A Truly International University

HKUST is one of Asia’s top universities and its reputation for academic excellence is growing. Early in 1996, Prof. Chia-Wei Woo, President of HKUST, initiated the Association of East Asian Research Universities (AEARU), providing leadership in promoting collaboration among top universities across the entire region. AEARU membership is composed of the presidents of the leading universities in Mainland China, Japan, Korea, Hong Kong and Taiwan.

 

 

 

 

Ranked top five in the QS Asia University Rankings for six consecutive years, HKUST continues to extend its partnerships overseas. HKUST has received recognition from major global publications including The Road to Academic Excellence: The Making of World-Class Research Universities, which featured HKUST as a case study of elite global university success in research. The University has also received coverage from major media outlets, including BBC, CNN, University World News, Financial Times, Times Higher Education and AEF, among others.

Through dedication and persistence, HKUST has successfully built an international reputation, creating a positive feedback loop between the university and the world. HKUST senior management regularly attends prestigious events to share insights with leading minds and address global challenges. In 2015, HKUST was the only university in Asia invited to the World Economic Forum (WEF) Annual Meeting in Switzerland to present an innovative IdeasLab on Merging Virtual and Physical Worlds.

With global outreach being one of the six key developmental areas of HKUST’s Strategic Plan, the University’s strategic and multi-faceted outreach efforts cover global branding, strategic partnerships, academic exchange, research collaborations, internationalization of faculty and students, overseas alumni connections as well as media relations. To address complex global challenges and to foster global connections, the need for international collaboration has grown. Since 2011, President Tony F Chan led overseas missions with the Vice-President for Institutional Advancement (VPIA), School Deans and faculty to different countries, for example, North America, Europe, Middle East and Latin America, visiting Presidents and senior management of top-notch universities as well as science and technology institutions. The delegations engendered significant research and academic collaborations, as well as faculty and student exchange with world-class university partners. The delegation established another milestone by paving the way for HKUST’s targeted strategic partnerships with elite universities. This league of partners includes the University of Southern California, University of Minnesota and Rice University in the US, University of Waterloo in Canada, École Normale Supérieure in Paris, France, École Poly technique Fédérale de Lausanne in Switzerland, Technical University of Munich in Germany, KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden, Technion - Israel Institute of Technology in Israel and Shanghai Jiao Tong University in Mainland China. With these strategic partners, HKUST developed close-knit relationships to foster inter-university research collaborations. The University joined hands with the University of Oxford to co-brand a Leadership and Public Policy Series targeting senior public sector officials in Hong Kong, Mainland China and the region. In addition, HKUST works with the renowned American women’s college, Smith College, to provide executive education tailor-made for senior female executives in Asia.

 

 

 

 

In addition to proactive global outreach and building relationships with top institutions, the leadership of HKUST also actively welcomes overseas representatives to discuss strategic collaborations. Senior representatives visiting HKUST for discussions have come from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, University of South California, University of Cambridge, Harvard University, Imperial College London, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Utrecht University, the University of Virginia, and Paris Science et Lettres.

The momentum from these visits was sustained as heads of global universities paid visits to, and gained first-hand experience of, HKUST’s cutting-edge research and academic innovations and its dynamic campus life, and engaged in intellectual exchange at the school’s scenic seaside campus.

Expanding its global network encompassing more than 300 partners, the University continues to enrich the experience of students and equip them as future global leaders with entrepreneurial mindsets. HKUST presents students with the privilege of engaging in a triple-degree undergraduate program on three continents with diverse cultures as it launched the World Bachelor in Business with the University of Southern California in the US and Italy’s Bocconi University. A tripartite agreement among HKUST, the University of Virginia and Peking University provided holistic development for students through academic exchange and research collaboration. Through the University’s signature exchange programs such as International Research Opportunities Program (IROP), students gained internship and research experience at CERN, which champions particle physics with the world’s most powerful particle accelerators; MIT; and other leading global institutions.

Online learning represents another key global trend, and HKUST is a trailblazer as the first and only Asian university to offer massive open online courses (MOOC) and partnerships with both Coursera and edX to respond to the needs of the global community. Through partnerships with these global MOOC giants, the University is able to empower inquisitive minds who otherwise would not have access to HKUST’s unique, efficacious and interactive education.

HKUST maintains good relationships with Consul Generals with whom senior management regularly meets in Hong Kong to build important connections among academic, government, science and technology, and business leaders from across the globe.