KIM Won Joon   

BEng in Bioengineering 

The project has been both a challenge and a revelation. It has taught me to navigate the complexities of interdisciplinary research, where I needed to extract necessary information from various fields without extensive prior experience and to communicate effectively with team members from diverse backgrounds so that everyone’s scientific intentions were considered. Moreover, my engagement with commercial sequencing providers further enhanced my understanding of the biotechnology industry, providing me with a holistic view of the modern research landscape where commercial and academic collaborations were becoming an integral part. 

As I continued to contribute to this ground-breaking yet challenging project, I was reminded of the potential impact our work could have on gene therapy. It is a driving force that motivates me daily, inspiring me to delve deeper into biomedical informatics and its power to help advance both basic and translational medicine. The experience has not only enriched my technical expertise but has also sharpened my leadership skills, preparing me to take on future challenges in the dynamic field of bioengineering. 

LEUNG Cheuk Fung Alvin

BSc in Biochemistry and Cell Biology & Chemistry 

Ever since my freshman year, I have been deeply engaged in this UROP project, which has profoundly shaped my academic journey. This invaluable experience has provided me with an unparalleled opportunity to explore the intricate world of rigorous scientific research early on. I vividly recalled my trepidation when I first joined the research team, lacking prior experience in computational research or programming. Undeterred, I embarked on a path of independent learning. The knowledge served as key stepping stones for my subsequent work. 

The iterative nature of research taught me the importance of perseverance, as I learned to accept feedback from my supervisor and fellow members of the research lab, refine my methodologies, and interpret new results. It is only with continual communication between individuals with diverse academic backgrounds that better ideas can be fostered. The culmination of these efforts has been particularly rewarding, as a peer-reviewed paper partially containing works from my UROP project has been recently accepted and published in the prestigious Computational and Structural Biotechnology Journal, in which I am one of the co-first authors. 

LI Yunqi 

BSc in Computer Science and Mathematics

During my UROP, I gained hands-on experience in graph data management and privacy preservation. Working closely with my advisor and peers, I learned how to anonymize data effectively to protect user privacy while ensuring the data's usability for query processing. The project involved extensive coding, data analysis, and experimentation, which honed my technical skills in these areas. 

My UROP experience has solidified my interest in data science and privacy-preserving technologies, and I plan to pursue a Master's degree in Computer Science with a focus on database systems. In the long term, I would like to become a data scientist, developing innovative solutions that protect user data while ensuring efficiency.

LIAO Yi-tsen  

BSc in Economics and Finance 

I’m mostly passionate about the field of judgment and decision-making. I have been cooperating with Professor David Hagmann from the Department of Management on two projects. In our first project, we look into whether public policy focusing on individual behaviors, e.g. labelling and educational campaign, distracts people from systemic changes such as taxes and mandates. Our second project explores the statistical errors that people make when inferences about a company’s efforts on gender diversity are made...   

For students like me who are determined to pursue a career as a researcher, under close mentorship with faculty, I get to see if a career in research is something for me. UROP also provides generous sponsorship for me to attend overseas summer school on behavioural science and present joint works with my supervisor at international conferences in San Francisco and New York. UROP is perfect for students who enjoy freedom in work and who are proactive about pushing the project forward. 

LIU Runsheng 

BEng in Computer Science 

My UROP journey began in my first summer semester at HKUST with UROP1000. Over the next two years, I continued with UROP1100, 2100, and 3100, contributing consistently to the GAInS [Gradient Anomaly-aware Biomedical Instance Segmentation] project. This long-term continuity has allowed me to witness and participate in the full research lifecycle—from ideation and experimentation to publication.

The weekly meetings with Prof. Chen and his Ph.D. students provided a structured and supportive environment. They not only guided me through technical obstacles but also encouraged me to think critically about research problems. Despite the technical complexity of the work, the process felt manageable and highly engaging, thanks to this collaborative setting.

MOK Wan Hin Johnson 

BSc in Mathematics

I participated in UROP for seven semesters, working with Professor Jimmy Fung. Our project aimed to quantify the urban heat island effect based on urban buildings data. We gathered numerous urban data and weather satellite images. Using machine learning techniques, we predicted temperatures over different urban areas. This is useful for urban planning and urban climate studies.

From this project, I gained practical skills on Python programming, machine learning, and analyzing spatial data, beyond what I can learn from my major studies. Since the project content was relevant to another project at the Hong Kong Observatory, I even got an internship there, for developing machine learning models to enhance the accuracy of its regional air temperature forecasts.

Recommended by my supervisor, I also got a summer research opportunity at National University of Singapore for urban heat island studies. I was so grateful that the UROP provided summer school sponsorship. It helped a lot in funding the exchange.

SON Moo Hyun   

BSc in Data Science and Technology

UROP proved to be an eye-opening experience that transcended the boundaries of my conventional university life. While I joined this research journey comparatively late, the timing ultimately did not diminish the profound impact it had on shaping my personal and professional growth.

With the guidance of my professor and seniors, coupled with my own hard work, I culminated in writing a paper that was accepted to an international conference in medical imaging (MICCAI 2024), a notable achievement in the field. Additionally, I had the opportunity to share and present my research to professors and fellow students and was honored with the UROP Champion Award. These experiences not only broadened my academic horizons but also profoundly shaped my future career aspirations. The skills, mindset, and accomplishments I acquired during this journey have become invaluable assets that will undoubtedly serve me well in any professional endeavor I pursue.

YAP Octavius Jessica 

BEng in Chemical Engineering 

I have been participating in three different UROP projects and I really enjoy every bit of it. I met so many mentors that taught me a lot of research skills and helped to shape me into a better researcher. There were times when the research project was stuck and the results were not what we expected, but I think during that time I learned perseverance and resilience in facing struggles as part of the research journey. In the future, I would like to become a researcher while training the next generation of scientists.

YEUNG Siu Ting 

BEng in Aerospace Engineering 

During my research experience, I had the privilege of conducting experiments in the state-of-the-art wind tunnel facility at HKUST. This provided me with invaluable hands-on exposure to advanced aerodynamic testing procedures and offered a unique opportunity to witness how theoretical principles are translated into practical applications. Working in this facility allowed me to gain a deeper understanding of how real-world aerodynamic experiments are designed, executed, and analysed to address complex engineering challenges.

With this foundational research experience, I am eager to further immerse myself in the academic and scientific community. Last year [2024], I was honoured to receive the prestigious Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme, which has enabled me to pursue my postgraduate studies at HKUST. 

YUNG Wing Tung 

BSc in Biochemistry and Cell Biology

One of the most unforgettable experiences of my UROP experience was how we explored and modified our experiment protocols by tests and trials. Unlike in the laboratory courses, where we only had to follow the instructions and the results were known most of the time, we had to develop our own protocols when doing research studies. We could not just finish the work by following the instructions. We needed to keep reflecting and thinking about how to modify different steps in the protocols to better suit our project objectives or make them more efficient.