7
the year under review, more than 50% of students can go
overseas exchange in the same cohort.
HKUST continued its pioneering endeavors in e-learning and
Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Faculty members
initiated the first visual MOOC analytic system, provided
courses to students around the world on the two leading
MOOC platforms of Coursera and edX, and gained worldwide
recognition at the Wharton-QS Stars Awards.
That HKUST is very much on the right track in the relevance
of our study programs and learning experience. The
University has been among top 20 in the Global Employability
University Ranking, being placed in the 16
th
spot in 2014,
while the survey comprised a poll of 4,500 recruiters and
executives in 20 countries. To prepare students for their
post-graduation journeys, total internships increased to
537, with 230 taking place outside Hong Kong. Meanwhile,
entrepreneurship education strengthened, including the
setting-up of the enterprising BASE activity center, with
facilities to help students advance their start-ups and to hold
entrepreneurship events.
RESEARCHERS WITH IMPACT
2014-15 saw sterling results in all HKUST Schools in the
University Grants Committee’s Research Assessment
Exercise 2014. HKUST attained the highest proportion of
internationally excellent research work among the eight
UGC-funded institutions in this review. Over the year, the
energy, quality and commitment of our faculty and their work
secured more than $521.8 million in total research funding
over the year, including support from the Research Grants
Council for more than 204 new research projects. Success
in the Theme-based Research Scheme saw two projects,
focused on different aspects of sustainable development for
our city, receive a total of $66 million.
HKUST’s emphasis on five new world-leading research areas
– data science, sustainability, public policy, autonomous
systems, design thinking and entrepreneurship – will position
the University to extend its reach and impact nationally and
globally in the years ahead. A corresponding expansion of
faculty in these fields will ensure that the University’s research
output remains at the cutting edge.
Current faculty members and their achievements were
acknowledged through a host of top national and
international honors. They included State Natural Science
Awards, the election of a Foreign Associate of the US
National Academy of Sciences, and the first Hong Kong
academic to become a member of the European Academy
of Sciences and Arts. The inauguration of four more Named
Professors, supported through donations and awarded to
recognize exceptional faculty, brought the total number of
such prestigious professorships to 29.
Knowledge transfer activities led to a total of 124 new
contract research and consultancy agreements in 2014-15.
We also formed a Task Force comprising external members
and led by one of our Emeritus Professors to advise the
University on long-term strategic planning in this area.
DEEPER GLOBAL PRESENCE
As part of our internationalization drive, I attended the
prestigious World Economic Forum Annual Meeting in Davos,
Switzerland, and hosted our first named HKUST IdeasLab
at the winter gathering on the merging of virtual realities
and the physical world together with four of our professors.
HKUST was one of just seven universities, including
Oxford, Harvard and MIT, to be invited to hold this session.
In participating in the Global University Leaders Forum, with
over 20 presidents from leading global universities, I was
also able to contribute to insightful discussions on the latest
developments in university and industry collaborations. Later
in the year, I was invited to attend the X
th
Glion Colloquium
in Geneva, a biennial forum for leading global research
universities.
In line with overseas visits of previous years to extend HKUST’s
worldwide partnerships and reach, I led delegations to Mexico
and Central Europe, both areas of strong potential for fresh
academic collaborations and student exchange. During the
visits, we held meetings at science and technology institutions,
government entities, and top universities, raising awareness
of the University and Hong Kong.
Closer to home, preparations also advanced well for co-
hosting the 14
th
National Challenge Cup in summer 2015.
The competition is a large-scale science and technology
innovation contest for leading university students in China.
HKUST was responsible for a new theme-based contest open
to student from other countries as well as China.
FORGING AHEAD WITH NEW INITIATIVES
Following approval from the University Council, we moved
