Professor Yi Yang Appointed as the Belinda Hung Outstanding Young Professor

The Faculty of Science is delighted to announce the appointment of Professor Yi Yang as the Belinda Hung Outstanding Young Professor.

Professor Yang is internationally recognised for his innovative work in nanophotonics and free-electron optics. His research focuses on the interactions between slow nonrelativistic electrons and nanophotonic environments, paving the way for strong free-electron-photon interactions and quantum entanglement. His work has promising applications in quantum light generation, integrated radiation sources, and particle accelerators. 

Professor Yi Yang began his academic journey at Peking University, earning his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in 2011 and 2014, respectively. He then completed his PhD degree at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2019 and subsequently worked as a postdoctoral fellow at MIT before joining HKU as an Assistant Professor in 2022. 

Professor Yang has received several prestigious awards, including the 2024 Xplorer Prize and the 2024 Croucher Tak Wah Mak Innovation Award for Pioneering Photonics Research. He was also named a Physical Science Fellow in the 2023 Asian Young Scientist Fellowship, recognised as one of the Innovators under 35(China) by MIT Technology Review in 2022, and awarded the 2022 Excellent Young Scientists fund (Hong Kong and Macau) by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, an organisation managed by the Ministry of Science and Technology (MOST). 

The Outstanding Young Professorship Scheme reflects the University’s commitment to nurturing rising stars and young talents. This Professorship may be perpetually named in honour of a donor, corporation or other honouree(s) as recommended by the donor. The Outstanding Young Professor will carry his/her full title on all occasions, including stationery, business cards, academic publications, news and international interactions. The donor will be kept abreast of the academic achievements of the Outstanding Young Professor, who will have close personal contact with the donor.