kong where there is a pressing need to better understand our youths, HKSYU colleagues have been engaging in research projects under this Research Cluster.

Marginalized Social Groups: Enhance Understanding and Support
Our colleagues have been conducting research on different marginalized groups and grassroot communities in Hong Kong. Governmental departments, hospitals, rehabilitation centres and NGOs are often heavily involved in the implementation of different stages of these projects. Research findings were published in refereed articles, as well as in teaching kits and seminars directly addressing the needs of policy makers, professional associations and communities.

Heritage, Identities and Governance
We also conduct research on various types of tangible and intangible cultural heritage in Asia. These projects often examine how heritage, identities and governance issues are embedded in everyday practices. Referred publications have been issued and research findings have had a significant impact on public education.)

Research Projects

Many of our colleagues have served as principal investigators of research projects with a wide variety of funding sources, such as Research Grants Council, other governmental departments, non-governmental and private organizations. These research projects provide a better understanding of social problems, social life and cultural practices, as well as enhancing professional services.

Impacts and Knowledge Exchange

While emphasizing the impact of research on teaching and learning, we have simultaneously been engaging in research aimed at producing substantive impact on the various aspects of social life. And, today we are much more immersed in the idea of knowledge transfer – the double loop of transferring knowledge to practice, which impacts our lives, and the assimilation of data from practice, which enriches knowledge and further informs practice.

HKSYU researchers have been studying areas including Sociology, Anthropology, Psychology and Human Research Managementcase that have a wide range of impacts on public education in our research clusters: cultural heritage, supporting disadvantaged social groups and the career development of youths in both local and global contexts.  To read our cases, please visit the website of Research Office. 

Research Centres and Laboratories

A number of research centres and laboratories have been established in HKSYU to initiate and promote innovative and multi-faceted interdisciplinary collaboration in research. This encourages open and constructive dialogue between academics from various disciplines, as well as between the University’s academics and representatives of the local industries, communities and public sector. More importantly, the University strives to provide researchers and students with the capability to migrate their research to the digital age, in which they are able to use digital data to achieve scholarly and research goals, as well as using digital methods to present research findings which will ultimately generate positive impacts that fit the needs of industries, cultural institutions, governments, and educational institutions in the age of technology and the knowledge economy. 

The recent opening of the iFREE Group Innovation and Research Centre sets the main stage for us to move towards this new era. The Centre, which houses a big data lab, a social robotics and digital living lab, and a VR cave, will hopefully . To this end, we have created and sought to continue creating partnerships with leading IT firms such as IBM, Huawei, Amazon Web Services, iFREE, and many others.

Please click here to visit our research centres and laboratories. 

 

Faculty Research Support

Research Office has rolled out 3 internal funds/grants to strengthen academic staff’s research exposure, network and initiatives:

University Conference Grants (UCG) provides funding to support academic staff’s participation in reputable conferences with the aims to foster international research collaboration and facilitate academic staff to develop academic publications in reputable publishing houses

University Research Grants (URG) provides funding for academic staff to conduct pilot study or small-scale research projects with the aims to
strengthen the culture of scholarship and research in HKSYU and facilitate academic staff to further develop submissions to peer-reviewed publications or larger-scale competitive research grants.

Research Office Funding Support provides funding for departments and research centres to organize conferences, seminars and/or workshops to allow the academic staff to build networks with scholars at other institutions and industry practitioners.

More resources for researchers can be found in the website of the Research Office. 

Student Research Support

HKSYU students are highly encouraged to participate in different academic events to broaden their perspectives and knowledge of their interested research areas. Both postgraduate and undergraduate students are active in academic paper presentations at conferences and seminars to exchange views with academic scholars and students from other institutions.