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HKUST 2015-2016 Annual Report
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I
n 2015-16, we celebrated HKUST’s 25th Anniversary
at home and globally through numerous different
activities, aptly reflecting the myriad ways in which
the University has set the pace in our short history.
We have been equally mindful that there is still much
to do to maintain our remarkable upward momentum,
especially given the quickening pace, evolving economic
and social role, and increasingly competitive international
environment for higher education institutions.
LEADERSHIP VISION
Faculty promotions and external recruitment to the
HKUST senior management team have recognized
the talent already at work within our faculty as well
as the value of drawing in outside insights and the
importance of diverse input among those steering the
University forward. Prof Nancy Ip, Dean of Science, The
Morningside Professor of Life Science, and Director
of the State Key Laboratory of Molecular Neuroscience,
was appointed the next Vice-President for Research
and Graduate Studies. Prof Ip, an internationally
renowned neuroscientist, will start her term in office in
November 2016. New deans for the School of Business
and Management and the School of Engineering
came on board during the year. Prof Kar Yan Tam, an
early and innovative faculty member of the School
of Business and Management, and Prof Tim Kwang
Ting Cheng, previously at the University of California,
Santa Barbara, took up their posts in April and May
2016 respectively. We also welcomed Prof Enboa
Wu, who was appointed Associate Vice-President for
Knowledge Transfer and Dean of HKUST Fok Ying
Tung Graduate School.
LEARNING FOR LIFE
In teaching and learning, the year brought advances
in the provision of an innovative education to spur
students’ individual potential and impetus for life-
long learning. This has seen the strengthening of our
University’s distinctive tri-modal education approach,
focused on active learning, in-depth academic
engagement and cross-disciplinary courses, to provide
a unique student experience. The number of courses
planned or already containing experiential learning
components expanded to more than 20, reaching
hundreds of students. In addition, sustainability was
further integrated into our educational framework.
On the pedagogical front, the Center for Enhanced
Learning and Teaching was realigned and renamed
the Center for Education Innovation, seeking to
boost faculty members’ awareness and confidence
in adopting innovative teaching methods. HKUST’s
pioneering Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs)
increased to more than 20. HKUST’s first MOOC
“specialization” series, involving mobile device-related
skills, attracted enrolment of over 200,000 worldwide
while blended learning at home encouraged greater
student interactivity.
As part of our learning-for-life experience,
HKUST works hard to provide early exposure
to potential career paths. Over the year, our
signature Undergraduate Research Opportunities
Program (UROP), celebrating its 10th Anniversary,
enabled 400 students to gain hands-on insight into
academic research projects supervised by 100 faculty
members. Meanwhile, entrepreneurship education
has strengthened. More than 100 events, workshops
and forums were organized at The BASE, the
University’s dedicated entrepreneurial community
space. Seeing the HKUST-initiated One Million Dollar
Entrepreneurship Competition, first launched in 2011,
expand from Hong Kong to four additional locations
in China was an especially proud moment. Over 500
teams entered the contest.
While we view rankings as useful tools to learn from
rather than as goals, HKUST’s position at No.1 in Greater
China and No.2 in the world in QS’s Top 50 Under 50
2015 serves as an indication of the excellence of the
University’s holistic student experience. HKUST’s No.
14 ranking in the Emerging/Trendence Global
Employability University Ranking 2015, an international
survey of employers, illustrates its beneficial and
productive impact on our graduates.
RESEARCH IMPACT AND INNOVATION
It has been an active year for research development,
with faculty cluster hiring underway for the five
strategic areas identified following a University-
wide consultation of senior academic management.
These areas, comprising Data Science, Sustainability,
Autonomous Systems and Robotics, Public Policy, and
Design Thinking and Entrepreneurship, were boosted
by the setting-up of The Robotics Institute, Big Data
Institute and Institute for Public Policy, which will serve
as cross-disciplinary research centers to enable large-
scale projects to be undertaken. The new centers
will also work together with existing HKUST research
hubs, such as the Energy Institute and Institute for
the Environment.
The quality of HKUST research was recognized when
the Ministry of Science and Technology approved the
PRESIDENT’S
REPORT
