PolyU’s State Key Laboratories: Ultra-precision Machining and Climate Resilience for Coastal Cities

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) Comprehensive Information Database · 04 Research Module PolyU houses nationally recognised State Key Laboratories (SKLs), a mark of its research standing receiving national-level endorsement. This article focuses on PolyU’s two current SKLs — Ultra-precision Machining Technology and Climate Resilience for Coastal Cities — covering their positioning, research directions and cross-border layout, while recording the historical trajectory of the Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery laboratory during the 2023 reorganisation. For an overview of research institutes, see institutes-and-labs.md. Materials are drawn primarily from PolyU’s official pages, PolyU publications and the Research Office; laboratory names and branch arrangements follow the latest official pages.

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# 1. What Are State Key Laboratories, and PolyU’s History With Them

State Key Laboratories (SKLs) are national-level research bases established by the state in priority research fields, representing the country’s highest research standards in those domains. Since the 2000s, Hong Kong universities have successively been approved to establish or host SKLs (some upgraded or renamed from former "partner laboratories"). According to a PolyU publication report^※, in 2018, all 16 partner laboratories in Hong Kong dropped the "Partner" prefix and were uniformly renamed "State Key Laboratories". At that time, PolyU had two on the list: Ultra-precision Machining Technology and Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery.

Subsequently, the state initiated a new round of reorganisation review in 2023. According to PolyU’s Research and Innovation Office (RIO), on 25 August 2025, following review by the Ministry of Science and Technology, PolyU’s SKL system completed its restructuring^※. PolyU’s current core SKLs are:

Source strength: The 2018 renaming of two laboratories to SKLs, the reorganisation launched in 2023, and the completion of restructuring on 25 August 2025 are all documented in PolyU publications and RIO materials.

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# 2. State Key Laboratory of Ultra-precision Machining Technology (SKL-UPMT)

# 2.1 Positioning and Research Directions

The State Key Laboratory of Ultra-precision Machining Technology (SKL-UPMT) focuses on ultra-precision manufacturing and precision metrology — a core capability for high-end manufacturing, encompassing optical components, precision moulds, and micro/nano structures that require nanometre or sub-micrometre-level precision. According to the SKL-UPMT website and PolyU departmental materials, the laboratory was approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology in 2009 and serves as PolyU’s national-level platform for precision engineering. Its research spans ultra-precision manufacturing technologies applied to aerospace, semiconductors, optics, telecommunications and energy sectors. The current Director is Professor Benny C. F. Cheung (張志輝), Chair Professor of Ultra-precision Machining and Metrology.

# 2.2 A "One Hub, Multiple Branches" Cross-border Layout

A defining feature of SKL-UPMT is its cross-border distributed layout. According to the laboratory’s official facilities page^※, the laboratory comprises:

• Main laboratory: located on PolyU’s Hung Hom campus;
• Branch laboratories: at Hong Kong Science Park and Shenzhen Virtual University Park;
• Wenzhou Research Centre: the "Ultra-precision Manufacturing Technology Research Centre (Wenzhou)" housed within the PolyU-Wenzhou Technology and Innovation Research Institute, with a floor area exceeding 1,700 m².

According to SKL-UPMT’s metrology equipment page^※, the laboratory is equipped with precision metrology and inspection instruments for verifying ultra-precision machining accuracy — machining and metrology are complementary: without nanometre-level measurement capability, nanometre-level fabrication outcomes cannot be validated.

Source strength: The 2009 establishment, Director Benny Cheung, branch layout, Wenzhou centre area (over 1,700 m²), and metrology facilities are all documented on official SKL-UPMT pages.

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# 3. State Key Laboratory of Climate Resilience for Coastal Cities (SKL-CRCC)

According to PolyU press releases, this is PolyU’s newest SKL, jointly established by PolyU and The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) — approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology as an SKL on 25 August 2025 and officially inaugurated on 4 December 2025 at PolyU’s Hotel ICON^※. The Director is PolyU’s Professor Xiang-dong Li (李向東) and the Co-Director is HKUST’s Professor Charles Ng Wang-Wai (吳宏偉), focusing on the resilience of coastal cities in the face of climate change.

This is PolyU’s first SKL jointly established with another local university — unlike SKL-UPMT’s "single-university-led, cross-border branches" model, SKL-CRCC adopts a "co-built, co-governed by two universities" structure, reflecting the inherently interdisciplinary and cross-institutional nature of climate resilience: climate adaptation for coastal cities involves civil engineering, marine science, urban planning, environmental policy and other fields, where PolyU and HKUST’s strengths happen to be complementary.

Source strength: The 25 August 2025 approval, 4 December inauguration, joint establishment by PolyU and HKUST, and Director Xiang-dong Li / Co-Director Charles Ng are all documented in PolyU press releases.

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# 4. Historical Trajectory: The State Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery

According to PolyU’s 2018 materials, the university’s two SKLs at the time were Ultra-precision Machining Technology and Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery. That laboratory operated under PolyU’s Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology (ABCT). According to the ABCT research centres page^※, it focused on chemical biology (using chemical tools to study biological processes) and drug discovery (the discovery and development of new drugs).

Chemical biology and drug discovery form a critical link between basic science and the pharmaceutical industry — although PolyU does not have a medical school, through this laboratory it once held national-level research capability in areas such as drug discovery, bioactive molecules and disease mechanisms. Together with its rehabilitation, nursing and other health disciplines (see 01 Academics · Rehabilitation and Health), this formed part of PolyU’s research landscape of "deep engagement in health/life sciences without a medical school."

Source strength: The 2018 roster, host department and research directions are documented in PolyU publications and the ABCT official research centres page; the post-2023 reorganisation and the current two SKLs are documented by PolyU’s RIO.

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# 5. Placing These in PolyU’s Research Landscape

PolyU’s SKLs, together with its achievements in aerospace research (see aerospace-and-space.md), advanced textiles and new materials (see materials-and-textile-breakthroughs.md) and other fields, collectively define its "application-oriented, industry-facing" research character:

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# 6. Frequently Asked Questions

Q1: How do PolyU’s two SKLs compare with those of other Hong Kong universities?

According to the Innovation and Technology Commission, Hong Kong has a total of 16 State Key Laboratories (after dropping the "Partner" prefix in 2018), distributed across HKU, HKUST, CUHK, PolyU, CityU, HKBU and others. With two SKLs (Ultra-precision Machining Technology and Climate Resilience for Coastal Cities), PolyU’s tally is comparable to other major universities such as HKU, HKUST and CUHK, reflecting national-level recognition of PolyU’s strengths in engineering manufacturing and environmental science.

Q2: What are the main current application scenarios of SKL-UPMT?

According to the SKL-UPMT website, its technologies are primarily applied in five major sectors: aerospace, semiconductors, optics, telecommunications and energy. Specifically: ultra-precision grinding and polishing of optical elements (lenses, mirrors); nanometre-level surface finishing of aerospace instrument components; precision cutting and planarisation of semiconductor substrates (wafers); and fabrication of micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) components.

Q3: What impact did the 2023 SKL reorganisation have on PolyU?

According to PolyU’s RIO, the state initiated a new round of reorganisation review for all Hong Kong university SKLs starting in 2023. The outcome: the status of the State Key Laboratory of Chemical Biology and Drug Discovery changed; meanwhile, the new State Key Laboratory of Climate Resilience for Coastal Cities (jointly built with HKUST) was approved in August 2025. Overall, PolyU still maintains two SKLs, but the composition differs from that of 2018.

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