The Review 2013

THE REVIEW 2013 ⎜ Mainland and International Collaboration for engineering programmes. Students spend a year at HKU, then a certain number are selected to go to Cambridge to complete their degree - underscoring the University's unique position as a gateway between East and West. Mainland Engagement HKU's relations with Mainland China are intertwined with our internationalisation strategy and our desire to have an impact in the wider world. HKU was one of the first universities outside the Mainland to establish a presence there, back in the 1990s, and we have been active ever since in teaching and research. We began recruiting students in Mainland China in 1998, when a Hong Kong government quota permitted us to admit 30 students. In 2013, we received a record 12,513 applications and were able to admit 303 students. The large number of applicants is indicative of HKU's reputation in the Mainland. The very best performing students want to come here and our intake included 16 ‘zhuangyuans’ who were top scorers in exams at the provincial or municipal level. HKU students also participate in a number of exchange and internship programmes on the Mainland. In 2012 this received a boost with the launch of the HKU-China 1,000 Exchange Programme, under which the central government has offered to provide funding for 1,000 students and teachers to visit the Mainland each year to facilitate deeper collaboration. The University of Hong Kong ⎜ 41 Htoi Awng Htingnan, who enrolled in the Bachelor of Social Sciences (Government and Law) and Bachelor of Laws in 2012, is one of 12 students from Myanmar at HKU. He already has a bachelor's degree from his country and is here on a scholarship. "I'm really enjoying studying with both local and international students. I learn not only from my programme but also the other students, who have different views and opinions from me. I want to know what democracy and these things are like, and I hope I can apply what I learn back in my country." Mikaela Belcher achieved outstanding results in her UK A-levels, but she turned down offers from top universities in the UK to come to HKU in 2013 - a place she had visited only once before. She was attracted by the chance to be immersed in a different culture in an international university, and to do an unusual double degree - the Bachelor of Arts (Literary Studies) and Bachelor of Laws. "I wanted to study at one of the best universities in the world and HKU is one of the best. I've been very impressed by the quality of teaching. I also came here expecting an international experience and I have met people from so many different places." Burmese Student Relishes an Opportunity Star UK Pupil Makes HKU her Top Choice Nancy Zhang Cuiping, a Bachelor of Engineering student, spent the summer of 2013 on a Harvard University research exchange programme - her first time beyond Greater China. The experience was exciting but also eye-opening about the realities of research. "The idea of research seems very interesting and exciting but you also need to do a lot of tedious work to prove your idea can work, and sometimes you find that it doesn't work as you expected. This experience has been very precious to me because now I know what I will be committing to when I apply for graduate school. I will be more responsible and determined." Growing up in the rural New Territories, Hosea Lee Yan-ho never imagined attending an Ivy League university. But in 2012, as a second-year Bachelor of Business Administration student majoring in International Business and Global Management, he was nominated by his faculty to spend a year at Yale University under the Yale Visiting International Student Programme. The experience of a new culture and new university was invaluable. "My goal at HKU now is no longer to pursue a perfect GPA but to strive for whole-person development. Studying abroad really changed my life and I am grateful to HKU for the opportunity." A Summer at Harvard New Goals After a Year Abroad Research is another area of intense collaboration. HKU was the first place outside the Mainland to have a State Key Laboratory, in 2005, and now we have five such labs. We are also developing new laboratory facilities at Zhejiang and Shenzhen, which has enabled us to secure research funding from national programs (see Research chapter for details). HKU also has 11 academics who are members of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, which is the largest number of any tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU also contributes to the Mainland through knowledge exchange initiatives. For example, since 1997 we trained Mainland judges and officials in the common law. In 2012, working with the Shenzhen government, we established the HKU Shenzhen Hospital to provide teaching, research and clinical care that meet international standards. This attracted intense media interest in the Mainland (see Knowledge Exchange chapter). As with our student recruitment, there is recognition that HKU can be an important contributor to the country's development.