The tree planted a few years ago is finally bearing fruit, and it is bearing fruit.

Vice President Chen Yun was very glad to have fully supported NB Electric's decision to establish a basic research laboratory at that time, because this series of achievements represents the highest level of physics research and technology application in Hong Kong.

Thinking of the "giant magnetoresistive effect" discovered by him and Mr. and Mrs. Kwok Chun-ru, he developed a new kind of spintronics, and even made HKU the first tertiary institution in the world to incorporate "spintronics" into its curriculum, but so far there has been no indication from HKU or the entire Hong Kong academic community.

Chen Run was very guilty, and after thinking about it, he said sincerely: "Mr. Zhang, I would like to recommend you as this year's candidate for honorary doctorate from HKU. ”

"President Chen, I appreciate your kindness, let's not talk about whether I can be selected, even if I can be selected, I am afraid I will not have time to accept this honor."

Speaking of honor, Liu Siwei proudly introduced: "You may not know yet, Alexander. Feng. The Humboldt Foundation recently announced that Prof. Guo and Prof. Shen will be the recipients of this year's Humboldt Prize in recognition of their discovery of the 'giant magnetoresistance effect' a few years ago, and each will receive a prize of 25,000 marks, which is also the first international award won by our NB laboratory. ”

"Great, Mr. Zhang, congratulations."

"Yes, Humboldt University is one of the best universities in Europe. Feng. The Humboldt Foundation is also known for its rigor, and it is not easy to win the Humboldt Prize. ”

"There's nothing to congratulate."

The charter sighed lightly and smiled helplessly: "Don't laugh at it, not only Professor Achim, who nominated us as a candidate, is my friend. And at least a quarter of the judges were friends or former colleagues of mine. Although there is no controversy. But I still don't want to pick it up myself. ”

Don't claim the prize. Chen Run was anxious and blurted out: "The academic circle is so big, it's normal." Moreover, the 'giant magnetoresistive effect' is indeed a remarkable discovery, and you deserve to receive this award. ”

Councillor Shen thought deeply and said earnestly: "Mr. Zhang, this is not only your personal matter, but also represents Hong Kong. ”

"Since we are talking about representing Hong Kong, let's talk about the NB Lab first."

To everyone's surprise. The charter changed and brought the first board of directors to the point: "You have all seen that basic research is on the fourth and fifth floors, technology application is on the sixth floor, and systems engineering is crowded on the opposite side of the NB electrician. Not to mention that the small place is not conducive to the development of the laboratory, and even if there is enough space, it is not commensurate with the current academic status of the laboratory. Because we not only want scientists to make a decent living, but also to create a good research environment for them. ”

The research institutes of several universities are better than the other, and the newly established University of Science and Technology is even more close to the mountains and seas, and is called "Rolls-Royce" University. Compared with. The NB laboratory, which has achieved a lot of results, is much more cold.

Chen Run nodded slightly, and said to himself: "Academics are meant to communicate. It is clear that communication is not possible as it is now. ”

Wu Jinhua reacted and said as a matter of course: "Ladies and gentlemen, the NB laboratory has made one achievement after another in the past few years, and has made outstanding contributions to the employment of Hong Kong's scientific community, especially engineering students. ”

"Already, there is an allocation every year."

"Principal Chen, I mean the same.

As the chief executive officer, Wu Jinhua of course wants to strive for the best interests of NB Electric, and while looking around at everyone, he said: "I graduated from CUHK and have always been very concerned about CUHK. As far as I know, since the establishment of CUHK, so many institutes and laboratories have only obtained a dozen patents in total, and there is not a single discovery such as the giant magnetoresistive effect and carbon nanotubes.

NB Labs has more than 600 invention patents in just five years, not including NB Electrician's more than 100 shape and design patents, which is more than the eight UGC-funded universities combined. And how much does the government fund, and how much does NB Electric invest?

Although I took office today, like all of you, I also have a general understanding after listening to the introductions of Manager Cao Xuming and Assistant Wu Yingzhe. If the system engineering laboratory and technical application laboratory are counted, NB Electric has invested nearly 700 million Hong Kong dollars. ”

Thinking that the BHKI member units can also benefit from it, Councillor Shen couldn't help asking: "President Wu, how much does the Hong Kong government fund in total?" ”

"Less than 80 million."

Having learned so much in the morning, the charter was extremely satisfied with the CEO, and wasted no time in saying: "The scale of the Berlin NB Lab is comparable to that of the Hong Kong NB Lab, and the German Federal Government and the Berlin State Government provide 15 million marks a year, equivalent to more than HK$100 million. ”

This is the main agenda of today's meeting, Liu Siwei coughed dryly, added: "In addition, we have invested US$100 million to establish an NB Entrepreneurship Fund to benefit graduate students who are interested in entrepreneurship in Hong Kong." ”

The UGC is a non-statutory independent advisory body funded by the Hong Kong Government for the expenditure of eight tertiary institutions in Hong Kong, and all members are appointed by the Governor of Hong Kong, without any statutory or executive powers.

Vice President Chen Run can only help fight for it, but cannot help NB Lab solve this problem.

At the same time, as the vice-president of HKU, he also has to safeguard the interests of HKU, the annual investment of the Hong Kong government in education is more than 4 billion, and more NB laboratories means less for the eight universities, including HKU.

If the NB laboratory only needs 350 million, it will be forgotten, but seeing Liu Siwei and the charter's serious faces, thinking of the achievements they let them see today, Chen Run realized that the plan of NB Electric is not small, and it is by no means 350 million can be distributed.

Hui Sang-shing is the former Chief Executive Officer of the Vocational Training Council of Hong Kong, which was spun off from the former Education Department and consists of six vocational education and training institutions: the Hong Kong Institute of Vocational Education, the School of Business and Information Technology, the Yau Chi Man High School, and the Business Training, Training and Development Centre and Skills Training Centre.

I've been fighting with the UGC for funding before, and I don't know much about the doorways.

In his position, like Wu Jinhua, he also wants to strive for the greatest interests of NB Electric, and when he saw the constitution, he immediately said: "We have all been to the Xiangjiang Experimental Workshop, and we all know that the group is engaged in a smart factory, and hundreds of local engineering students have participated, which can be said to be a kind of vocational skills training." After the installation and commissioning of the smart factory, there will undoubtedly be hundreds of more automation engineers in Hong Kong. This is also a contribution, and the Hong Kong government does not provide any funding for the technology application laboratory.

More importantly, the NB Entrepreneurship Plan needs to be supported, such as providing start-up loans, such as providing factories with more favorable rents than industrial estates. This is for the well-being of all students in Hong Kong, and we are justified in asking the Hong Kong government to increase the funding budget. ”

Chen Run, who is both the vice president of the University of Hong Kong and the independent director of NB Electric, really didn't know how to express his position on this issue, but he couldn't help but express his position, so he asked: "Mr. Zhang, can you tell us about your psychological expectations for the Hong Kong government's allocation?" ”

"We wanted a lab big enough for 1,000 researchers to work and live at the same time."

It is equivalent to building a research university, and this investment is large, Chen Run gasped, shook his head and said with a wry smile: "I think everyone here knows in their hearts what kind of attitude the Hong Kong government will have in cutting-edge research." I think it's hard, it's very hard, it's almost an impossible thing to achieve. ”

As 97 is approaching, the British are unwilling, and in terms of organization and personnel, they are making arrangements for high-level talents and civil servants. Even many of the grassroots members of society, the Estate Committees, have to control and leave British retirees in charge.

In terms of the budget, we insist on building airports, building bridges, and carrying out major projects. According to the current trend, the annual government expenditure will be as high as more than 100 billion Hong Kong dollars by the time of the handover, compared with more than 30 billion Hong Kong dollars in previous years. The salaries of civil servants are already high, and the salaries of civil servants are still being greatly improved. Buy people's hearts, leave problems, and take the opportunity to make a big profit.

It is precisely because they saw the crisis of the change of political power that Wu Jinhua and Xu Sangcheng, who had always remained politically neutral, decided to retreat in a hurry, neither to help the British side to add fuel to the fire, nor to change course like those professional politicians, and to change their course from being pro-British and pro-Taiwan to being pro-mainland all of a sudden.

The implication of Chan Run's words is that the Governor spends money on other things, but he will never invest more in a research institute that can produce results and produce cutting-edge talent. Because what he wants to see is a brain drain, not a legacy for the socialist China of the future.

"There is still a glimmer of hope in striving for it, and there is no hope at all if you don't strive for it," Wu Jinhua weighed it and said resolutely: "Besides, as Mr. Zhang said, the laboratory really needs a good environment." ”

Councillor Shen pondered for a moment and said slowly: "Members of the Legislative Council of the Functional Constituency will definitely stand on the side of the NB Laboratory. ”

Lawyer Rong smiled and said meaningfully: "I believe that those friends of Mr. Gu will definitely stand on the side of the NB laboratory." ”

If you want money, you have to coerce public opinion, Chen Run nodded slightly, and said with reservations: "As long as you don't seize the resources of the university, I think the education community will also stand on the side of the laboratory." ”

"Then I'll trouble you," the charter smiled, and said sideways: "President Wu, this matter should be sooner rather than later, the planning department has several sets of plans, you can go back and see which one is more appropriate." ”

"I'll take care of it."

"In addition, the four major chambers of commerce visited Beijing, and the purpose of this trip is clear to everyone, which is related to whether NB Bank can carry out loan business in the mainland, and whether NB medical products can quickly occupy the mainland market after the launch, and President Wu may need to go to it personally. With my understanding of the central government, there is hope for success, but there will be some conditions, so a negotiation floor is needed. I would like to hear your views on this issue. (To be continued......)