Two HKBU scholars named RGC Senior Research Fellow and Research Fellow, pioneering GBA climate action and AI safety with over HK$14 million in funding

Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU) has achieved dual recognition in the Research Grants Council’s (RGC) newly announced 2026/27 Senior Research Fellow Scheme (SRFS) and Research Fellow Scheme (RFS), with two outstanding scholars securing funding of over HK$14 million for their trailblazing research.

Professor Gao Meng, Academy of Geography, Sociology and International Studies, has been selected as an RGC Senior Research Fellow, receiving around HK$8.5 million to address urban heat and air pollution in the Greater Bay Area using machine learning and ecological engineering. Meanwhile, Professor Han Bo at the Department of Computer Science was named an RGC Research Fellow. His project, supported by funding of over HK$5.6 million, focuses on building a trustworthy and highly efficient reasoning framework for next-generation autonomous AI agents. Both projects will span a duration of 60 months.

Subtropical climate action for the GBA: Professor Gao Meng

Rapid urbanisation has exacerbated the dual threats of urban heat islands and localised air pollution across the GBA's subtropical megacities. Professor Gao’s project, “Integrating machine learning, nature-based solutions and engineered solutions for co-mitigation of urban heat and air pollution in the Greater Bay Area”, aims to establish a unified mitigation framework.

Using coupled atmospheric chemistry-urban climate modelling and advanced optimisation, the professor’s team will evaluate and recommend the optimal combinations of eco-solutions (such as green roofs and parks) and engineered solutions (such as reflective materials) to safeguard the health of the GBA's 86 million residents.

Professor Gao is a Professor of the Academy of Geography, Sociology and International Studies at HKBU. Ranked among the World's Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University and named in the Forbes Asia "30 Under 30" list (Healthcare and Science), he is a Fellow of the Royal Meteorological Society (UK). His outstanding career honours include the NSFC Excellent Young Scientists Fund (Hong Kong and Macao) 2023 and the European Geosciences Union (EGU) Outstanding Early Career Scientists Award 2020, where he was the sole Chinese scholar recognised in his division. This year, Professor Gao has secured RGC support from the Overseas Research Fellowship Scheme (ORFS) and the General Research Fund (GRF). 

"By combining advanced machine learning with ecological engineering, we are building a practical, data-driven blueprint for healthier, more resilient subtropical cities. The RGC's long-term support through this fellowship enables our team to conduct innovative research whose impact will be felt directly across Hong Kong, the GBA, and rapidly urbanising subtropical regions worldwide," Professor Gao said upon receiving the fellowship.

Cognitive guardrails for autonomous AI: Professor Han Bo

While standard foundational AI models like ChatGPT function passively, transforming them into fully autonomous reasoning agents leads to weird "hallucinations", unreliable tool use, and physical safety risks in dynamic environments. Professor Han’s project, “Towards Building Trustworthy and Efficient Reasoning Agents with Foundation Models”, proposes TERA (Trustworthy and Efficient Reasoning Agents), which is a unified framework targeting the core bottlenecks of reasoning capability, environmental robustness, interaction safety, and long reasoning chain efficiency.

Professor Han is an Associate Professor and Director of the Trustworthy Machine Learning and Reasoning Group in the Department of Computer Science at HKBU. Ranked among the World's Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University, he is an ACM Distinguished Speaker and an IEEE Senior Member whose prestigious achievements include the IEEE Computing's "Top 30 Early Career Professional" Award, the IJCAI Early Career Spotlight, and the INNS Aharon Katzir Young Investigator Award. Professor Han has recently received funding from the RGC General Research Fund (GRF). 

Professor Han says "As artificial intelligence transitions from interactive chat systems to autonomous agents making decisions on our behalf, safety and trust must be built directly into the design phase rather than added as an afterthought. This fellowship provides the resources and stability to help engineer a more secure, reliable foundation for next-generation AI systems in safety-critical industries like healthcare and automated programming."

The HKBU research community has been strongly encouraged by the achievements of the two researchers, and Professor Lyu Aiping, Vice-President (Research and Development) and Dean of the Graduate School at HKBU, congratulated the scholars: "This double accolade not only recognises Professor Gao and Professor Han’s exceptional scholarly contributions but also attests to HKBU’s research excellence environmental sustainability and frontier AI. These two groundbreaking projects, one dedicated to GBA climate governance and the other establishing a trustworthy defence line for AI safety, underscore HKBU's commitment to delivering innovative solutions for pressing global challenges." 

Professor Lyu also noted that prior to the remarkable results of the RGC research fellowships, the HKBU research community had already excelled in the University Grants Committee’s General Research Fund, Early Career Scheme, and Humanities and Social Sciences Prestigious Fellowship Scheme, registering a record-high of 95 awarded scholars across those three schemes. This milestone reflects a significant leap in the HKBU research community’s capabilities, global competitiveness, and social influence.