Celebration of Physics – Annual Symposium 2026

The Celebration of Physics – Annual Symposium 2026 will be held on 29 May 2026 (Friday).

The annual event is designed to connect our students and faculty members and celebrate their achievements in the past academic year, and it has become an essential and integral part of our department's tradition. As an annual signature event of the Department of Physics, CityUHK since 2019, this year marks the 8th edition of the symposium. It not only provides a platform to showcase the research achievements of PHY students, but also promotes the collaborative research culture across the department.

We are honored to welcome Prof. Mikito Koshino (Osaka University) as the keynote speaker, a world-renowned theoretical physicist whose foundational work on the electronic structure of graphene-based moiré systems and other two-dimensional materials has shaped the field of moiré physics. His keynote, "Moiré Materials: From Flat Bands to Emergent Quantum Matter," will set the scientific tone for the afternoon.

It is also our great pleasure to host two of the 2025 Asian Young Scientist Fellows: Prof. Tingxin Li (Shanghai Jiao Tong University), recognized for his transport observation of the fractional quantum anomalous Hall effect and now also a recipient of the 2025 Tencent Xplorer Prize (腾讯探索奖) in Physics; and our own Prof. Danfeng Li (CityUHK), recognized for his pioneering discovery of nickelate superconductivity. Their participation underscores the strength of the early-career research community that this symposium brings together.

This year also marks two new traditions for our Annual Symposium. For the first time, we will present an award to the student who achieved the highest score in last summer's PHY PhD Qualifying Examination, recognizing excellence at the foundational stage of doctoral training. Also for the first time, a postdoctoral researcher from the department — selected as the winner of the Best Poster Award (Postdoc Category) — will be invited to give a flash talk on their recent research, giving our postdoc community a dedicated voice on the symposium stage.

We look forward to an afternoon of stimulating talks, student award celebrations, and discussions across the department.

 

Program Rundown

Morning Venue: B5-310 & B5-311, YEUNG

10:00 – 12:00	Poster Session of Undergraduate, Master's Degree and PhD Students, and Postdoc. PHY students and postdoc will do presentation of posters on-site. Participants could cast votes for the Best Poster(s) for groups Undergraduate, Master's Degree and PhD Students, and Postdoc

 

 

Afternoon Venue: G7603, YEUNG

13:30 – 13:35	Introduction Prof. Yang REN (Head of Department; Chair Professor of Physics, CityUHK)
13:35 – 13:40	Photo Session

 

Keynote Talk—Chair: Prof. Yang REN

13:40 – 14:40	Moiré Materials: From Flat Bands to Emergent Quantum Matter Prof. Mikito KOSHINO (Professor, Department of Physics, Osaka University)

 

Scientific Session (I)—Chair: Prof. Xiao LI

14:40 – 15:10	Fractional Topological Phases and Superconductivity in Twisted MoTe2 Prof. Tingxin LI (Associate Professor, School of Physics and Astronomy, Shanghai Jiao Tong University)
15:10 – 15:25	Magnetism and Field Re-entrant Superconductivity in Doped Infinite-layer Samarium Nickelates Prof. Danfeng LI (Associate Professor, PHY, CityUHK)

 

Student Awards

15:25 – 15:45

Announcement of FYP Awards Prof. Xiao LI (Associate Professor, PHY, CityUHK) Announcement of Poster Awards + Presentation Prof. Haixing LI (Assistant Professor, PHY, CityUHK) Announcement of Best Tutor Award (2024-25 Academic Year) Presenting awards to the highest performer in the PHY PhD Qualifying Exam Prof. Yang REN (Head of Department, Chair Professor of Physics, CityUHK)

 

Coffee break and discussions (15:45 – 16:00)
 

Scientific Session (II)—Chair: Prof. Zhedong ZHANG

16:00 – 16:30	Poisonization of Quantum Dynamics and Applications Prof. Jiushu SHAO (Professor, School of Chemistry, Beijing Normal University)
16:30 – 16:45	Solvent Intercalation in Layered Cathodes for Ultrafast Sodium-ion Batteries Prof. Qi LIU (Associate Professor, PHY, CityUHK)
16:45 – 17:00	Quantum Information Science, My Past and Current Research Prof. Oscar DAHLSTEN (Associate Professor, PHY, CityUHK)

 

Departmental Service Award

17:00 – 17:10

Announcement of Departmental Service Award Prof. Yang REN (Head of Department; Chair Professor of Physics, CityUHK)

 

Scientific Session (III)—Chair: Prof. Yiming ZHONG

17:10 – 17:40	Cosmological Small-scale Puzzles and Tentative Solutions in CDM and SIDM Paradigms Prof. Fangzhou JIANG (Assistant Professor, The Kavli Institute for Astronomy and Astrophysics, Peking University)
17:40 – 17:50	Postdoc talks One flash talk by the winner of the Best Poster Award (Postdoc Category)

 

Free registration for ALL participants.

Please download the e-flyer here.
For enquiries please contact faculty member below of the Organizing Committee of PHY:

Prof. Xiao LI on xiao.li@cityu.edu.hk