Date: Saturday, 12 June 2021

Time: 9:00 a.m. - 6:00 p.m.

The Inter-U Symposium is an annual event jointly organized by the University of Hong Kong (HKU), the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST). This symposium aims to encourage an exchange of ideas to stimulate discussion and interaction amongst the three universities. Research postgraduate students will have the opportunity to share their research findings, establish new research connections, and collaborate on projects. In past years, the Inter-U Symposium was held in person. However, the 2020 Inter-U Symposium was cancelled due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This year, through the recent advances in video conferencing technology, the Inter-U Symposium will be held virtually.

The Inter-U Symposium consists of three parts:

1. Poster presentations

All presentation posters will be made available on the official Inter-U Symposium website in early June. Poster presenters will be required to attend and present during their assigned Zoom poster presentation sessions. All poster presentations will be simultaneously streamed on YouTube Live as well. Each presentation will last for 3.5 minutes (90 seconds for the presentation, and 2 minutes for the Q&A session). The six best poster presenters will be awarded a Certificate of Merit and a cash prize of $1,000.

2. Oral presentations

Nine outstanding abstracts will be selected for the oral presentation sessions. Oral presenters will be required to present through Zoom. Each presentation will last for 20 minutes (15 minutes for the presentation, and 5 minutes for the Q&A session). The three best poster presenters will be awarded a Certificate of Merit and a cash prize of $2,000.

3. Plenary speakers

Two overseas scholars will be giving plenary lectures via Zoom. Professor Robert Kelsh, from the University of Bath, will be sharing about his work on the mechanisms governing fate specification and differentiation of neural crest stem cells; Dr Emily Wong, from the Victor Change Cardiac Research Institute, will demonstrate how she leverages comparative genomics to study system perturbations in diseases.

All research students are strongly encouraged to submit an abstract. Interested applicants should first register at the Inter-U Symposium website: https://hkinteru2020.wixsite.com/interu2021. An email containing a link for abstract submission will then be sent to you. The deadline for abstract submission is March 31, 2021 (Wednesday). Of note, your abstract will be uploaded and shown on the symposium website (accessible only by attendees).  Students with selected abstracts will receive a confirmation email by early April.

For more details, please refer to the website of the Inter-U Symposium at https://hkinteru2020.wixsite.com/interu2021. Should you have any inquiries, please contact Ms. Cecilia Chan via email (hkinteru2020@gmail.com) or phone (+852 3917 9493).