Hong Kong has a part to play in China's major scientific quests
Sun Kwok says Hong Kong's science community can strengthen its relevance by contributing expertise to China's quests and providing a vital link between the mainland and the West
Since the Research Grants Council was established in 1991, scientific research in Hong Kong has made tremendous progress. Researchers are now publishing many more findings in international journals than they were 25 years ago.
However, we must overcome some major hurdles for research to reach the next level and compete with North America, Europe, Australia and Japan.
The greatest handicap we face is access to medium-sized and large research facilities. Tackling problems at the frontiers of science requires such facilities. For instance, synchrotron light sources are basic tools for research in biology, chemistry, geology, materials science and medicine. High-energy particle accelerators are needed to probe the fundamental structure of matter. To conduct marine and environmental science, access to ocean-going vessels is needed. Satellites are now basic platforms for remote sensing to study the earth, oceans, atmosphere, weather and the universe.
Each of these basic facilities costs tens to hundreds of millions of dollars.
Some large facilities are even more expensive. The best-known example is the Large Hadron Collider at the European Organisation for Nuclear Research, which cost almost US$10 billion to build and over US$1 billion a year to operate. Nations had to pool their resources: the Large Hadron Collider began as a European project but now involves virtually all the world's major countries. The list of Asian participants includes China, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan and Thailand.
The well-known Hubble Space Telescope is a joint project between Nasa and the European Space Agency and cost over US$2 billion. Hubble's successor, the James Webb Telescope, currently under construction, has already cost over US$8 billion. The world's largest radio astronomy facility, the Atacama Large Millimeter Array, was built with contributions from the US, Canada, Europe, Japan and Taiwan, totalling US$1.4 billion. The Square Kilometer Array, a joint effort by over a dozen countries, is estimated to cost over US$2 billion when completed.
China is participating in the Thirty-Meter Telescope to be constructed in Hawaii. It will cost about US$1 billion, to be shared with the US, Canada, Japan and India. Countries are willing to spend large sums because they recognise that these scientific facilities are investments in future advances in technology and in commerce.
