Hong Kong University of Science and Technology

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (often abbreviated HKUST) is a public university located in Hong Kong. Established in 1991 under Hong Kong Law Chapter 1141 (The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Ordinance), it is one of the nine universities in Hong Kong

Hong Kong

Hong Kong is one of two Special Administrative Regions of the People's Republic of China , the other being Macau. A city-state situated on China's south coast and enclosed by the Pearl River Delta and South China Sea, it is renowned for its expansive skyline and deep natural harbour...

.

Professor Tony F. Chan

Tony F. Chan

Tony Fan-Cheong Chan is a Hong Kong-born mathematician and President of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology since 1 September 2009.He succeeded Chu Ching-wu who retired from HKUST in August 2009....

is the president of HKUST. The campus is located in Sai Kung District

Sai Kung District

Sai Kung District is the second largest district in Hong Kong in terms of area. It comprises the southern half of Sai Kung Peninsula and Clear Water Bay Peninsula in the New Territories plus a strip to the east of Kowloon. The administrative centre is Sai Kung Town but the district's population is...

in the New Territories

New Territories

New Territories is one of the three main regions of Hong Kong, alongside Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula. It makes up 86.2% of Hong Kong's territory. Historically, it is the region described in The Convention for the Extension of Hong Kong Territory...

of Hong Kong

Hong Kong

. Overlooking Clear Water Bay

Clear Water Bay

Clear Water Bay is a bay on the east shore of Clear Water Bay Peninsula of Hong Kong located within Clear Water Bay Country Park. There are two beaches at Clear Water Bay, namely Clear Water Bay 1st beach and Clear Water Bay 2nd beach...

, the school is home to 9,000 students and more than 450 faculty.

It was ranked the best university in Asia according to QS Asia

Asia

Asia is the world's largest and most populous continent, located primarily in the eastern and northern hemispheres. It covers 8.7% of the Earth's total surface area and with approximately 3.879 billion people, it hosts 60% of the world's current human population...

n University Rankings department (2011). Yet, the QS World University Rankings(2011/12) ranked it as 40th in the world

World

World is a common name for the whole of human civilization, specifically human experience, history, or the human condition in general, worldwide, i.e. anywhere on Earth....

, 6th in Asia

Asia

and 3rd in Hong Kong

Hong Kong

(after The University of Hong Kong

The University of Hong Kong

The University of Hong Kong is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. Its motto is "Sapientia et Virtus" in Latin, meaning "wisdom and virtue", and "" in Chinese...

and The Chinese University of Hong Kong). The Times Higher Education World University Rankings

Times Higher Education World University Rankings

The Times Higher Education World University Rankings is an international ranking of universities published by the British magazine Times Higher Education in partnership with Thomson Reuters, which provided citation database information...

(2011-12) regarded the HKUST as 62th in the world

World

World is a common name for the whole of human civilization, specifically human experience, history, or the human condition in general, worldwide, i.e. anywhere on Earth....

, 7th in Asia

Asia

and 2nd in Hong Kong

Hong Kong

(after The University of Hong Kong

The University of Hong Kong

The University of Hong Kong is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. Its motto is "Sapientia et Virtus" in Latin, meaning "wisdom and virtue", and "" in Chinese...

).

The HKUST Business School’s

HKUST Business School

Established in 1991, the HKUST Business School is the business and management school of The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology in Hong Kong...

MBA program is ranked 52nd worldwide by the EIU

Economist Intelligence Unit

The Economist Intelligence Unit is part of the Economist Group.It is a research and advisory company providing country, industry and management analysis worldwide and incorporates the former Business International Corporation, a U.S. company acquired by the parent organization in 1986...

and 6th worldwide by the Financial Times

Financial Times

The Financial Times is an international business newspaper. It is a morning daily newspaper published in London and printed in 24 cities around the world. Its primary rival is the Wall Street Journal, published in New York City....

. The school's Executive MBA program is run in partnership with Kellogg School of Management

Kellogg School of Management

The Kellogg School of Management is the business school of Northwestern University in Evanston, Illinois, downtown Chicago, Illinois and Miami, Florida. Kellogg offers full-time, part-time, and executive programs, as well as partnering programs with schools in China, India, Hong Kong, Israel,...

and is ranked number one worldwide by FT. HKUST also has a partnership with NYU's Stern School of Business for a Master of Science in Global Finance (MSGF) program.

History

In the late 1980s the Hong Kong Government anticipated a strong demand for university graduates to fuel an economy increasingly based on services. Sir Chung Sze Yuen

Chung Sze Yuen

Sir Sze-yuen Chung, GBE, GBM is a mechanical engineer, industrialist, business executive and politician in Hong Kong. He succeeded Sir Yuet Keung Kan, as the Senior Unofficial Member of the Legislative Council and Executive Council in 1980 and served in the latter body until his first retirement...

and the Governor of Hong Kong, Sir Edward Youde, conceived the idea of another university in Hong Kong. Planning for the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology began in 1986. Construction began at the former British garrison Kohima Camp

Kohima Camp

Kohima Camp was a military camp in Tai Po Tsai north of Clear Water Bay Peninsula in Hong Kong. The camp was built by British Army and demolished in 1980s when the army gradually withdrew from Hong Kong...

in Tai Po Tsai

Tai Po Tsai

Tai Po Tsai is an area and a village northeast of Tseung Kwan O New Town in Hong Kong. On the east mid slope of Razor Hill and facing Port Shelter, The village clusters in a small plain around Clear Water Bay Road in Sai Kung District. Pak Shui Wun is a beach off Tai Po Tsai is on the shore...

on the Clear Water Bay Peninsula

Clear Water Bay Peninsula

Clear Water Bay Peninsula The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology , Clearwater Bay School , The Clearwater Bay Golf & Country Club and the Shaw Studio are located here...

.

Originally scheduled to finish in 1994, the death of Sir Edward in 1986 led to increased effort and allowed for UST to open its doors early - in 1991. Thomas E. Stelson

Thomas E. Stelson

Thomas Eugene Stelson was an American civil engineer. He was the Vice President for Research at the Georgia Institute of Technology from 1974 to 1988 and Executive Vice President of the Institute from 1988 until 1990 when he left Georgia Tech to become a founding administrator at Hong Kong...

was also a founding member of the administration.

The project was criticized for surpassing the budget set forth by the Hong Kong Government and Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club. However, under the fund raising efforts of its Vice-Chancellor at the time, Woo Chia-wei, the first students enrolled in October 1991. By 1992, accommodation as well as athletic facilities were expanded to support about 7,000 students. Several more expansion projects such as the construction of the HKUST Enterprise Centre have since been completed and current efforts include the expansion of housing facilities scheduled for completion for 2009.

Campus

The university campus (layout) occupies a 60 hectare (0.6 km²) site which is divided into a several sections: the Academic Building, S.H. Ho Sports Hall, student halls, outdoor sports facilities, the University Centre, apartments, staff quarters and the President's Lodge. Being constructed along the slope of the surrounding hills, Port Shelter is visible from virtually every building on campus. Arranged in cascades, the buildings are connected by walkways and several balconies thus offer a spectacular view of the South China Sea

South China Sea

The South China Sea is a marginal sea that is part of the Pacific Ocean, encompassing an area from the Singapore and Malacca Straits to the Strait of Taiwan of around...

The Academic Building

The Academic Building contains 10086 lecture theatres, classrooms, laboratories and administrative offices. There are 10 lecture theaters (A-H, J-K) as well as a multitude of classrooms and labs. They accommodate classes of up to 450 students and offer audiovisual equipment.

The University Library

The HKUST Library, part of the Hong Kong Academic Library Link (HKALL), occupies a central location of the campus. Connected to the Academic Building, it is accessible directly from the Hong Kong Jockey Club Atrium. It spans five floors with over 10,550 sqm. of floor space, providing 1,950 seats as well as computing facilities. It offers a wide array of information resources, both local and remote. In addition to over 650,000 print volumes and a large collection of media resources, it provides access to more than 25,000 electronic and print journals, a large number of e-books, databases, and other digital information resources.

The library owns a collection of old maps of China and the rest of Asia, produced by Chinese and Western cartographers over the last 500 years.
A selection of these maps, providing an insight into the history of international geographic knowledge, has been published by the library in a limited-edition (1000 copies) volume in 2003.

Student housing

On-campus housing is available for undergraduate as well as postgraduate students. However, there are insufficient places available for the entire student population. While international as well as exchange students are generally guaranteed on-campus housing, spaces are appropriated on a competitive basis to the remainder of mostly local applicants.

Housing fees are low relative to off-campus accommodation and there are several halls. Generally, a room is shared between two or three students.

Health Services

Located on LG1, next to the Sports Hall entrance, the Health Center consists of a Medical Clinic, a Student Dental Clinic as well as a Staff Dental Clinic. The Medical Clinic provides free out-patient service to full-time students. Specialist services in Allergy

Allergy

An Allergy is a hypersensitivity disorder of the immune system. Allergic reactions occur when a person's immune system reacts to normally harmless substances in the environment. A substance that causes a reaction is called an allergen. These reactions are acquired, predictable, and rapid...

, Dermatology

Dermatology

Dermatology is the branch of medicine dealing with the skin and its diseases, a unique specialty with both medical and surgical aspects. A dermatologist takes care of diseases, in the widest sense, and some cosmetic problems of the skin, scalp, hair, and nails....

, ENT, Internal Medicine

Internal medicine

Internal medicine is the medical specialty dealing with the prevention, diagnosis, and treatment of adult diseases. Physicians specializing in internal medicine are called internists. They are especially skilled in the management of patients who have undifferentiated or multi-system disease processes...

, Obstetrics

Obstetrics

Obstetrics is the medical specialty dealing with the care of all women's reproductive tracts and their children during pregnancy , childbirth and the postnatal period...

& Gynaecology

Gynaecology

Gynaecology or gynecology is the medical practice dealing with the health of the female reproductive system . Literally, outside medicine, it means "the science of women"...

, Ophthalmology

Ophthalmology

Ophthalmology is the branch of medicine that deals with the anatomy, physiology and diseases of the eye. An ophthalmologist is a specialist in medical and surgical eye problems...

, Pulmonology

Pulmonology

In medicine, pulmonology is the specialty that deals with diseases of the respiratory tract and respiratory disease. It is called chest medicine and respiratory medicine in some countries and areas...

, Surgery

Surgery

Surgery is an ancient medical specialty that uses operative manual and instrumental techniques on a patient to investigate and/or treat a pathological condition such as disease or injury, or to help improve bodily function or appearance.An act of performing surgery may be called a surgical...

and Physiotherapy are also available subject to a charge.

Rankings

In 2011 QS World University Rankings

QS World University Rankings

The QS World University Rankings is a ranking of the world’s top 500 universities by Quacquarelli Symonds using a method that has published annually since 2004....

ranked HKUST 40th in the world, making it the third highest ranked university in Hong Kong, after HKU and CUHK. However, in the QS Asian University Rankings for 2011, which employ a different methodology, HKUST came 1st. In the 2010 global rankings the university dropped down 5 places from its position of 35th in the 2009 THE-QS World University Rankings (in 2010 Times Higher Education World University Rankings

Times Higher Education World University Rankings

and QS World University Rankings

QS World University Rankings

The QS World University Rankings is a ranking of the world’s top 500 universities by Quacquarelli Symonds using a method that has published annually since 2004....

parted ways to produce separate rankings).

Exchange programs

School of Business and Management

The school has the most extensive student exchange network in Asia, with more than 100 partner schools worldwide. Its partners consist of universities in Canada, America, Asia, Australia, and Europe.

Around 2,800 students have been chosen for academic exchanges since the program's inception in 1995. Every year close to 400 undergraduates, that is over half of the School's BBA/BSc student population, spend a semester at Business Schools overseas. To allow for greater global exposure, some students can be selected for two semester exchanges at separate universities in two different continents.

School of Engineering
The School of Engineering provides exchange programs with many US universities and a few universities in Europe such as University of Illinois, University of Pennsylvania

University of Pennsylvania

The University of Pennsylvania is a private, Ivy League university located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States. Penn is the fourth-oldest institution of higher education in the United States,Penn is the fourth-oldest using the founding dates claimed by each institution...

, Cornell University

Cornell University

Cornell University is an Ivy League university located in Ithaca, New York, United States. It is a private land-grant university, receiving annual funding from the State of New York for certain educational missions...

, Rice University

Rice University

William Marsh Rice University, commonly referred to as Rice University or Rice, is a private research university located on a heavily wooded campus in Houston, Texas, United States...

, Georgia Institute of Technology

Georgia Institute of Technology

The Georgia Institute of Technology is a public research university in Atlanta, Georgia, in the United States...

, University of California Berkeley, Tulane University

Tulane University

Tulane University is a private, nonsectarian research university located in New Orleans, Louisiana, United States...

, University College London

University College London

University College London is a public research university located in London, United Kingdom and the oldest and largest constituent college of the federal University of London...

, Warwick University, TU Dortmund, etc. The program is usually one-year long. The school also provide exchange programs in mainland China which is more popular among local Hong Kong students while full time mainland China based students accounts more for the participants in oversea exchange-out program.

Students' Union

Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Students' Union (HKUSTSU) consists of four independent bodies, the Executive Committee, the Council, the Editorial Board and the Court. All students' societies are affiliated under the Students' Union.

The Executive Committee

The Executive Committee is the executive branch of the S.U. It consists of standing committees to take care of issues regarding the Union and its members such as Academic Affairs, External and Current Affairs, International Affairs, Public Relations, Publication, Social Activities, Orientation Affairs, University Affairs, and Welfare Matters.

The Council

The Council acts as the legislature branch, which is responsible for legislation and regulation of finance and operations of Union. Its duties include:

Hold all elections regarding Students' Union
Consideration and approval of applications for affiliation to the Union
Supervision, advice, proposing and passing rules and regulations on all sub-organizations
Interpretation of and proposing amendment to the Constitution of Union
Consideration and approval of Master Budget of the Union
Consideration and approval of application of Union subsidies

In order to practice the above duties, the Council has four standing committees. They are Affiliated Societies Committee, Constitution Committee, Election Committee and Finance Committee.

The Editorial Board

The Editorial Board (EB) maintains the official publication of Union. Its main functions are:

Promotion of the objects of the Union
Providing chances for and encourage free expressions of opinion by and among the student body

The Court

It is the judiciary body of HKUSTSU. Its main duties are:

Settle disputes within the Union
Provide interpretation to the Constitution

Affiliated societies

The application of Students' Societies in HKUST are approved by the Students' Union Council. They are the affiliated societies of the Students' Union. There are five types of affiliated societies of Students' Union in HKUST:

Independent Clubs Association and Independent Clubs
Sports Association and Sports Clubs
House Associations
Departmental Societies
School Societies

Independent Clubs Association and Independent Clubs

Independent Clubs Association and Independent Clubs are the interest club for the students, such as the Yo-hoo Club, AIESEC-LC-HKUST, the Band Society, the Drama Society , the Magic Club and People's Campus Radio. There are over 30 independent clubs.

Sports Association and Sports Clubs

Sports Association and Sports Clubs are the students' societies that promote sports activities to students.

House Associations

House Association is the students' society of the undergraduate student hall. Each undergraduate student hall would have its own House which is responsible to organize extra-circular activities for the House Association's members. Since the New Hall is the newly built undergraduate student hall, it does not have its own house for organizing activities.

Departmental Societies

Each department in HKUST would have its own departmental society. The departmental societies would organize different activities to their departments' students.

Providing activities to students, departmental societies are also responsible for promoting their corresponding department on outreach day which is for giving information of the university to high school students.

Honors Track Study (Applies to Engineering Students Only)

Minimum entrance requirements are:

A-Level results with B average or above in three subjects, one of which must be A-Level Pure Mathematics. Early admission students or students who have completed Year 0 with at least a CGA of B+, obtained a grade of B+ or above in both Mathematics courses. Students in the Honors Track are required to maintain a cumulative grade average (CGA) of A- or above every semester. Students with lower CGA will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Current students with good academic results will also be invited to join the honors study track halfway.

Fok Ying Tung Graduate School

January 25, 2007, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) officially named its Graduate School in Nansha as HKUST Fok Ying Tung Graduate School in a ceremony that combined the official opening of the Graduate School and the ground breaking of its Nansha campus.
HKUST Fok Ying Tung Graduate School

Institute for Advanced Study

The Institute for Advanced Study (IAS) at HKUST champions collaborative projects across disciplines and institutions. It forges relationships with academic, business, community, and government leaders. The IAS organised its inaugural lecture by noted scientist Prof. Stephen Hawking

Stephen Hawking

Stephen William Hawking, CH, CBE, FRS, FRSA is an English theoretical physicist and cosmologist, whose scientific books and public appearances have made him an academic celebrity...

in June 2006.

External links

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology official homepage
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Students' Union official homepage
A picture of the University
HKUST Business School
Department of Computer Science and Engineering, HKUST
Genesis,An online publication for UST news
3D map
Master of Science in Global Finance - partnership between NYU Stern School of Business and HKUST

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.

History

Campus

The Academic Building

The University Library

Student housing

Health Services

Rankings

Exchange programs

Students' Union

The Executive Committee

The Council

The Editorial Board

The Court

Affiliated societies

Independent Clubs Association and Independent Clubs

Sports Association and Sports Clubs

House Associations

Departmental Societies

Honors Track Study (Applies to Engineering Students Only)

Fok Ying Tung Graduate School

Institute for Advanced Study

See also

External links