The Review 2013

The University of Hong Kong ⎜ 39 Connecting with the World 44% Increase in overseas and Mainland China applications in 2012-13 over 2010-11 270+ Exchange partners, located in 33 countries THE REVIEW 2013 ⎜ Mainland and International Collaboration HKU has been an international university from the time it opened its doors in 1912. Not only has it offered an English- language education in the heart of Asia, it has been populated by staff and students from around the world. Today, with the opportunities provided by globalisation, the University is spreading its reach wider than ever. New students are recruited from all continents, and existing students have exchange options in 33 countries. We also collaborate on research with universities around the world, and students, staff and the University as a whole engage in outreach programmes to share our knowledge and expertise beyond Hong Kong's borders. Our international connections are not simply a matter of quantity but quality. HKU's emphasis on excellence, and our unique position at the gateway to China, mean the world's very best universities are keen to work with us. In 2012-13 we continued to solidify these collaborations by rolling out new learning and research programmes with top- tier universities, and developing new research facilities on the Mainland. A promising new partnership is HKU's participation in edX, an online education initiative launched by Harvard and MIT that we joined in May 2013 (see Teaching and Learning chapter for further details). HKU is also interested in engaging with other universities across the region in addition to China, as befits one of Asia's leading universities. Recently, we have initiated workshops for senior Asian educators and administrators and have developed multiple links to Myanmar, through which we give talented students a step-up to an HKU education. In all of these interactions, the University maintains its commitment to academic freedom and the pursuit of excellence. We seek to lead in the region and bridge East and West in a manner consistent with these core values. International Engagement HKU has formal partnerships with a number of world-class universities. The University as a whole offers joint PhDs with King's College London, Imperial College London and the University of Toronto, and the Faculty of Law offers joint degrees with the University of British Columbia, King's College London, the University of Pennsylvania, Peking University and the University of Zurich. We also offer summer research programmes with Harvard, Stanford, CERN, MIT and other leading research centres. A recent addition was the Pembroke- King's programme at Cambridge University, where about 40 students spend eight weeks in the summer doing research with professors there. These opportunities inspire capable students to do further research. In addition, the University has exchange agreements with more than 270 institutions in 33 countries. In 2012-13, 1,221 HKU students went abroad on summer, semester and year-long exchanges, and we hosted 1,011 incoming students. Overseas exchanges are pursued for various aims, such as academic opportunities and the chance to engage with places new to Hong Kong students. With that in mind, in 2012 we formalised agreements with the National University of Mongolia and Moscow State University. Asian countries outside Mainland China are a particular target for engagement. In India and Korea, for example, we have worked with carefully chosen secondary schools to promote HKU and seen enrolments from these countries increase more than eight-fold since 2009. Outreach efforts are also boosting enrolments from Malaysia, Taiwan and other places in the region. Recently, we established ties with Myanmar. We have sent 10,000 books to the University of Yangon and are collaborating with the Thaybay Education Network to provide jointly- funded full undergraduate scholarships for talented students. An interesting combination of our international and regional outlooks was the launch in 2012 of a joint recruitment programme on the Mainland with Cambridge University Nationalities of students admitted to HKU in 2012-13 65