Excellence and impact: HKBU celebrates distinguished researchers at 2026 President’s Awards

Professor Liao Pan (Department of Biology) specialises in plant biotechnology, biochemistry, specialised metabolism, and lipid metabolism. His work has been published in top-tier journals such as Biotechnology Advances, Food Frontiers, and Metabolic Engineering—with several of these papers each garnering over 280 citations.

Building on his receipt of the Outstanding Research Output Award last year, Professor Zhang Jian (Assistant Professor, Department of Accountancy, Economics and Finance) has once again been recognised for his research excellence and dedication. With expertise in financial accounting, auditing, and banking, Professor Zhang has published in journals, including Contemporary Accounting Research, the Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis, and the Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance. 

Professor Wang Donggen (Chair Professor in Geography, Academy of Geography, Sociology and International Studies) investigates the complex intersections of travel behaviour, the built environment, and socio-spatial segregation. His scholarship, which extends to housing satisfaction and public health, is supported by key grant schemes from the General Research Fund and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. He is also listed among the World’s Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University. Beyond his primary research, Professor Wang leads as Co-Editor-in-Chief of Travel Behavior and Society and serves on the editorial boards of journals, including the Journal of Transport Geography and the Annals of the American Association of Geographers.

Professor Jos Bartels (Associate Professor, Department of Communication Studies) centres his research on social media and employee behaviour, social identity and organisation identification, corporate social responsibility, and environmental sustainability and consumer behaviour. His work has appeared in journals such as the British Journal of Management, Journal of Organizational Behavior, Journal of Business Research, and Computers in Human Behavior. Alongside his research, he is deeply dedicated to the growth and development of his students through high-level research supervision.

Following his Scholarly Work Award last year, Professor Zhu Furong(Chair Professor, Department of Physics) has triumphed in a new category this year. Ranked among the World’s Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University, Professor Zhu has authored over 200 refereed journal articles and holds 10 patents in low processing temperature indium tin oxide transparent electrodes and organic electronic devices. Beyond his rigorous research agenda, he plays an active role in supervising PhD students and fostering the next generation of research excellence.