Biology Departmental Symposium 2026 concludes with cross-disciplinary insights and awards recognizing research excellence
The Department of Biology successfully concluded its Biology Departmental Symposium on 3 June 2026 at WLB103. The full-day event brought together over 90 faculty members, invited guests, and the Department’s research postgraduate students and postdoctoral fellows for a programme of talks, oral presentations, and a poster showcase spanning Animals and Medicine, Plant Biology, and Environmental Biology. The Department has formed the 1st Biology RPg Student Organizing Committee for this symposium, and the event was organized mainly by students, with support from the office and faculty members.
Opened by Prof. Li Jianming, Head of the Department of Biology, the Symposium featured four invited talks that bridged fundamental science, synthetic biology, and innovation:
- Prof. Gao Jieqiong, Assistant Professor, Division of Life Science, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology — Dynamics and functions of lipid droplets
- Dr. Jin Jie, Industry Professor in Hubei Province and Senior Engineer in Biomedicine — Synthetic Biology Applications of Plant Chassis Organisms
- Mr. Fever Chu, Partner & Director, TODOT design; ex Co‑Founder, Zence Object Technology — Fail better, Win bigger, Lessons from starting over
- Dr. Zhao Qiao, Professor, Shenzhen Institutes of Advanced Technology, Chinese Academy of Sciences; Director, Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Synthetic Genomics — Biosynthesis and Regulation of Aromatic Amino Acids and Derived Metabolites in Plants
Across themed oral sessions and two‑part poster session featured 23 posters, RPg students and postdoctoral researchers presented current work on topics including Animals and Medicine, Plant, and Environment research.
The Symposium concluded with an award presentation recognizing outstanding contributions.
Best Poster Award
- Yiqi GENG (Supervisor: Prof. ZHAO Jun)
- Jinkai ZHANG (Supervisor: Prof. LEE Chi Wai)
- Yuen Wai HEUNG (Supervisor: Prof. QIU Jianwen)
Best Presentation Award
- Yuchen ZHANG (Supervisor: Prof. LIAO Pan)
- Fan HUI (Supervisor: Prof. QIU Jianwen)
- Lijun LUO (Supervisor: Prof. PRADHAN Nirakar)
The Department thanks all participants for respecting confidentiality and refraining from sharing detailed findings externally.
