The Swire Institute of Marine Science

06/05/2026

Full scholarship opportunity! We are happy to announce that the 2026-2027 Swire Postgraduate Scholarship, supported by The Swire Group Charitable Trust, is now open to applicants. This scholarship will support full tuition fees for the Integrative Marine Ecology and Conservation (IMEC) MSc, a taught Master’s programme that prepares future marine science professionals.

Who is eligible? Students with Hong Kong permanent residency, already admitted (or are applying) to IMEC, who have a strong academic record and are committed to marine science and conservation.

For more information about the scholarship, please email:
[email protected]

For more information about IMEC:
https://www.instagram.com/p/DVsjxY6gUFv/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link&igsh=MzRlODBiNWFlZA==

Applications close May 29. Interviews with shortlisted candidates start in June.

17/04/2026

ATTENTION: The IsoEcol 2026 deadline for abstract and workshop proposal submissions has been extended to 20 April 2026 (11:59pm HKT)!
More information about the conference can be found on the website: https://www.isoecol.com/2026/

28/03/2026

Our Environment and Conservation Fund Exploring Marine Biodiversity: Empowering Youth Ambassadors for Ocean Stewardship programme has been a resounding success. The first two cohorts of more than 80 students from over 20 schools, have completed the four workshops that make up the programme. We are now making a video documenting their journey to become marine ambassadors. The next two cohorts start in September.

27/02/2026

Calling all isotope ecologists! The organizing committee is delighted to welcome you to the 14th International Conference on the Applications of Stable Isotope Techniques to Ecological Studies (IsoEcol 2026), hosted this year at the University of Hong Kong.

We are now accepting abstracts and workshop proposals, please refer to our website:

https://www.isoecol.com/2026/

The submission deadline is 13 April 2026. Stay tuned for more information on the program and registration. We look forward to seeing you in Hong Kong!

26/02/2026

Applying some innovative maths, a new study, led by Dr. Isis Guibert and Prof. David Baker, shows that knowledge of feeding strategies can help assess extinction risks for different species of iconic marine animals – giant clams.

https://www.hku.hk/press/press-releases/detail/28954.html

11/02/2026

Funding opportunity for Early Career Marine Researchers

The Swire Institute of Marine Science
Universidade dos Açores

The Brian Morton Exchange Fund provides up to £10,000 to support a research exchange of up to 8 weeks at the Marine Biological Association, or partner research institutions in Hong Kong or The Azores.
The fund supports early career researchers (within 10 years post-PhD), including postdoctoral researchers, postgraduate students, and technical staff, to develop collaborative projects in marine biology and marine conservation. Award holders will have access to world-leading expertise, specialist facilities, long-term datasets, and diverse marine ecosystems.

The award provides the opportunity to collaborate with world-leading expert marine scientists based at the Marine Biological Association, as well as accessing our research facilities (e.g. research aquarium), resources (e.g. long-term marine biodiversity datasets) and diverse range of local ecosystems (e.g. kelp forests). In addition, collaboration can be conducted with scientists based in Hong Kong or The Azores. Projects should be co-developed with either an MBA Research Fellow or established scientists based in Hong Kong or The Azores. To view research areas at the MBA, please visit this page. Our Research Fellows are also found on the staff pages - click the Research Fellows link. Please contact Fellow(s) at earliest opportunity.

Application deadline: 12:00 (BST), Monday 02 March 2026
Award period: Must start and finish in 2026

Find full eligibility details and apply here 👉 https://mymba.mba.ac.uk/member-homepage/discounts-and-bursaries/brian-morton.html

07/02/2026

SWIMS featured in HKU Places!

07/02/2026

Last year, Dr. Phil Thomson and Janis Mok went diving for algae. Now these algae will be seen by millions of Hong Kongers and visitors to the city.

The algae that Janis and Phil scraped off the rocks became part of a permanent exhibition at the Hong Kong Science Museum. Called Living Tech Gallery, it was formerly opened yesterday, together with InnoTech Gallery and AI Gallery.

The exhibits of Living Tech Gallery showcase the technologies that enable more convenient and at the same time sustainable ways of living.

Our algae, preserved in epoxy resin by Phil, our Outreach & Education Officer, are part of the “food” section of the exhibition. Algae – as well as insects that are also on display, hold great potential as a future source of our protein. Some of these algae can even be used to make ice cream!

The contribution of SWIMS to the exhibition goes beyond marine science. Dr. Jane Wong, our Data and Technology Officer, prepared the microscope slides of the cross sections of plant-based meats which the visitors can view and compare with the slides of animal meat.

On Thursday, Prof. David Baker, SWIMS Interim Director and Dr. Pavel Toropov, SWIMS Executive Communications Officer, attended the press tour of the soon-to-be-opened galleries, talking with the press, meeting other invitees, and showcasing SWIMS.

They also had fun with the new interactive exhibits. Visitors can play a game to learn how quantum computers work, virtually make Hong Kong’s specialty – pineapple bun, or get into an autonomous vehicle simulator to take a driving test (which Prof. Baker failed).

To learn more about the Living Tech Gallery:
https://hk.science.museum/en/web/scm/exhibition/ltg.html

04/02/2026

The University of Hong Kong’s Swire Institute of Marine Science (SWIMS) is partnering with the Environment and Conservation Fund (ECF) to train the next generation of ocean stewards!

What is it?

The first of its kind in Hong Kong, the “Environment and Conservation Fund Exploring Marine Biodiversity: Empowering Youth Ambassadors for Ocean Stewardship” programme will engage 175 Hong Kong secondary school students from 39 local and international schools in immersive marine science research and coastal exploration.

Across four intensive days, four cohorts of students will join SWIMS in exploring Hong Kong’s rich and diverse coastal ecosystems, gaining hands-on experience in biodiversity monitoring techniques while developing leadership skills to advocate for ocean stewardship within their schools.

Why take part?

“This cascading model, what we call ‘training the trainer,’ allows the program’s impact to spread far beyond the 175 direct participants to potentially 20,000 students citywide,” said Professor David Baker, the Interim Director of SWIMS.

香港大學太古海洋科學研究所（SWIMS）將與環境及自然保育基金（ECF）合作，培養新一代海洋保育先鋒。

作為香港首個同類項目，《環境及自然保育基金資助海洋生物多樣性探索計劃》將邀請來自39間本地及國際中學的175名中學生，參與沉浸式海洋科學研究與海岸探索活動。

在為期四天的緊密行程中，四個學生隊伍將與SWIMS團隊一同走訪本港豐富的沿岸生態系統，親身學習生物多樣性監測技術，同時培養領導能力，為將來於校園推動海洋守護與保育工作做好準備。

「這種層層推展的模式，即我們所說的『training the trainer』(意即『培訓將來的培訓者』)，讓計劃的影響力得以由175名直接參與的學生，進一步擴展至全港多達20,000名學生。」太古海洋科學研究所的David Baker教授表示。

#香港大學

02/02/2026

We are very happy to welcome Professor Mónica Medina of the University of California, Los Angeles, to SWIMS. Prof. Medina is now teaching Conservation Genomics Course as part of our Integrative Marine Ecology and Conservation (IMEC) MSc.

“I am covering topics that include introduction to genome science and evolutionary biology,” said Prof. Medina. “Modern conservation biology relies on evolutionary history reconstructed from genomic data for endangered species in order to better design and manage marine protected areas”.

Professor of organismal biology at UCLA, Prof. Medina’s main areas of research are ecology and evolution of marine holobionts. Prof. Medina is a Guggenheim Fellow, a double Fulbright Scholar, and a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS). In 2023, Prof. Medina was the recipient of the International Coral Reef Society Eminence in Research Award. In addition to her outstanding research achievements, Prof. Medina is renowned for her dedication to inclusion and diversity in science.

28/01/2026

Prof. Ryan McKenzie won the 2025 HKU Research Output Prize for his paper “A climate threshold for ocean deoxygenation during the Early Cretaceous" that was published in Nature.

“Our publication, led by former HKU postdoctoral fellow Kohen Bauer, investigated the onset and duration of ocean anoxia following ancient rapid climatic warming from volcanic CO2 outgassing by constraining the natural response time for the Earth system to return to its pre-perturbation steady-state conditions,” says Prof. McKenzie.

“ This has profound implications for predicting potential consequences from modern anthropogenic CO2 emissions."

Congratulations, Prof. McKenzie!
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41586-024-07876-1

[HKU Science Academics Honoured with HKU Excellence Awards 2025] (中文版本見文末) 🎉Congratulations to our academics on receiving the University’s Research and Teaching Excellence Awards under the HKU Excellence Award Scheme 2025. Well done to all award recipients for their outstanding achievements in teaching and research.🎉
港大理學院學者榮獲「2025年度港大卓越大獎」，以表揚他們在研究及教學方面的卓越表現。

𝐄𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝
Dr Kin Sum LEUNG
Assistant Lecturer, School of Biological Sciences

𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝
Professor Jianyao TANG
Associate Head (Research) and Professor, Department of Chemistry

𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐘𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐠 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡𝐞𝐫 𝐀𝐰𝐚𝐫𝐝
Professor Haibo JIANG
Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry

𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐜𝐡 𝐎𝐮𝐭𝐩𝐮𝐭 𝐏𝐫𝐢𝐳𝐞
Professor Ryan MCKENZIE
Associate Professor, Department of Earth and Planetary Sciences

Full story: https://tinyurl.com/bde2rsp5