HKUST Annual Report 2016-17

Over 80 international institutions offered student exchange opportunities ” “ 43 connected with selected overseas institutions. In 2016-17, strategic partnerships and dual-degree postgraduate programs were established with leading overseas universities, including Vietnam National University and the University of Sussex in the UK. A revamp of the Scientific Computation Concentration took place, extending it to several research postgraduate programs in the School of Engineering. By bringing together the best talents from different disciplines, the concentration allows science students to enhance their learning beyond their major research areas and gain more hands-on training in computation- related areas. INTERNATIONALIZING STUDENT EXPERIENCE The School explored new partnerships for its student exchange program, which now total over 80 institutions. During 2016-17, agreements were established with the University of Tokyo and the UK’s Lancaster University and University of Glasgow. A collaborative agreement between Beijing Computational Science Research Center and HKUST will also strengthen joint postdoctoral supervision, PhD student mentoring, bilateral faculty and researcher exchange, and sharing of computer facilities, especially in mathematics, physics, and computational science. The Seoul Social Innovation Study Trip in January 2017 raised students’ awareness on how to use their scientific knowledge and skills to tackle social issues. During the trip, students exchanged ideas with social enterprise leaders from Hong Kong and Seoul. After returning to Hong Kong, students wrote up group proposals on ways to address social issues in the HKUST community. Social activities boosted cultural exchange and integration, communication and friendship between local and non-local students studying at the School. One key event, “One More Pair of Chopsticks”, saw local students invite non-local students to visit their home for a Chinese New Year “reunion dinner”. A total of 13 local families hosted 55 non-local students and all enjoyed this authentic cultural exchange experience.