an outcome. At postgraduate level, the Fall 2013
introduction of a required Professional Development
Course covering communication, ethics, and other
essential skills is set to help students extend their
career prospects in entrepreneurship and industry as
well as academic research.
We further developed our Massive Open Online Course
(MOOC) provision, and made our own contribution
to the development of this blossoming global trend
in digital university teaching and learning through
a blended learning pilot scheme enabling HKUST
students to earn credits through HKUST MOOCs.
RESEARCH RECOGNITION
Spurred by the enthusiasm and drive of our faculty
members, the University’s research flourished over
the year. HKUST secured more than $485 million in
research funding, including awards for 219 new projects
from Hong Kong’s Research Grants Council. Two Areas
of Excellence science projects, led by HKUST, received
a total of $96 million, with other major awards made
under the Collaborative Research Fund, Innovation and
Technology Fund and the 973 National Basic Research
Program. Our targeted strategic partnership initiative
with leading universities overseas also began to
realize its potential with the provision of seed-funding
sponsorship leading to over 35 joint workshops, and
more than 70 faculty and student visits.
With the community’s steadfast support, the number
of endowed chairs rose to 28 during the past year. In
addition, our faculty continued to be recognized at
the highest levels, with HKUST’s sixth faculty member
elected to the Chinese Academy of Sciences, and others
receiving State Natural Science and Higher Education
Outstanding Scientific Research Output Awards.
ON THE WORLD MAP
In 2013-14, national, regional and global engagement
remained an impor tant strategic objec tive for
the University. Official approval from the Ministry
of Education for the Joint School of Sustainable
Development, developed together with Xi’an Jiaotong
University, and the strategic realignment of HKUST’s
other Mainland plat forms will now enable the
University to work more cohesively on sustainability,
innovation, technology transfer and commercialization
in Mainland China.
Internationally, the University maintained its strong
presence in world rankings. For the second year in a
row, HKUST secured the No.1 position globally in the
QS Top 50 Under 50, for institutions less than 50 years
old. We were ranked No.18 in the Global Employability
University Ranking, with results published in the
International New York Times
. To continue our practice
of the last few years to widen knowledge of HKUST
and networks further, I led a delegation of faculty and
senior management to Latin America where we visited
12 leading universities and six science and technology
institutions in three countries. There were management
visits to 30 other institutions globally and more than 60
Memoranda of Understanding signed over the year.
I was also very happy to lead faculty experts in hosting
the second HKUST IdeasLab session at the “Summer
Davos” of the World Economic Forum in Dalian in
6
President's Report
