Open University of Hong Kong institutes to drive research

The Open University of Hong Kong has set up the Institute for Research in Innovation Technology and Sustainability (IRITS) to drive the university's advanced research. Another research centre in the pipeline is the Institute for Research in Digital Culture and Humanities, says president Professor Wong Yuk-shan. IRITS will focus on facilitating and promoting research in environmental science and advanced network technology. Over the past 10 years, the Open University has played a leading role in the study of red tides under the leadership of professor Ho Kin-chung, dean of the School of Science and Technology.

The Hong Kong Institute of Education has formed a Centre for Excellence in Learning and Teaching through an amalgamation of the Centre for Small Class Teaching and Centre for Learning Study under the Faculty of Education and Human Development. The new set-up will optimise the resources and networks of the two centres to provide quality support services to schools.

Colleges in the US and Cuba are building new academic ties as tensions ease between the countries. Several American universities have recently agreed to exchange programmes with Cuba after the US loosened travel restrictions. Those schools include Auburn University and California State University, Fullerton, according to Associated Press. One expert compared it to a "gold rush" towards Cuba. Business schools have been especially keen on the island, in part because it could be a future business frontier for students. Some US universities are also interested in recruiting new students from Cuba. Some have started to plan admissions trips to the island, and the GRE will soon be offered there. But some experts caution that the US trade embargo against Cuba will continue to hamper relations.