Outstanding Performance in Research – Research Excellence Award Professor CHOU Kee Lee Professor and Head, Department of Asian and Policy Studies

Professor Chou’s research interests range widely from geriatric psychiatry, elderly-care policy and population policy, especially immigration policy, to issues related to poverty, particularly child poverty.

Since joining the Institute in 2012, Professor Chou has been awarded two General Research Fund (GRF) grants from the Research Grants Council, and had one project each funded by the Humanities and Social Sciences Prestigious Fellowship Scheme and the Public Policy Research Fund, in total amounting to more than HK$4.2 million. Since 2012, Professor Chou has published 20 academic papers in international peer-reviewed journals such as the high-impact Journal of Clinical Psychiatry, Depression and Anxiety and the American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry.   

Professor Chou is also committed to disseminating his research findings to the wider community via media outlets. In the last 2 years, he has held 12 press conferences and published more than 100 articles in local newspapers. This process of knowledge transfer has important social benefits, as Professor Chou conducts outstanding research on hotly debated topics of broad interest to the media, the government and the public alike.

As Head of the Department of Asian and Policy Studies, Professor Chou takes an active role in coaching junior colleagues to apply for competitive external research funding from sources such as the GRF, the Early Career Scheme and the Public Policy Research Fund. He also mentors junior colleagues at the department, with whom he has written several papers. These papers, published in journals such as Ageing and Society, Habitat International, Social Indicators Research, the International Journal of Human Resource Management and the Journal of Aging and Social Policy, have enhanced the research profiles of both the department and its junior members.   

During his 2.5 years at the Institute, Professor Chou has exhibited strong research leadership and successfully disseminated his research findings to the wider community through various processes of knowledge transfer.