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technology institutions, including the European Institute of
Innovation and Technology, Polish Academy of Sciences
and Czech Science Foundation, as well as two government
entities. President Chan delivered talks at universities such as
the Budapest University of Technology and Economics,
University of Warsaw and Czech Technical University in
Prague.
Media interviews with President Chan were conducted, and
alumni gatherings were held in both Mexico and Central
Europe, apart from meeting with business leaders and
think tanks. All in all, both visits incentivized Mexican and
European institutions to strongly consider Asia, particularly
Hong Kong, as a world-class education and entrepreneurship
hub for students and researchers.
HKUST established three further strategic partnerships
under the Targeted Strategic Partnerships initiative, namely
Regents of the University of Minnesota, Rice University and
Technion – Israel Institute of Technology. These institutions
joined existing partners University of Southern California,
École Normale Supérieure, École Polytechnique Fédérale de
Lausanne, Technische Universität München and Shanghai
Jiao Tong University to make a total of eight. The University’s
Sponsorship Scheme for Targeted Strategic Partnerships is
established to encourage scholars to develop and sustain
collaboration with these targeted partners as well as to
provide incentives to kick off initiatives and add value to
the existing partnerships across diversified disciplines. Thus
far, there are over 30 collaboration projects under the
Scheme including joint workshops at HKUST and partner
universities, academic and research exchange involving
faculty and students, and joint research publications and
successful grant applications with institutions like the National
Natural Science Foundation of China and Hong Kong’s
Research Grants Council.
Growing Network
HKUST’s worldwide network of 250 universities and
institutions continued to grow. The University entered into
agreements with leading global universities including the
University of Pennsylvania, Smith College, University of
British Columbia, University of Campinas and National
Autonomous University of Mexico. This network enabled
students to widen their outlook and global connections
through academic and research exchange as well as
internships at first-class institutions such as MIT and the
European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN). In
addition, close to 120 international delegations visited
HKUST during the year.
Regionally, HKUST continued to play a leading role in the
Association of East Asian Research Universities and
Association of Pacific Rim Universities. In Hong Kong,
President Chan hosted a reception for consuls general from
across five continents in October 2014. HKUST was also the
only university in Hong Kong invited to participate in the
“Study in France” Virtual Education Fair in November 2014
for the second consecutive year.
