MESSAGE FROM THE PRESIDENT AND VICE-CHANCELLOR A Time of Opportunity It has been just a few months since I arrived at the University of Hong Kong and I have really enjoyed settling into this warm and friendly community. I am very excited by the great potential of this University, which has been demonstrated by the strong results in all areas of our work over the past academic year. What is even more exciting is that I have arrived at a moment when there are unprecedented opportunities for us to do even better. First, let me review the highlights. High-achievers and new programmes HKU admitted more top-scoring students from Hong Kong than any other local university, confirming yet again the attractions of the education that we offer. High standards of excellence are a given and we have worked hard to add value, for instance by aiming to offer every undergraduate an overseas and Mainland China experience by 2022, which we are well on our way to achieving. The University has also multiplied its international partners through exchanges to 44 countries and dual degrees and other programmes with such universities as Sciences Po in France, Cambridge University and my alma mater, the University of California, Berkeley. Interdisciplinarity is also a firm feature of teaching and learning at HKU. This started with the Common Core, which created a mandatory framework for students from different disciplines to explore questions of profound significance to humankind, and from 2019 will expand into a full-fledged programme of Bachelor of Arts and Sciences. Six variants will be offered that will provide students with training in leadership and big data, among other things, and open the door to international internships. Boost to research funding Interdisciplinarity is also a core feature of our research strategy, which was refined into the Strategically Oriented Research Themes scheme in 2018 to focus more sharply on our strengths and the tremendous opportunities arising from the development of the central government’s Greater Bay Area vision as well as advances in technology. The University is well placed to take up these opportunities given its track record. We continued to secure a large share of competitive funding from the Research Grants Council (a total $269.4 million in 2017–18 and were participant in all five Theme-based Research Scheme projects, including being project co-ordinator on two of them). Further, 114 of our scientists were ranked among the top one percent in their field by Clarivate Analytics based on citations of their publications. And now, there are even more opportunities on the horizon. Hong Kong’s Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam Cheng Yuetngor, announced in her October 2018 Policy Address that the government will invest in a Research Endowment Fund to attract and retain talents in Hong Kong and establish a new Research Matching Grant Scheme. She also allocated more funds to State Key Laboratories, the Technology Transfer Office and other research and innovation activities, and increased the number of healthcare training places and money to upgrade teaching facilities. This is all very welcome news at HKU because it gives us an opportunity to capitalise on our on-going efforts to strengthen our research profile and create innovations and impact from that research. I am confident that these efforts will give us an edge in bidding for these funds and driving us to higher levels of achievement. Global collaborations The quality and impact of our work is also being advanced through our engagement with the world outside of Hong Kong. In teaching, as mentioned, we have numerous exchanges, dual degrees and other programmes with institutions around the world and in 2017–18 more than 10,000 visits were made by our students of all academic levels to participate in activities outside of Hong Kong. Our aim is to ensure HKU graduates acquire a broad vision and appreciation of the global challenges of the 21st ︱3
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