Welcome

Inspiring a culture for sustainable innovation.

Pushing the boundaries of innovation, making new discoveries and establishing new research paradigms.

About the school
Committed to pursuing cutting-edge research, making groundbreaking discoveries and establishing new research paradigms.
Our quality and well-balanced education places particular emphasis on grit, curiosity and creativity…
At the School of Science, we promote a vibrant and dynamic environment that emphasizes academic excellence, scholarship, innovation and collaboration.
Yung Hou WONG
DEAN OF SCIENCE
Events
Other Format | 02 Jul 2024
2024 Summer Research Program
The Summer Research Program is designed for outstanding end-of-year 3 undergraduate students who are interested in pursuing research postgraduate study in the School of Science. This program offers participants with the unique opportunity to immerse themselves in the research life at HKUST campus and work with faculty mentors from our School in conducting research projects in an interactive environment. Date: 2 July – 6 August, 2024     Eligibility: Undergraduate students majoring in science and related programs, who have completed 3 years of study (out of a 4-year bachelor program) and have attained a GPA of 3.2 out of 4.0 (or 80%) or higher. A subsidy of around HK$10,000 will be provided to cover the on-campus student hostel fee and other local expenses. To enroll in this Summer Research Program, participants are required to pay the summer internship application fee, insurance, visa fee and a 1-credit tuition fee in advance (approximately HK$3,300). Additionally, participants are responsible for applying for a visa (which may take 10-12 weeks) and covering their own transportation costs to and from Hong Kong. Application Procedures: Department of Ocean Science: Fill in the application form and send it together with your academic transcript and resume to the department (ocescamp@ust.hk) Division of Life Science: Submit online application to the division directly Department of Physics: Submit online application to the division directly Department of Chemistry: Submit online application to the department directly Department of Mathematics: Submit online application to the department directly   The review of applications will be conducted by the respective Division/Department. Successful applicants will be notified by the Division/Department as soon as the application is closed. After receiving the Division/Department’s confirmation: (For successful applicants only) Submit online Visiting Interns application to the Undergraduate Recruitment and Admissions Office (https://join.ust.hk/admissions/visiting/) Application deadline: 17 March, 2024
Seminar, Lecture, Talk | 26 Apr 2024
IAS / School of Science Joint Lecture - Molecular Basis of Wnt Biogenesis, Secretion and Ligand Specific Signaling
Abstract Wnt signaling is essential to regulate embryonic development and adult tissue homeostasis. Aberrant Wnt signaling is associated with cancers. The ER-resident membrane-bound O-acyltransferase Porcupine (PORCN) transfers a palmitoleoyl moiety to Wnt. This lipidation is indispensable for Wnt binding to its receptor Frizzled, thereby initiating signaling. Once modified, Wnt is transported to the cell surface via binding its transporter Wntless. In the lecture, the speaker will report four cryo-EM structures of human PORCN in the distinct states. Moreover, the speaker and his group’s recent cryo-EM and mass spectrometry studies have identified a Wnt chaperone that is essential for Wnt transfer from PORCN to Wntless and its secretion. Their structural and functional analyses with molecular-dynamics simulations demonstrate that a phospholipid in the core of Wnt-bound Wntless regulates the association and dissociation between Wnt and Wntless, suggesting a lipid-mediated Wnt secretion mechanism. Together, their works provide a mechanism of Wnt production and advance the development of PORCN inhibitors for cancer treatment. About the Speaker Prof. LI Xiaochun received his BS in Chemistry and Biology in 2008 and finished his PhD training in Structural Biology in 2012, both at Tsinghua University. His postdoctoral studies as a Life Science Research Foundation Fellow were conducted at the Rockefeller University. In 2017, he joined the faculty at the University of Texas (UT) Southwestern Medical Center. He is currently an Associate Professor and a Rita C. and William P. Clements, Jr. Scholar in Biomedical Research in the Department of Molecular Genetics and the Department of Biophysics at UT Southwestern Medical Center. Prof. Li’s research focuses on membrane proteins in cholesterol biogenesis, transport, and signaling using multiple approaches from protein engineering to x-ray crystallography and cryo-EM. He is the recipient of 2019 Damon Runyon-Rachleff Innovation Award, 2023 American Heart Association Established Investigator Award, and 2023 G. Harold and Leila Y. Mathers Foundation Award. For Attendees' Attention Seating is on a first come, first served basis.
Seminar, Lecture, Talk | 18 Apr 2024
IAS / School of Science Joint Lecture - Understanding the Roles of Transposable Elements in the Human Genome
Abstract Transposable elements (TEs) have expanded the binding repertoire of many transcription factors and, through this process, have been co-opted in different transcriptional networks. In this lecture, the speaker will present on three recent projects that explore the role of TEs in the human genome. First, he will discuss the results of a study looking at epigenetic changes following influenza infection in monocyte-derived macrophages extracted from 35 individuals of different ancestry. Specifically, he will show that different TEs families are associated with regions of shared and variable accessibility across individuals upon infection. He will also show that TEs can predict a significant portion of the heterogeneity that his research team observes in the response to infection. Then, he will discuss a study that leveraged a new dataset from the International Human Epigenome Consortium (IHEC) with 5219 ChIP-seq experiments for 6 histone marks across 60 cell types. From this, the speaker will show that TEs have drastically different enrichment levels across marks and tissues. In particular, he will identify over 100 TE-Cell type-histone mark triplets to explore their potential functional relevance. Lastly, he observed that current approaches for classifying and annotating endogenous retroviruses (ERVs) in the human genome have limited resolution and are inaccurate. The speaker will propose a new annotation based on phylogenetic analysis and cross-species conservation that reveals cryptic ERV subfamilies in the primate lineage with distinct epigenetic profiles. With such a refined annotation, it will be possible to better understand the evolution of ERVs in primate genomes and identify new roles for them in their hosts.   About the Speaker Dr. Guillaume BOURQUE is a Professor in the Department of Human Genetics at McGill University, a Canada Research Chair in Computational Genomics and Medicine and the Director of Bioinformatics at the McGill Genome Centre. He leads the Canadian Centre for Computational Genomics and the Epigenomics Mapping Centre at McGill. He is also a Principal Investigator at the Institute for the Advanced Study of Human Biology (ASHBi) of Kyoto University. Dr. Bourque is on the Scientific Steering Committee of the International Human Epigenome Consortium (IHEC) and on the Steering Committee of the Global Alliance for Genomics and Health (GA4GH). He leads a project called the Pan-Canadian Genome Library, which will allow for easier analysis and sharing of genomic data across the country. His research interests are in comparative and functional genomics with a special emphasis on applications of next-generation sequencing technologies and transposable elements.   For Attendees' Attention Seating is on a first come, first served basis.
No. 26
Science Focus
Science Focus is specially written and designed by HKUST science undergraduate students under the guidance of our faculty and staff. It aims to stimulate and nurture students’ interest in science and scientific research through interesting articles.
Study at the
School of Science
Undergraduate
Programs
Offering diverse, interdisciplinary and inquiry-driven undergraduate education in an intellectually stimulating environment.
Postgraduate
Programs
Providing students with exposure and hands-on training in innovative, cutting edge methodologies and technologies via research and taught postgraduate education.
Academic Units
Chemistry
Life Science
Mathematics
Ocean Science
Physics
Chemistry
The Department of Chemistry has dynamic, friendly and cooperative faculty members active in all areas of chemical research and whose research is internationally recognized.
Life Science
The mission of the Division of Life Science is to facilitate the advancement of both research and education in the field of biological sciences.
Mathematics
Excellence in research and a commitment to deliver effective and quality teaching programs, are the two pillars on which the Department of Mathematics is based.
Ocean Science
The Department of Ocean Science aims to lead in understanding ocean science and technology, marine conservation, global climate change, management of marine resources, socio-economy and sustainable development.
Physics
The mission of the Department of Physics is captured by the triangle of teaching, research and innovation.
Research
Pushing the boundaries of innovation, making new discoveries and establishing new research paradigms.