Summer Research Programme 2026 - HKU Musketeers Foundation Institute of Data Science

A Huge Welcome to the HKU Summer Research Programme 2025, with HKU IDS!

The University of Hong Kong (HKU) Summer Research Programme (“the Programme”) 2025 is a ten-week intense research training programme with networking and extra-curricular activities for elite students around the world who are interested in pursuing research postgraduate studies at HKU.

HKU IDS Summer Research Programme 2026

HKU Musketeers Foundation Institute of Data Science is pleased to welcome students joining us through the Summer Research Programme 2026, organised by the HKU Graduate School.

Running from 1 June to 7 August 2026, this 10-week research training programme offers one-to-one mentorship with IDS scholars, hands-on research experience, academic activities, and opportunities to explore research postgraduate studies at HKU.

Opening Ceremony and Orientation

HKU Summer Research Programme 2026 officially began with the Opening Ceremony and Orientation hosted by the HKU Graduate School on 16 June 2026.

This year, 98 students were selected from 2,082 applications across Faculties to join the ten-week research training programme at HKU. At HKU IDS, six SRP students have been admitted to work with IDS scholars on individual research projects and experience the research environment at the Institute.

During the orientation, participants received practical advice from past SRP awardees on conducting research, preparing presentations, and making the most of their summer research journey at HKU. The session also included ice-breaking activities, setting the tone for a supportive SRP community over the coming weeks.

Look at all these bright smiles at the opening ceremony held on June 17, 2025 morning – what a great start for an inspiring summer! Participants connected with eminent HKU professors, networked with peers, and heard from past SRP awardees who shared their transformative journeys under the individual mentorship of distinguished HKU faculty members.

HKU IDS SRP2026 Students

Name

Mr Yidong Jackie Ming

Mr Haoran Lei

Mr Shihe Zhou

Mr Jiyao Wang

Miss Ruiyang Luo

Mr Jingtian Tu

Mentor(s)

Prof Yanchao Yang & Prof Qingpeng Zhang

Prof Jinhong Du

Prof Hongyang Li

Prof Qingpeng Zhang

Prof Bo Dai & Dr Wenjie Huang

Prof Difan Zou

Home Institution

City University of Hong Kong

Australian National University

Tsinghua University

University College London

New York University

The University of Hong Kong

We can’t wait to witness the growth of our five participants along the journey, as they are to explore the innovative research projects ahead, from AI to data science breakthroughs!

If you are interested in pursuing research postgraduate studies at HKU, seize the chance to join the next Summer Research Programme (SRP) organized by the HKU Graduate School!
Don’t waste your summer, and come get a taste of the HKU IDS research environment!

Applications for SRP 2026 are now open!

SRP 2026 Discipline-specific Workshop ^New

Data Modality, Data Science, and Multistage Manufacturing

HKU IDS will support a discipline-specific workshop for accepted participants of the HKU Summer Research Programme 2026.

Date

Thursday, 2 July 2026

Time

15:00–17:00 ^HKT

Venue

Inno Wing II, HKU

Attendance is compulsory for HKU IDS SRP students. The workshop is also open to accepted SRP participants from other Faculties, Schools, Institutes, and academic units.

Registered SRP participants are required to attend the full workshop on-site. Attendance will be taken at the venue.

Workshop Programme

Time	Session
15:00–15:15	Sharing by previous IDS SRP students
15:15–15:30	Introduction to IDS research postgraduate opportunities
15:30–15:40	Introduction to the CDS programme
15:40–15:45	Q&A
15:45–16:00	Refreshments
16:00–17:00	Distinguished Speaker seminar: Data Modality, Data Science, and Multistage Manufacturing _{Speaker Prof Jianjun SHI Carolyn J. Stewart Chair and Professor, Georgia Institute of Technology Member, U.S. National Academy of Engineering}

IDS scholars you can work with

Prof Boris BABIC

Research Areas:

Bayesian Statistics; Ethics, Law and Policy of AI and Machine Learning; Decision & Game Theory; Legal Theory

babic@hku.hk

Prof Ho CHEN

Topic:

Application of machine learning (particularly large language model) to cybersecurity, such as vulnerability discovery and patching, program testing, program generation.

chenho@hku.hk

Prof Bo DAI

Research Areas:

Generative AI and its interdisciplinary applications

Topics:

3D Scene Reconstruction and Editing; Neural Simulation of 3D-GS or Humanoid Animation

bdai@hku.hk

Prof Chao HUANG

Research Areas:

Large Language Models, Intelligent Agents, Graph Learning, and AI for Smart Society Animation

chuang@cs.hku.hk

Dr Wenjie HUANG

Research Areas:

Quantitative methodologies, Data-driven decision-making, Sequential decision-making (e.g., dynamic programming, reinforcement learning), Optimization (continuous, stochastic and robust), with the applications of those theory in operations management and social good/sustainability problems

huangwj@hku.hk

Prof Alec KIRKLEY

Research Areas:

Probabilistic machine learning, statistical inference, and generative modelling for complex systems, networks, and/or mobility data

akirkley@hku.hk

Prof Hongyang LI

Research Areas:

Embodied AI, Autonomous Driving

hongyang@hku.hk

Prof Yingyu LIANG

Research Areas:

Machine learning; Optimization and generalization in deep learning; Robust machine learning, and their applications

yingyul@hku.hk

Prof Xihui LIU

Topics:

Generative AI, multimodal AI, embodied AI, and AI for Science

xihuiliu@hku.hk

Prof Andrew LUO

Research Areas:

Vision language models, multimodal scene representations, explainable AI

aluo@hku.hk

Dr Yue XIE

Research Areas:

Nonconvex/stochastic optimization, Sparse learning, Dictionary learning, Robust optimization, Variational inequality

yxie21@hku.hk

Prof Yanchao YANG

Research Areas:

Embodied AI, Machine Learning, and Robotic Vision

yanchaoy@hku.hk

Prof Tao YU

Research Areas:

Natural Language Processing, Deep Learning, Dialog Systems, Natural Language Interfaces

tyu@hku.hk

Prof Man Chung YUE

Research Areas:

Continuous Optimization; Algorithmic Design and Analysis; Mathematical Data Science; Decision Making under Uncertainty; Operations Research; Signal Processing

mcyue@hku.hk

Prof Qingpeng ZHANG

Topic:

Complex systems approach to precision oncology

qpzhang@hku.hk

Prof Difan ZOU

Research Areas:

Machine Learning Theory; Deep Learning Theory; Decision Making; Stochastic Modeling; Learning Structured Data

dzou@cs.hku.hk

Benefits for participants

One-to-one mentorship with an eminent professor

Successful applicants will be supervised by an eminent professor in HKU to plan and carry out a research project. The Programme office will help participants match with mentors based on participants’ given priorities and research interest.
Scholarship for participants

A scholarship of HK$10,000* will be awarded to each participant upon successful completion of the Programme.
Financial support

Financial support of airfare up to HK$5,000*, and university accommodation up to HK$5,000* will be provided on a reimbursement basis.
(Students residing or currently studying in Hong Kong are only eligible to receive financial support for university accommodation.)
*The amount may be adjusted pending approval of budget.
Prizes and awards for top performers

Prizes and awards will be available for top performers in the Programme.
Possible conditional offer for an HKU Presidential PhD Scholarship

A small number of participants with outstanding performance and excellent academic records may be awarded a conditional offer of the HKU Presidential PhD Scholarship to pursue PhD studies at HKU upon completion of the current studies. The HKU Presidential PhD Scholarship is the most prestigious entrance scholarship to attract top students from around the world to pursue full-time PhD studies at HKU. The scholarship package includes up to HK$439,500 (US$56,350) in the first year, and up to HK$422,000 (US$54,110) in each of the subsequent years during the normative study period.

Outstanding Achievement of Past SRP Students

Poster Presentation in NeurIPS 2024 by Mr. Liulu Chen, Peter from Columbia University

SICNN: Sparsity-induced Input Convex Neural Network for Optimal Transport

Authors: PL Chen*, Y Xie, Q Zhang
(First author marked in (*))

co-supervised by

Dr. Yue Xie Research Assistant Professor
HKU Musketeers Foundation Institute of Data Science and
Department of Mathematics, HKU

Prof. Qingpeng Zhang Associate Professor
HKU Musketeers Foundation Institute of Data Science and
Department of Pharmacology and Pharmacy, HKU

About the Conference:

The Thirty-Eighth Annual Conference on Neural Information Processing Systems was held in Vancouver in December 2024 (NeurIPS 2024). NeurIPS is a pioneering annual conference connecting scientific and industrial research communities surrounding Machine Learning.

Peter’s unwavering commitment to excellence, under the expert mentorship of HKU IDS Scholars, is truly inspiring, and we couldn’t be prouder of his impressive achievement! You can potentially be part of that – join us NOW!

Awardees of Conditional Offers for the HKU Presidential PhD Scholarship:

Year	Awardee	University	Mentor
2023	Mr. Bryan Choy	University of California, Los Angeles	Prof. Alec Kirkley
2024	Mr. Haolun Wang	Tsinghua University	Prof. Difan Zou \| Prof. Yanchao Yang (Co-mentor)
2024	Mr. Xusen Xiao	Peking University	Prof. Qingpeng Zhang
2025	Mr. Chen Weitao, Harry	University of Cambridge	Prof. Andrew F. Luo
2025	Mr. Lam Hao Feng, Ethan	University College London	Dr. Wenjie Huang(Co-Mentor) Professor Alec W. Kirkley
2025	Mr. Zhang Jiaming, Benjamin	Tsinghua University	Prof. Yanchao Yang

Year

2023

2024

2025

Awardee

Mr. Bryan Choy

Mr. Haolun Wang

Mr. Xusen Xiao

Mr Chen Weitao, Harry

University

University of California, Los Angeles

Tsinghua University

Peking University

University of Cambridge

Mentor

Prof. Alec Kirkley

Prof. Difan Zou | Prof. Yanchao Yang (Co-mentor)

Prof. Qingpeng Zhang

Professor Andrew F. Luo

Awardees of Best Poster Presenter Award:

Year	Awardee	University	Mentor
2023	Mr. Pei Zhou	University of California, San Diego	Prof. Yanchao Yang
2024	Mr. Xusen Xiao	Peking University	Prof. Qingpeng Zhang
2025	Mr Jang Hyeongjun	Seoul National University	Prof. Hao Chen

Year

2023

2024

2025

Awardee

Mr. Pei Zhou

Mr. Xusen Xiao

Mr Jang Hyeongjun

University

University of California, San Diego

Peking University

Mentor

Prof. Yanchao Yang

Prof. Qingpeng Zhang

A Huge Welcome to the HKU Summer Research Programme 2025, with HKU IDS!

HKU IDS Summer Research Programme 2026

Opening Ceremony and Orientation

HKU IDS SRP2026 Students

Applications for SRP 2026 are now open!

SRP 2026 Discipline-specific Workshop New

Data Modality, Data Science, and Multistage Manufacturing

Date

Time

Venue

Workshop Programme

IDS scholars you can work with

Prof Boris BABIC

Prof Ho CHEN

Prof Bo DAI

Prof Chao HUANG

Dr Wenjie HUANG

Prof Alec KIRKLEY

Prof Hongyang LI

Prof Yingyu LIANG

Prof Xihui LIU

Prof Andrew LUO

Dr Yue XIE

Prof Yanchao YANG

Prof Tao YU

Prof Man Chung YUE

Prof Qingpeng ZHANG

Prof Difan ZOU

Benefits for participants

One-to-one mentorship with an eminent professor

Scholarship for participants

Financial support

Prizes and awards for top performers

Possible conditional offer for an HKU Presidential PhD Scholarship

Outstanding Achievement of Past SRP Students

Poster Presentation in NeurIPS 2024 by Mr. Liulu Chen, Peter from Columbia University

SICNN: Sparsity-induced Input Convex Neural Network for Optimal Transport

Awardees of Conditional Offers for the HKU Presidential PhD Scholarship:

Awardees of Best Poster Presenter Award:

Highlights of SRP 2025

SRP 2026 Discipline-specific Workshop ^New