Lack of investment in medium to large science hampers Hong Kong
I would like to echo the call by Tony Chan Fan-cheong, president of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, for Hong Kong's participation in major international science projects ('A sound experiment', August 25).
Although Hong Kong researchers are relatively well funded for small science research, we have no access to medium or large science facilities. This severely handicaps us in pursuing frontier research, as important problems often can only be solved by large facilities. When I try to recruit new professors from overseas to the faculty of science of Hong Kong University, this lack of access is often expressed as an issue of concern.
The Large Hadron Collider that Professor Chan mentioned is one example. It cost more than US$6 billion to build and was developed by a 58-nation consortium. Among the participants are some very small countries, such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Croatia and Cyprus. Surely a place as rich as Hong Kong can afford to be a minor partner along with these countries?
Other multinational, multibillion-dollar science projects planned or under construction include the Square Kilometre Array, Atacama Large Millimetre Array and the James Webb Space Telescope, just to cite a few examples. This international trend in science is good for small countries because, for a very small investment, they can gain access to the most advanced equipment and facilities.
More alarming is our lack of access to medium-sized facilities. These include ocean-going research vessels for earth and oceanic research, and earth-orbiting satellites essential for studies of the environment, agriculture and space science.
The solution for Hong Kong lies in our joining the national effort. China is making heavy investments in all areas of science. What Hong Kong universities can offer is our expertise and maybe small financial contributions to the national effort. Our investment in the major science projects is not necessarily in cash. Often countries join by contributing equipment and manpower. Investment in big science is widely recognised as a gateway to a hi-tech economy. Can we afford to be left out?
Sun Kwok, dean of science, University of Hong Kong
