Artificial Intelligence

Lingnan University welcomed nearly 200 higher education leaders from all over the world at its Tuen Mun campus today (27 February). The visit was one of the main activities of the 2026 Asia-Pacific Association for International Education (APAIE) Conference and Exhibition. Through campus tours and interactive exchanges, Lingnan showed its internationalised learning environment and innovative teaching facilities, actively highlighting Hong Kong’s unique advantages as an international higher education hub. The University also promoted the “Study in Hong Kong” brand, which aims to attract more non-local students to study and work in the city. Lingnan’s senior management, academic staff, and students explored opportunities to work with representatives of student exchange programmes, research partnerships, and talent recruitment.

In our recent JACS paper, we demonstrate that AI-designed ubiquitin-fold proteins achieve extraordinary stability not by tightening their hydrophobic cores, but by reorganizing surface charges to program a structured hydration shell. Using solution NMR and molecular dynamics simulations, we decode this “hydration shield” as a sequence-encoded and engineerable mechanism for extreme protein resilience.

- Research Team Led by Prof. Sunghoon Im of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, DGIST, has Developed and Applied a Generative AI Model - Fusion of Art and Technology Manifested at the “Portrait of a Beauty” Preview Exhibition, Held at Daegu Kansong Art Museum from February 14

Reflecting on 2025, Lingnan University reached new heights with a series of “No. 1 in Hong Kong SAR” and “Only in Hong Kong SAR” distinctions across major benchmarks, reaffirming its leadership in teaching and research excellence and the transformative power of its whole-person education. The following highlights showcase Lingnan’s defining achievements in 2025 that secured its “Hong Kong SAR First” and “Hong Kong SAR Only” status.

To inspire students in Hong Kong and the Greater Bay Area (GBA), unleash their creativity, and engage with the evolving landscape of new media, the Department of Marketing and International Business at Lingnan University organised The City Through My Lens: A Social Media Campaign - Video Competition 2025. Students were invited to form teams and create short promotional social media videos capturing the highlights of their cities. The competition provided a platform for GBA secondary school students to express their creativity and broaden their horizons, while also strengthening the connection between the University and the younger generation. This is the first time the competition has included schools across the GBA, and there were 18 entrants. The championship was awarded to Malvern College Hong Kong, the first runner-up was St. Paul's Convent School, and the other runners-up were the HKSYC&IA Chan Nam Chong Memorial College, Sha Tin College, St. Paul’s Secondary School and Yew Chung International School.

Critical to hydrogen’s widespread adoption as a clean energy source is its storage. Solid-state storage, where hydrogen is absorbed into metals, offers an alternative to high-pressure tanks. Yet hydrogen storage alloys face a trade-off between storage capacity and material stability. Tohoku University researchers discovered that magnetism governs this trade-off, and that by controlling the magnetic properties of alloys, it is possible to workaround this trade-off.

Researchers in Taiwan demonstrate that installing solar panels above clam ponds can simultaneously support aquaculture and renewable energy under increasing climate stress. Using real-world farm data, the study shows that moderate shading lowers pond temperatures, reduces water demand, and generates clean electricity. This reveals novel, practical synergies across the Water–Energy–Food–Climate–Land nexus.

Take a dive into the streamlined workflow of DIVE (Descriptive Interpretation of Visual Expression)! DIVE combines multiple AI agents to extract images from about 4,000 scientific publications to propose new materials – all within minutes.

How do online and offline narratives—from political speeches to news coverage to social media talk— make and unmake a democracy?

Researchers from The University of Osaka compared psychological ratings of various words from humans and large language models (LLMs) along different dimensions in order to compare the ways in which they conceptualize words. Human and LLM ratings aligned closely for some attributes (such as concreteness) but diverged significantly for others (such as iconicity). This work reveals which linguistic features may be reliably estimated using LLMs.

Two-dimensional topological materials are widely studied because they can be efficient and cost-effective catalysts. Their unique electronic properties give rise to robust topological surface states. However, this assumption is often made under the premise that their surfaces remain clean and unchanged during reactions, which is rarely the case. Using quantum computing, a research team has recreated a 2D material’s true working surface under reaction conditions.

Sticky life beginnings. Precarious pitcher plant, Breaking the cobalt "cage", Toxic algae killer & “Pure-bred” stem cell medium. Read all in the latest Editor's Choice. Plus Asia Research News 2026 is out now and SciCom Coffee talk by Rachael Smith at Wellcome Sanger Institute.

• AI models can support doctors in making critical decisions and expand access to care in low-resource settings • However, gaps in infrastructure, skills and governance continue to limit safe and effective adoption • Researchers call for an international consortium to guide regulation and responsible use of AI in healthcare

A recent review article explores how software-based AI systems are changing the design process of solid electrolytes, enabling faster development of solid-state batteries.

What if that traffic associated with the daily commute could be put towards computing? It may sound like a stretch, but that is what researchers from Tohoku University have recently proposed, developing a new artificial intelligence framework that harnesses road traffic as a computing resource. The framework would lessen AI’s reliance on power-hungry hardware, making it more sustainable.

DGIST is creating AI that can physically collaborate with people, truly personalised healthcare, and quantum sensors which will perceive the world in entirely new ways.

The largest ever reported database of dielectric material properties could speed up development of electronics like smartphones and energy storage systems.

Understanding how tree-like structures that form in thin films could be the key to next-generation materials for beyond-5G communications technologies.

By identifying the ideal manufacturing conditions, machine learning reduces the need for expensive and time-consuming experimentation.

Lingnan University welcomed a delegation from the University Grants Committee (UGC) on its Tuen Mun campus on 8 January, and presented its latest developments as a research-oriented liberal arts university comprehensive in arts and sciences. The delegation toured Lingnan’s latest teaching facilities and viewed their research, speaking at length with senior management, academic staff, and students.

The Philippines is recruiting its first National AI Team to compete with students from over 60 countries in the annual IOAI.

Large language models accelerate construction of materials property databases.

An AI system that learns from experienced endoscopists and pathologists helps doctors in low-resource areas quickly check stomach health using standard endoscopy images.

Researchers at National Taiwan University developed an AI system that recognizes construction activities at both the individual and crew levels using ordinary site videos. The approach reveals how teamwork shapes productivity and provides a foundation for future human-robot collaboration on construction sites.

- A joint research team from DGIST and Sungkyunkwan University unlocked the secrets of semiconductor material growth using AI... Expecting new display and sensor technologies - Research results published in the Journal of the American Chemical Society (JACS), one of the world's most prestigious academic journals in chemistry

- DGIST-iProtein Therapeutics Joint Research Team innovatively enhances the binding strength and stability of IL-1Ra protein using supercomputing and structure-based design technologies. - The new variant 'E127Q' shows anti-inflammatory and neuroprotective effects that surpass existing treatments in cell and animal models.

Researchers at Osaka Metropolitan University developed models that classify X-ray images into specific body regions and simultaneously determine the imaging method and image orientation. Using these models, they successfully classified almost all data for use in deep-learning models.

Lingnan University is pleased to announce that Mr John Lee, Chief Executive of the Hong Kong SAR and Chancellor of Lingnan University, has re-appointed Mr Andrew Yao Cho-fai as Chairman of the Council and an ex-officio member of the Court for a further term of three years with effect from 1 January 2026.

A Filipino-led team of international researchers has developed a physics-based algorithm that could train AI to greatly improve weather forecasts.

Lingnan University participated in the two-day 5th Asia Exhibition of Innovations and Inventions Hong Kong (AEII), and delivered an outstanding performance. Among more than 140 innovative research projects presented by experts and inventors worldwide, all nine of Lingnan's participating projects received awards, securing two gold, four silver, and three bronze medals. This marks a remarkable leap from last year, when the University made its debut and achieved one gold and two silver medals.