Historically, people around the world have demanded democratic institutions. Such democratic movements propel political change and also determine economic outcomes. In this project, we ask, how do political preferences, beliefs, and second-order beliefs shape the strategic decision to participate in a movement demanding democracy? Existing scholarship is unsatisfactory because it is conducted ex post: preferences, beliefs, and behavior have converged to a new equilibrium. In contrast, we examine a democratic movement in real time, studying the ongoing democracy movement in Hong Kong. Our study is composed of four parts. In Part 1, we collect panel survey data from Hong Kong university students, a particularly politically active subpopulation. We collect data on preferences, behavior, beliefs, and second-order beliefs using incentivized and indirect elicitation to encourage truthful reporting. We analyze the associations among these variables to shed light on the drivers of participation in the democracy movement. In Part 2, we exploit experimental variation in the provision of information to study political coordination. Among participants in the panel survey, we provide information regarding the preferences and beliefs of other students. We examine whether exposure to information regarding peers causes students to update their beliefs and change their behavior. In Part 3, we extend the analysis in Part 1 to a nationally representative sample of Hong Kong citizens. To do so, we have added a module regarding political preferences, beliefs, and behavior (including incentivized questions and questions providing cover for responses to politically sensitive topics) to the HKPSSD panel survey. In Part 4, we study preferences for redistribution – plausibly a central driver for demands for political rights – among Hong Kong citizens and mainland Chinese. We examine how these preferences differ across populations, as well as their link to support for democracy.

The purpose of SURFANICOL project is to study the structure and dynamics of anisotropic particles at interfaces and in particular the manifestation of the coupling between the rotational and translational degrees of freedom on the motion of individual particles and on the phase behavior of concentrate systems. The project involves a team of physicists and physical chemists of Montpellier and a team of physicists from Hong Kong. Both teams share expertise in hydrodynamics and each is distinguished by expertise in nanotechnology for Hong Kong and in optics and physical chemistry for Montpellier. Many industrial processes are based on the trapping of solid particles at fluid interfaces: including stabilization of emulsions in food and pharmaceutical, flotation applied to wastewater treatments and separation of minerals industries. The optimization of these processes is based on a better understanding of individual and collective behavior of the particles, but so far, academic interest has focused on spherical particles. The first part of the project will be devoted to the study of individual particle. We expect an enhancement of the translation-rotation coupling when the particles are trapped at interfaces and will pay a particular attention to the passage of the particle from solution to the interface, when solid friction of the triple line add gradually to viscous forces. The use of active colloids, i.e. propelled through a surface catalyzed reaction, will offer a new way to control this coupling, since the power supplied by the reaction depends on the orientation of the particle, which is subject to thermal fluctuations. In the second part of the project we will study the role of translation- rotation coupling in the structure and dynamics of two-dimensional concentrated phases as nematic, hexatic, and glass. To moderate capillary interaction we will design low surface tension interfaces, playing on the proximity of the critical point of immiscible blends. The use of active colloids will also allow to overcome the kinetic barriers induced by capillary forces. The project consists of several tasks the first of which will be the preparation of particles and interfaces suitable for the proposed studies. In the second task holographic detection coupled with multi-traps optical tweezers, which will be developed in the Montpellier, will allow to reveal the dynamical approach of particles to the interfaces, until trapping. These measurements will be combined with force measurements on single particles developed in Hong Kong from an atomic force microscope. Finally, phase transitions in two dimensions will be observed by video microscopy, with image processing at single-particle resolution to get a unique knowledge of these systems. The expertise exchange will be facilitated by the exchange of two jointly supervised PhD students co-funded by ANR and RGC.

Somatic stem cells (adult stem cells) are essential for homeostatic maintenance of various tissues. In addition to normal homeostasis, they are also involved in tissue regeneration in case of injury. Interestingly, adult stem cell function declines with age and this phenomenon limits tissue regeneration in aged tissues. To understand the molecular basis of the functional decline in aged stem cells, we will investigate how canonical Wnt signaling is involved to regulate cell fate decisions in tissue homeostasis and repair. We are using muscle stem cells (MuSCs) as a model stem cell system, our preliminary data suggests that an adequate intrinsic level of ß-Catenin, the main effector of canonical Wnt signaling, is required for MuSC function during muscle regeneration. We thus began to examine how Wnt/ß-Catenin signaling functions as a pleiotropic pathway to regulate both myogenic differentiation and cell fate decisions. Accumulated evidence has suggested that rejuvenation of aged stem cell populations can be performed and that such mechanism can be controlled in an epigenetic fashion. However, the extent to how this cellular reprogramming event works is unclear. Wnt signals are a key sources of cues that direct myogenic lineage progression and it has also been implicated in promoting MuSC to adapt an alternative fate in aged muscle, rendering MuSC dysfunctional and resulting in an impairment of muscle regeneration in aged animals. We thus propose to understand the molecular and epigenetic regulation of canonical Wnt signaling in MuSCs during organismal ageing. Our project aims to decipher the role(s) of canonical Wnt/ß-Catenin in MuSCs cell fate decisions during ageing. Using Cre/Lox genetic approaches, we will first assess and compare the implication of ß-Catenin in young and old MuSCs function. As aged MuSCs can be rejuvenated and thus appear not genetically altered, we will then focus on understanding the age-related changes in epigenetic determinants in MuSCs, and whether canonical Wnt signaling is differentially controlling asymmetric divisions of young and old MuSCs. This project is lead by an interdisciplinary consortium comprises of researchers in France and Hong Kong studying molecular regulation of stem cell function. Members of this consortium have complementary expertise in the area of stem cell biology, computational biology and genetics. It is expected our study will contribute to the understanding of MuSC fate during normal ageing. We strongly believe this proposal will provide new insights as to the molecular mechanisms that regulate stem cell ageing. The result of this proposal will lead to the identification of new selective targets for the development of therapy for stem cell rejuvenation.

The next few years represent a critical moment for universities. Around the world there is increasing interest in understanding how universities can train students to become global citizens. However, many people wonder - what is meant by the term "global citizenship"? A useful perspective on global citizenship is provided by the "Profile of a Service-Learning Programme in India" which explains that: "Those who live in the 21st century will have dual citizenship---one, each person's national citizenship and the other the global citizenship. The former is a legal status represented by documents such as the passport while the other is more a set of personality traits, attitudes and values operating in the relationships with peoples of other cultures and countries." The key point illustrated by this quote is that global citizenship transcends nation-state boundaries. It requires an open mind, dedication and experience to develop certain attitudes, values and acquire skills for participation. The premise here is that higher education today can contribute to the public good by training more global citizens who enter society not only with technical know-how, but also with cultural awareness, a strong sense of civic responsibility and the skills needed to participate as active citizens in a globalized world. The development of the global citizenship agenda in higher education is becoming more common across North America, the UK and Asia. Much of the original thinking about global citizenship education and many innovative practices in global citizenship education in universities have emerged out of the US. Within the UK many universities are substantially engaged in broader internationalisation efforts and boast very diverse student enrolments. It is therefore not surprising that within the UK there is increasing receptivity to the global citizenship agenda in higher education. In the case of Asia, Hong Kong universities are undergoing massive restructuring of their undergraduate degree programmes - moving from a three-year to a four-year undergraduate degree programme that offers more opportunities for international and multidisciplinary curricula. The changes in higher education in Hong Kong are underpinned by greater focus on general education and the integration of civic engagement and global citizenship into the curriculum. It should be noted that Hong Kong is of particular interest given their current investment in redesigning the undergraduate curriculum, but we are also seeking to include practices in Taiwan and mainland China as they too are undergoing curricular change and are looking to internationalise their curriculum. Our project proposes to bring together top scholars and practitioners from Europe, Asia and North America to comprehensively explore the existing pedagogical theories and models that are guiding universities' focus on developing students as global citizens. The participation of researchers from a diverse array of countries will culminate in a three-day symposium to explore how universities are promoting global citizenship and analyse what research is needed to guide the future development of the concept in higher education. This networking project will provide a unique opportunity for researchers and practitioners to investigate: o How is global citizenship conceptualised in universities and how can general education foster the development of citizen scholars? o How do existing pedagogical theories and models promote global citizenship and how can their effectiveness be measured? o How are universities attempting to better prepare students to be global citizens who will compete in a global marketplace? o What further research is needed to inform future higher education policymaking? All of these questions will be posed with the intent of developing a coherent and meaningful programme for future comparative research on global citizenship policy and practice.