Our R&D Funding Scheme aims to provide funding for scholars in HKU to conduct research and development (R&D) on FinTech related work. These projects highlight a wider range of areas of expertise than that would be found in any other HK universities.
2022 Research Projects
This year, the Academy has funded 15 FinTech projects with a total amount of HK$4.4M, covering topics including but not limited to anti-money laundering, blockchain, big data, digital finance, and non-fungible tokens.
Asset Pricing in Non-fungible Tokens and Big Data Analysis
PI: Prof. Chen Lin, HKU
Co-I: Dr. Yang You, HKU
BitAnalysis: A Visual Analytical System for Bitcoin Wallet Investigation
PI: Dr. Yujing Sun, HKU
Co-I: Prof. S.M. Yiu, HKU
Blockchain Enabled Peer-to-Peer Multi-Energy Trading
PI: Dr. Yi Wang, HKU
Data Detecting money laundering through Bitcoin mixer by traces
PI: Dr. K.P. Chow, HKU
Deep learning methods for constructing sparse mean-reverting portfolios and cointegration of financial time series
PI: Dr. Zhiwen Zhang, HKU
FINO: Achieving High-performance and Reliable Transaction/Analytical Processing for Enabling Financial Big-data Analytics in Edge Computing
PI: Dr. Heming Cui, HKU
Hardware acceleration of high-frequency trading strategies with memristor crossbars
PI: Dr. Can Li, HKU
In Bitcoin We Trust: Social Media Sentiment and Cryptocurrency Returns
PI: Prof. Tse-Chun Lin, HKU
Learning from Financial Transactions with Graph Neural Networks for Anti-Money Laundering
PI: Dr. Qi Liu, HKU
Co-I: Prof. S.M. Yiu, HKU
Narrowing the Gap Between Ethereum’s Specifications and Implementations via Model Checking
PI: Dr. Chenxiong Qian, HKU
On-chain storage of personal genome to enable programmable privacy: why, what, where, and how?
PI: Dr. Ruibang Luo, HKU
Co-I: Prof. T.W. Lam, HKU
Private Set Intersection for Data Exchange
PI: Dr. John T.H. Yuen, HKU
Secure Blockchain-Empowered Federated Learning for FinTech
PI: Dr. Edith C.H. Ngai, HKU
Stock Recommendation, Contributor Information Disclosure and Stock Abnormal Returns in Online Investment Communities – A Signaling Theory Perspective
PI: Prof. Yulin Fang, HKU
The FinTech Workforce
PI: Prof. Roni Michaely, HKU
Co-I: Prof. Jillian Grennan, UC Berkeley
2021 Research Projects
This year, the Academy has funded 14 FinTech projects with a total of HK$4M, covering a wide range of topics such as digital finance, non-fungible tokens, digital footprints, financial inclusion and sustainable development.
A Deep Learning Model for Stock Return Prediction Using Social Media Data
PI: Dr. Michael Chau, HKU
Co-I: Dr. Wenwen Li, Fudan University
Assessment of SME Credit Risk using Advanced Machine Learning and Big Data Methods
PI: Prof. Chen Lin, HKU
Co-Is: Dr. Luo Ye, HKU & Dr. Mingzhu Tai, HKU
Computational model to enhance the admissibility of Bitcoin tracing heuristics at the Court of Law
PI: Prof. K.P. Chow, HKU
Crypto-token incentive mechanism to construct ESG Index
PI: Prof. George Q Huang, HKU
Co-I: Dr. Yelin Fu, HKU
Cryptocurrency with Enhanced Security: Post-Quantum and Threshold Cryptography
PI: Dr. Allen M.H. Au, HKU
Data-Driven Labor Market Analysis, Modeling and Prediction
PI: Dr. Jia Pan, HKU
Co-I: Dr. Wenfeng Wang, City University of Hong Kong
Digital Finance and the Changing Patterns of Crime
PI: Dr. Zhuang Liu, HKU
Co-I: Prof. Yan Shen, Peking University
Fake News Detection in Financial Markets: Methodology and Capital Market Implications
PI: Dr. Peeyush Taori, HKU
Investor Sentiment and Cryptocurrency Return
PI: Dr. Fangzhou Lu, HKU
New Systems and Algorithms for Realizing Efficient, Scalable, and General Permissioned Blockchains
PI: Dr. Heming Cui, HKU
Personal genetic data as non-fungible tokens on layer-2 Ethereum to enable self-governance and incentivized exchange
PI: Dr. Ruibang Luo, HKU
Co-I: Prof. T.W. Lam, HKU
SocioLink: Leveraging Knowledge Graph for Startup Recommendations in Venture Capital
PI: Dr. Hailiang Chen, HKU
Co-I: Prof. Jianliang Leon Zhao, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen
The Economic Applications of Firm-Specific Digital Footprints
PI: Dr. Alan Kwan, HKU
Co-Is: Prof. Andrew Karolyi, Cornell University, Dr. Ben Matties, Notre Dame College, Dr. Yukun Liu, University of Rochester & Dr. Gaurav Kankanhalli, University of Pittsburgh
The Role of International Human Rights Law at the Intersection of FinTech, Financial Inclusion, and Sustainable Development
PI: Prof. Douglas Arner, HKU
Co-I: Dr. Kuzi Charamba, HKU
2020 Research Projects
In 2020-2021, the Academy has funded four exciting projects in FinTech with a total of HK$3.3M in the first year. These projects highlight a wider range of areas of expertise than that would be found in any other HK universities, and also addressing timely issues like financial fluctuations due to COVID-19 and next-generation digital currency.
Digital Finance, Financial Inclusion and the UN Sustainable Development Goals
PI: Prof. Douglas Arner, HKU
Co-Is: Dr. Giulian Castellan, HKU
Prof. Ross P. Buckley, UNSW, Australia
Prof. Dirk A. Zetzsche, University of Luxembourg, Luxembourg
HKU Coin: Towards Decentralized Privacy-Preserving Cryptocurrency with Accountability
PI: Dr. Allen Au, HKU
Financial Volatility and Digital Finance
PI: Prof. Chen Lin, HKU
A visualization assisted abnormal trading detection system for multi-crypto currencies
PI: Prof. SM Yiu, HKU
Co-I: Prof. TW Lam, HKU