Congratulations to Prof. Shunlin Liang on Receiving the RGC Senior Research Fellowship Award

Prof. Shunlin Liang, Chair Professor and Head of the Department of Geography, has been awarded the 2026/27 Senior Research Fellowship by the Research Grants Council (RGC).

Under the fellowship, Prof. Liang will receive HK$8.5 million over a period of 60 months to support relief from teaching and administrative duties, as well as to provide funding for his research project.

Prof. Liang’s funded project is titled “Advancing Multimodal AI for Socioeconomic Mapping Using Satellite and Geospatial Data.” The project aims to develop a new generation of multimodal artificial intelligence models that integrate satellite observations with diverse geospatial datasets. These models will be used to map socioeconomic indicators and support the analysis of urban development, economic activity, infrastructure, community well-being, and environmental resilience.

The Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area (GBA) will serve as the primary demonstration region for the project.

The Department warmly congratulates Prof. Liang on this prestigious achievement and looks forward to the significant contributions his research will make to geospatial artificial intelligence and socioeconomic mapping.