Bulletin Spring‧Summer 1981

New Graduate Programmes Following the introduction of the Ph.D. programmes in Chinese Studies and Electronics in September, 1980, the Graduate School launched three new doctoral programmes, in Biochemistry, Biology and Physics in 1981-82. All three new programmes are research- oriented. Ph.D. candidates of the Biochemistry and Biology programmes may be required to take courses, tutorials etc. and will be required to present seminars on topics approved by their supervisors. The Biology programme has the following fields of specialization: (1) Applied and Environmental Biology, (2) Cyto logy, Genetics, Microbiology and Molecular Biology, and (3) Physiology and Developmental Biology. Ph.D. candidates of the Physics Programme must satisfy the course requirements of the M.Phil, programme, and, complete such other courses as may be prescribed. Apart from the new Ph.D. programmes, the Graduate School has also introduced two new Master programmes, in Fine Arts and Statistics, and launched a three-year part-time day release programme leading to the degree of Master of Social Work. The M.Phil. programme in Fine Arts has the following fields of specialization: the history and theory of painting and calligraphy, ceramics, bronzes, jades and other decorative arts. Students are also required to learn a third modern language other than Chinese or English. Fields of specialization of the Statistics Pro­ gramme include: Bayesian Inference, Canonical Cor­ relation Analysis, Computational Statistics, Covari- ance Structure Models, Discriminant Analysis, Dis­ tribution Theory, Estimation Theory, Factor Analy­ sis, Functional Relationships and Statistical Metho­ dology. The Master of Social Work (Part-time) Pro­ gramme, conducted on a three-year day release basis with the same curriculum as the full-time degree programme, aims to prepare students for policy, administrative and teaching roles in social welfare. The focus is on the provision of courses that allow flexibility to students in relation to career goals. Psychiatric Epidemiological Research Unit Established A Psychiatric Epidemiological Research Unit has been set up under the Psychiatry Department of the Faculty of Medicine with an annual donation from the Keswick Charity Foundation Limited of about HK$500,000 for five years. The unit will conduct an epidemiological study on the incidence of mental disorders in the Shatin community. This study is expected to be useful to the community in the future planning of mental health services as well as in the assessment of any new methods of therapeutic inter­ vention. At a presentation ceremony held in the Uni­ versity on 13th April, 1981, Sir John Keswick, Chairman of the Keswick Charity Foundation, presented the first year's donation to the Vice- Chancellor. Professor C.N. Chen, Professor of Psychiatry, delivered a talk on the objectives and scope of the study before the presentation. The Objectives and Scope of the Psychiatric Epidemiological Research Unit by Professor C.N. Chen It is my greatest pleasure to announce the es­ tablishment of a Psychiatric Epidemiology Research Unit within the Department of Psychiatry. First of all, I would like to express my sincere gratitude to Sir John and his colleagues in the Keswick Charity Foundation for the most generous financial support I could ever expect to have. I would also like to thank Professor Gerald Choa and Professor Sir William Trethowan for their constant support and invaluable advice. Epidemiology can perhaps be defined as the study of the relationships between disease and en­ vironment. It used to be associated with infectious disease, but in recent years has increasingly been applied in the study of chronic illnesses in the com­ munity. For example, we are interested to know how 16