January 12-25 saw Southern University of Science and Technology (SUSTech) hold the first “College teachers and students exchange plan of Hong Kong, Macao and Mainland universities” (Ten-thousand Interflow Student Programme). More than 40 teachers and students from Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) had in-depth interactions and exchanges with SUSTech’s teachers and students. The project was hosted by the Department of Ocean Science and Engineering.

The Ten-thousand Interflow Student Programme is an important project platform established in 2012 to support teachers and students from Hong Kong universities to experience and study in the Mainland. This is the first time that SUSTech has applied for the project. The program aimed to enhance the ability of undergraduate students to conduct sample collection and experimental data analysis. It also sought to increase interactions among students studying and researching marine science, while promoting educational cooperation and exchanges between Shenzhen and Hong Kong.

Deputy Director of the Department of Ocean Science and Engineering Xu Jingping welcomed the teachers and students of HKUST on the first day of the two week session. He gave a brief introduction about the Department of Ocean Science and Engineering, and emphasized the importance of the exchange program between SUSTech and HKUST under the strategic background of the construction and development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macau Greater Bay Area.

During the project, undergraduates from HKUST and SUSTech conducted group research in marine atmosphere, marine chemistry/biology, and marine geology.

Students in the Marine Atmosphere Group conducted air quality observations, data analysis and summaries in Hong Kong and Shenzhen. Students in the Marine Geology Group collected sediment cores and environmental magnetic experiments in the Mai Po Nature Reserve in Hong Kong and the Xiwan Mangrove Wetland Park in Shenzhen. Students in the Marine Chemistry/Biological Group conducted experiments on bio-geochemical properties, including sediment chlorophyll a, porosity, specific surface area testing, DNA extraction and qPCR analysis, promoting the research on mangrove sediments in Hong Kong and Shenzhen.

On the morning of January 25, the research groups gave oral presentations about their data and analysis of the results. Qian Peiyuan, Director of the Department of Marine Science of HKUST, and Zhang Chuanlun, Deputy Director of the Department of Ocean Science and Engineering of SUSTech, issued a certificate of appreciation to the teachers and students responsible for the project.