2
HKUST 2011-2012 Annual Report
I
n its book
The Road to Academic Excellence
, published
in 2011, the World Bank devotes a full chapter to our
University under the heading of “The Rise of Research
Universities: The Hong Kong University of Science and
Technology”. In it, they attempt to answer their own
question: “How do you build a world-class research
university from scratch?” It cites this University as
an exemplary case in which “talent, resources and
governance are adequately aligned from the beginning”.
As the University heads into its third decade, this robust
alignment process continues, under the arc of our five-
year strategic plan (2011-16). The University has never
been more purposefully aligned and strategically focused.
CHAIRMAN’S
FOREWORD
There is a confluence of factors which make strategic
planning crucial for our development as an international
university. Hong Kong is undergoing a root-and-branch
education reform. More than just a structural reform,
it is a total rethink of the education design, process and
outcome. It is a new order rich with possibilities. At stake
is how we train the talents for a global city. The new four-
year undergraduate program gives us the room to explore
the pedagogic possibilities in educating students who will
be creative, critical and entrepreneurial for a global era.
By shunning early specialization, our new broad-based
curriculum is designed to turn out graduates who are
unafraid to challenge or change the status quo.
