Pathways for impact: the search for the next generation of researchers
Academic talent fuels impactful research, and the University of Hong Kong is creating an environment for its best and brightest to shine
Sponsored by the University of Hong Kong
Academic talent needs the right environment to thrive. At the University of Hong Kong (HKU), students are encouraged to set their goals high in their academic and professional careers. The university has a proven track record of developing its research teams, allowing young academics and students to foster international collaborations and apply their knowledge to solving real-world challenges. The success of its graduates and scholars is proof that HKU’s approach is working.
Friederike Hedley, from Germany, joined HKU’s Psychopathology, Affective Neuroscience and Decision Making Laboratory (PANDM Lab) in 2021 as a research assistant. She later enrolled in the university’s MPhil programme in cognitive psychology and neuroscience. “I decided to come to Hong Kong because I really wanted to see something different. Hong Kong is a vibrant and beautiful city,” says Hedley.
Hedley’s research focuses on anxiety disorders, which are among the most common mental health disorders in the world. “I want to see our uncertain world become less anxious and I am committed to breaking uncertainty’s link to anxiety by finding universal and transdisciplinary solutions with data-driven methods,” she says. “I chose psychology in the first place because I’ve always been fascinated by emotions,” Hedley says. From an evolutionary lens, every emotion has its value. “We need, for example, fear for survival. But it can become maladaptive when we worry too much. This is what I want my research to address – to help make the world less anxious.”
HKU is dedicated to helping its scholars and students go the extra mile. Hedley’s work with the PANDM Lab offered her the opportunity to broaden her academic network, travelling to the US to represent HKU at the Society for Research in Psychopathology’s annual meetings in 2022 and 2023. It helped her to “collaborate with people from across the globe and develop international relationships as a scholar”.
Hedley is particularly concerned about how young people are coping. “I want my research to contribute to a better understanding of how uncertainty is linked to anxiety, especially in children and younger populations, and how that is represented in the developing brain,” says Hedley.
After being awarded a Gates Scholarship, she will embark on her PhD journey at Cambridge University in the UK. “The Gates Cambridge Scholarship looks for people who are committed to improving the lives of others,” says Hedley. “I love this about the scholarship as it shifts the focus towards how to best bring positive change. It inspires me to think about real-world applications of my research.”