The BOCHK Science and Technology Innovation Prize is a merit-based award to recognise scientists who have achieved breakthroughs in scientific research. The competition is open to researchers in Hong Kong and those based abroad, covering a broad range of fields including but not limited to artificial intelligence and robotics, life sciences and health, new materials and energy, advanced manufacturing, and finance. The HK Prize also provides students with the opportunity to experience research conducted in one of Asia’s leading science hubs.

Five imprisoned Hong Kong democracy activists have been nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, a bipartisan group of US lawmakers said this week. In a letter to the Nobel Committee, the nine legislators from both parties called them “global inspirations in the face of Beijing’s crushing of human rights and affront to our collective dignity.” The prize will be awarded this autumn.

Among the 2022 prize winners are selfless volunteers and good Samaritans, survivors against all odds, and a professor who developed liquid biopsy technology which speeds up cancer diagnosis. Other winners include an astrophysicist who discovered that fast radio bursts (FRBs) were caused by neutron stars – the massive remnants of collapsed stars after a supernova explosion.

This year’s prize ceremony was held on November 12 – the first time it has taken place in person since the event moved online during the Covid-19 pandemic. The winning researchers were invited to Hong Kong to receive their awards from a panel of judges, and to attend seminars. A video of the ceremony can be watched here.

The late Hong Kong director Benny Chan posthumously won the best director prize for his 2020 cops-and-robbers actioner Raging Fire, which was also named best film and received awards for its cast, including Donnie Yen, who won the actor of the year award. The newspaper society of hk prize organised the competition and awarded 617 entries from 12 English and Chinese newspapers in Hong Kong.

The HK Prize exhibition runs until January 2024 at Goethe-Gallery and Black Box Studio, Goethe-Institut Hongkong. Admission is free and guided tours are available by booking in advance. All artworks exhibited in the exhibition are available to purchase, with the proceeds supporting the organisation of the prize and Justice Centre Hong Kong’s charitable refugee protection work. To learn more, visit the HK Prize website.