The Review 2008

“We will continue to aspire to world-class standards and take every opportunity to work with and learn from the best scholars in the world by engaging across disciplines, institutions and jurisdictions. Our size may have piqued interest in our achievements, but we have the vision, energy and resources to fulfil our commitment to engagement and excellence.” The Vice-Chancellor’s Message In today’s globalised world, no institution can afford to focus only inwards. To attract the best people and produce the best research, we have to engage with others. The University of Hong Kong has adopted this approach through our strategic goal to be ‘globally positioned and regionally relevant’ and our success is plain to see. In 2007-08 we continued to attract outstanding students and to produce excellent research results. For example, HKU was the top choice for local students with the highest average scores in three Advanced Level subjects and in English, and for students of the Early Admission Scheme with 8 As or above. In research, 96 of our scientists were among the top one per cent in their fields globally in 2007-08, according to the Institute for Scientific Information.We also secured the lion’s share of competitive grants from the Research Grants Council – $138 million – and had an impressive number (4,934) of peer-reviewed publications. These achievements have been underscored by our determination and effor t to engage with others in every aspect of our work.We encourage our scholars to cross research disciplines through our Strategic Research Themes, and we seek to bring outstanding exper tise to the University through academic exchange and research collaboration programmes and a vibrant visiting scholars programme. Our suppor tive research environment also helps to attract talented scholars from around the world who want to join the University. The recruitment of new professoriate staff is being driven in par t by the move from a three- year to four-year undergraduate curriculum in 2012 for all Hong Kong ter tiary institutions.This is an oppor tunity to bolster our research exper tise, and also to broaden our curriculum. In spring 2008 the Senate endorsed the vision for the new curriculum, which will embrace the totality of learning experiences and encourage students to learn beyond their chosen disciplines and outside the classroom.The ultimate goal is to widen students’ perspectives and nur ture in them the values of a responsible global citizen. The University has been deeply involved in the Hong Kong community and China since its establishment in 1911.We have used our resources to benefit society and shared our exper tise and know-how with the community. Some of the most prominent examples in 2007-08 include helping Sichuan province to rebuild after May’s devastating ear thquake, producing a programme on Asian business leaders for the BBC, establishing regional networks to monitor influenza, and encouraging students to harness their knowledge and energy to promote awareness of climate change. Ultimately, a society gets back what it puts into its ter tiary institutions. In that sense, Hong Kong has done very well with HKU. Overseas visitors are often amazed by how a rather small university like ours can do so well given the comparatively limited resources a single city has to offer (as opposed to a country or province or state).There is no magic in the answer : it comes down to excellence, engagement and effor t. We have a vision of excellence, we are engaged with others in every sense of the word, and our staff members are making diligent effor ts to ensure we achieve our goals.We also make the best use of our resources.The global economic downturn is affecting our investment return and donations but, through careful and prudent financial management, we fully expect to make the substantial and long-term investments needed to support our curriculum reform and other academic endeavours. I know our strong international reputation is hard-earned and we will not take it for granted. We will continue to aspire to world-class standards and take every oppor tunity to work with and learn from the best scholars in the world by engaging across disciplines, institutions and jurisdictions. Our size may have piqued interest in our achievements, but we have the vision, energy and resources to fulfil our commitment to engagement and excellence. Professor Lap-Chee Tsui Vice-Chancellor and President December 2008