Professor Chu Ming-chung, from the Physics Department at Chinese University, has been passionate about astronomy since secondary school. Later, he developed a fascination for astrophysics and particle physics, striving to uncover the mysteries of the universe.

In 2003, Prof. Chu collaborated with teams from other universities to conduct the neutrino oscillation experiment at the Daya Bay Nuclear Power Plant. In 2014, he led a team to participate in the ATLAS experiment under the European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) in Switzerland. The ATLAS experiment is an international joint research project. In 2012 ATLAS discovered the Higgs Boson, also known as the "God Particle," which is considered as one of the greatest scientific discoveries of all time. The opportunity to participate in the ATLAS experiment has significantly elevated Hong Kong's position in scientific research.

Some may consider Professor Chu's research projects "foolish" due to their limited interest and abstract nature, which may seem to have little practical use. However, he still devotes his life to exploring the mysteries of the universe.

In the 1980s, Chu Ming-chung pursued his studies in the United States. In 1995, he made what seemed like a foolish decision to return to Hong Kong to teach physics. His goal was to educate the "foolish" students of Hong Kong and promote the development of basic science education in the city.

What is Professor Chu's vision of the scientific spirit? How does he view the science education and promotion in Hong Kong? Does he believe that Hong Kong can cultivate more local scientists in the future?

On her 10th birthday, Anushka Purohit's father took her to a chain coffee shop where she witnessed the fate of leftover food for the first time. The staff threw away all the unsold bread into a black garbage bag. At a young age, she silently kept this in mind and hoped that she could solve Hong Kong's food waste problem when she grew up.

Ten years later, as a student at the HKUST, the seeds planted in Anushka paving the way for her entrepreneurial journey.
One evening in 2019, while celebrating the end of the semester at a bar with three classmates, they saw leftover food being treated as garbage. Looking at the beer on the table, Anushka had a sudden idea that the ingredients in beer and bread were not much different. Could bread be turned into beer? Without any brewing experience, the four young individuals enrolled in distance learning courses to learn how to brew their own beer.

To execute this crazy idea, they combined the words "bread" and "beer" and named their venture "Breer," forming a team to participate in an entrepreneurship competition. Through winning the competition and securing startup funding, they established an eco-friendly beer company in 2020.

Anushka was determined to use discarded bread to brew beer, and her entrepreneurial story gradually gained support from chain food and beverage companies and bars. As graduation approached, she actively sought funding and expanded the business, turning the eco-friendly beer brand into a sustainable enterprise that encourages consumers to reflect on their environmental responsibilities.

Today, Anushka can tell her 10-year-old self, "I did it." Innovation doesn't always have to result in great scientific achievements, and even whimsical ideas can bring about changes to society as long as they dare to try new things.

Some say that laboratories are all alike, with a cold, controlled, and serene atmosphere, where researchers immerse themselves in repetitive and rigorous experiments every day. However, different laboratories have different styles and atmospheres, depending on the influential figure - the leading professor - who shapes the team and guides their comrades in the competitive and relentless world of scientific research, where every second counts and survival of the fittest prevails.

Dr Kwok Chun-kit is an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry at City University of Hong Kong. He is a young scientist who focuses on researching the relationship between RNA, gene regulation, and diseases such as cancer. In 2022, he was awarded the Excellent Young Scientists Fund (Hong Kong and Macau). While the professor leading the research is often referred to as the "boss" of the laboratory, Dr Kwok doesn't like this title. Although he has high expectations for his students, he doesn't consider himself a "strict master." In addition to imparting knowledge to his students, he feels his greatest responsibility is to seek research funding and ensure that his team can focus on their work without worries.

Dr Kwok graduated from the Department of Chemistry at the Chinese University of Hong Kong. He has had the opportunity to study and conduct research at several top universities in the United States and the United Kingdom. During his academic journey, he learned different scientific knowledge and mentoring skills from five distinguished professors. Inspired by his mentors, he has created a laboratory that is characterized by warmth, joy, and the nurturing of young research talents.

Professor Eric Cheng Ka-wai, from the Department of Electrical Engineering at the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, is widely recognized as the "Father of Hong Kong Electric Vehicles." As early as 2005, he led his research team in the development of a fully electric vehicle, making Hong Kong one of the pioneering locations worldwide in the early development of electric vehicle technology. Since childhood, Prof. Cheng has had a penchant for disassembling and reassembling objects, which fueled his aspiration to become an engineer when he grew up. He finds great joy in transforming his interests into his life's work.

Prof. Cheng envisions a future where electric vehicles can undergo transformations akin to the robots in the movie "Transformers," allowing cars to alter their size and shape at will, or even merge two vehicles into one. For many years, he has dedicated his research efforts to exploring technologies that bring him closer to realizing this dream.