Dear faculty, staff, students and alumni,
As the year draws to a close and on the third anniversary of my presidency, I write with gratitude for all we have accomplished together.
2025 has been another exceptional year filled with breakthroughs and milestones.
We have continued to perform well in world rankings. In the 2026 QS Asia University Rankings, HKUST placed 6th, making us among the top 2 in Hong Kong. We achieved 44th place in the 2026 QS World University Rankings and climbed 8 spots to reach 58th in the 2026 THE World University Rankings. For the second consecutive year, HKUST maintained its top spot in Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland by ranking 19th globally in the 2025 THE Impact Rankings.
We have received formal approval from the HKSAR government to establish Hong Kong's third medical school. With this landmark decision, we are embarking on an exciting journey to establish an innovative medical school that is technological, humanistic, interdisciplinary, international, and translational – values central to HKUST. This success reflects years of diligence and dedication across our entire university community. Thank you for believing in our vision. The path ahead will be demanding, but I am confident in our collective ability to realize this bold ambition.
This year, we continued to develop focused strategies to recruit the best talent. Overall, our efforts led to the successful recruitment of 55 new substantiation-track faculty in 2024-25, further expanding and strengthening our capabilities across key strategic areas. We also leverage government initiatives such as the Frontier Technology Research Support Scheme and the Global STEM Professorship Scheme to attract more world-class scholars.
HKUST remains the most internationally diverse university in Hong Kong, with students from over 80 countries and regions. In the 2025/26 academic year, the proportion of new non-local to local undergraduate students has reached 47%. We were among the first universities to respond after the US government-imposed restrictions on international students at Harvard University. The Council Chair and I wrote a letter to the president of Harvard expressing our commitment to global academic solidarity, and we swiftly issued an open invitation to impacted students.
Based on September 2025 data from UGC, HKUST ranked first among UGC-funded institutions for student experience in teaching and learning. Our graduates have also been ranked first again in Hong Kong and within the top 30 globally for the 13th consecutive year in the THE Global University Employability Ranking. These accolades affirm our excellence in innovative, interdisciplinary education, our global outlook, and our dynamic platform for research and learning.
We are strongly committed to providing a vibrant learning and living environment for our students. Our global network of more than 260 partner universities across 41 countries, alongside industry collaborators such as Microsoft, Huawei, NVIDIA, Samsung Biologics, and J.P. Morgan, provide exceptional opportunities. Over 1,300 undergraduates participated in overseas exchanges in 2024/25. The Jockey Club i-Village, opening in January 2026, will further enrich campus life by providing over 1,500 on-campus hall accommodations.
Our global alumni community surpassed 100,000 members early in the year, marking another historic milestone. We are establishing the Alumni Commons, the first dedicated on-campus space for our alumni, to honor their contributions and foster connection and collaboration.
On the research front, our faculty and researchers advanced our global scientific leadership by setting a new institutional record. Over HK$279 million was secured across all three major RGC funding schemes – the highest project share among universities. Notably, HKUST led 4 out of the 9 projects (~45%) funded by the Area of Excellence and Theme-based Research Schemes, and 2 out of the 5 projects (40%) in the Strategic Topics Grant Scheme, achieving the largest funding share and highest project count.
Our research excellence was further recognized nationally and internationally. In a recent review of State Key Laboratories (SKLs) in Hong Kong, HKUST was the only university to pass evaluations for the two existing labs and was awarded an additional SKL in Climate Resilience for Coastal Cities. Our five InnoHK centers in neurodegenerative diseases, intelligent chips, construction robotics, AI, and space robotics made major breakthroughs, while our Low-altitude Economy Research Center was included in the government’s first “regulatory sandbox” pilot. Beyond this, our researchers engaged in international deep-sea expeditions and participated in the multi-institutional Chang'E 8 lunar mission, further cementing HKUST’s role as a global leader in scientific discovery.
This year we also significantly strengthened our innovation ecosystem with major commitments. The Redbird Innovation Fund deployed HK$100 million into two new funds: the Hong Kong Biotechnology Fund, which supports life sciences start-ups, and the Gobi-Redbird Innovation Fund, which accelerates commercialization in biotech, AI, robotics, and fintech. We are setting up the HKUST InnoBay@Innovation Building, a dedicated incubator space to support early-stage DeepTech ventures. Meanwhile, ongoing efforts yielded tangible results, with 27 new DeepTech start-ups launched in 2024-25. We officially launched a Net-Zero Action Plan in the year, and are the first local university to have established a comprehensive framework to achieve net-zero emissions by 2045.
To further expand our footprint across the globe, HKUST signed over 100 memoranda of understanding/agreements with overseas and Mainland partners across education, research, and knowledge transfer.
Under the “Unified HKUST, Complementary Campuses” framework, collaboration with HKUST(GZ) in talent and research initiatives deepened substantially over the past year. The Redbird Cross Study Program has provided more than 2,600 students with valuable cross-border learning opportunities. The "1+1+1 Joint Funding Program” in partnership with the Guangdong Provincial Department of Science and Technology fosters strong cross-campus interdisciplinary research. The on-going Phase II campus development of HKUST(GZ) will further enhance the shared resources available to both campuses and fuel our joint progress into a premier innovation engine in the Greater Bay Area (GBA).
Early this year, we launched the HKUST Shanghai Center, our first industry-academia-research base in the Yangtze River Delta, complementing our GBA ecosystem to advance talent development and global solutions. Looking ahead, we will further engage in the Hetao Cooperation Zone, align with the government’s Northern Metropolis strategy, and deepen institutional partnerships across the GBA.
To accommodate the University’s growth, we pursued strategic expansion through off-campus sites, and secured support for a campus extension at the Shaw Foundation site, located near the campus’ south gate. Philanthropic funding remains vital and we amplified fundraising by deepening partnerships with donors and alumni. The inaugural gala dinner organized by the HKUST Foundation in May raised over HK$35 million with a charity auction.
In a year of many successes, we suffered the profound loss of our Founding President, Prof. Chia-Wei Woo. Prof Woo’s extraordinary vision of a pioneering research university at the forefront of innovation has brought us to this moment. His legacy endures with great force. He would have been thrilled to see his founding vision for a technology-powered GBA becoming a reality, and proud of the part HKUST continues to play towards this historic progress.
Our remarkable achievements in 2025 are due to our greatest asset: our people. I extend my deepest appreciation to you, our dedicated faculty and staff, outstanding students, accomplished alumni, and steadfast partners, for your hard work, contributions, and continued faith in the University’s leadership.
Building on the successes of an exceptional 2025, the coming year will be especially momentous as we celebrate our 35th anniversary. To mark this significant milestone, we are organizing 35 “WOW Events". I warmly invite you to join us at some of these celebratory activities as we honor our past and look ahead to the future.
Moving into 2026, we remain committed to fostering an environment of growth, collaboration, and innovation where you can continue to thrive. I am honored to be part of this exceptional institution and am excited to work with you to uphold our tradition of excellence.
Happy holidays and may the coming year bring you success and fulfillment!
Nancy Ip
President