My name is PAN Fan and I am a student in the Master of Social Sciences in Criminology program at The University of Hong Kong and graduated with a Distinction in August this year. My paper entitled ‘The Social Embeddedness of Organised Crime in China: A Socio-Spatial Perspective‘ has been selected for the 2023 Shanhe Jiang Outstanding Student Paper Award by the Association of Chinese Criminology and Criminal Justice (ACCCJ) recently.

The experience of studying in the Criminology programme at HKU was impressive (or perhaps ‘fascinating’ would be more appropriate), as it opened the doors of criminology to me and gave me a special insight into deviant behaviour as a social phenomenon. I was a journalism student before entering the criminology programme, and the courses offered by the programme helped me to develop an understanding of theoretical perspectives as well as methodologies in the field of criminology in a short period of time, which provided me with the necessary skills for my future inquiries in this field. My research interests include organised crime, criminal networks and criminal space, and I am particularly interested in how ‘territories’ ( both physical and virtual) are shaped by mafia-type criminal syndicates and how nodes in criminal networks are connected.

The winning essay focused on organised crime and its social embeddedness, and was based on a revision of my individual dissertation. During the process of writing my dissertation (including subsequent revisions), I was supported by many faculties and administrators in the Criminology programme, whose comments helped me to improve my dissertation and ultimately made the award possible, and their professionalism and patience were very impressive. I would like to express my sincerest gratitude to those who have given me a helping hand, including but not limited to Dr. Eddie Wei, Dr. Wang Peng and Professor Eric Fong. This award means a lot to me, it gives me the confidence to move forward in this field and I am very proud to be able to share this honour with the Criminology Programme, which made the award possible.