HKUST: crouching tiger takes leap
By Yun Suh-young
Some say this university was built on the model of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST), but the school's president didn’t seem to agree.
The school does have some similarities with KAIST, but there are more differences, says the president of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST).
HKUST is a relatively new school, established in 1991, but it has acquired a reputation as one of the top USTs (university of science and technology) in Asia within 20 years. It ranked second to the University of Hong Kong in Asia in the 2010 QS (Quacquarelli Symonds) World University Rankings and 40th in the world university rankings in 2011. In the engineering and IT sector, it placed 22nd in the world, up from 26 last year.
The fact that an Asian university that started from scratch was able to reach its current status itself is miraculous but even more so because it’s a science and technology school. Many Asian universities, especially new ones, and USTs are looking to HKUST to follow its model. But the question is: How?
Success factors
Tony Chan, president of HKUST, attributes the success of a university to three factors ― talented people, abundant resources and a good system.
Chan visited Korea last week upon the invitation of the Korean Vice Education Minister Seol Dong-geun and to attend the President Advisory Council’s meeting on Nov. 9 in KAIST in Daejeon.
When asked whether he thought HKUST satisfied all of the three success factors, the president said “yes.”
“I think that HKUST has all three factors. We’re not perfect. We don’t score A+ in all three. But we attracted some talented professors. That’s for sure. We still have a little way to go in terms of building up our students. We don’t go with quantity but with quality,” said Chan during an interview.
“In terms of resources, Hong Kong’s economy is rising and the government puts a lot of emphasis on education. The government spends a quarter of its expenditure on education and a quarter of that is on higher education. Our research funding is endowed, which I think is unique in the world. I really think that’s unique. They set aside 18 billion Hong Kong dollars. As for the system, we sort of adopted the best of the Western system. I think our system is pretty good.”
“Internationalness”
Apart from the three basic factors of a university’s success, Chan stressed “internationalness” as a major factor specifically attributable to the success of HKUST.
“We offer all the curriculums in English. Our faculty consists of top notch researchers from around the world and we recruited students from various international backgrounds. Hong Kong’s geographic location also plays a big role in the internationalization of its culture and environment,” said Chan.
“From day one, we were international. Part of it is because of the history of Hong Kong. English is the official language. We have foreigners, expats in Hong Kong who lived there for 30 years. It’s Hong Kong’s advantage. We have a good environment where foreigners can live. Also, due to the rise of China and its growing importance, many scholars and students are interested in the region. Because of these reasons, I think we could attract good faculty members.”
Chan said about 95 percent of HKUST’s professors were from outside Hong Kong.
“Most of our professors are from the U.S. They were ready and willing to give up their life elsewhere and pack up to come to Hong Kong. These are scholars with PhDs from the West.”
The number of non-local students (students not from within Hong Kong) has steadily increased to 2,677 in 2011 out of a total of 9,881.
Among non-locals, the numbers of international students and those from mainland China are evenly split. Interestingly, the number of Chinese students is increasing.
“Over 4,000 mainland students applied for 150 places in our university. The top science graduate in Beijing district enrolled with us. I think it’s because they can receive an English-based international education close to home. Also, they say the educational system in Hong Kong is freer in terms of accessing information. Access to sites such as Google and Facebook are allowed in Hong Kong but not in China.”
But the president says the school plans to attract more international students from outside.
“Our plan is to recruit more non-local students and non-mainland students. We want to position ourselves as an English-based institution that provides top rated international education. Korea is the largest group away from Hong Kong and away from mainland China. We are now admitting more full time students directly from Korea,” said Chan.
Korean universities’ path
HKUST looked to KAIST to imitate some of its strengths during the school’s establishment. Now, however, KAIST looks to HKUST for suggestion to become a world-class university.
“KAIST is one of the top USTs in Asia, if not the top in Korea. But internationally, it’s still not well known. I really don’t know a lot of Korean scholars who are conference stars, who I can recognize when I go there. I heard most of the professors at private universities are natives,” said Chan. “But to become international, faculty must come from abroad. You shouldn’t just look at the local PhDs but invite more people to come in. Administrators should also come from different backgrounds. Basically, the whole system should be open to the world.”
But he said hiring more international faculty is difficult to do if they can’t fit into the society. Hong Kong happens to be multicultural. “Korea has to find its own way,” said Chan.
Chan, however, pointed to Korea’s advantage in resources and advised Korean schools to make full use of it.
“Korea has a lot of advantages that Hong Kong doesn’t have. The industrial sector is very impressive. Fifty years ago, Korea’s economy and the private sector were not where they are now. Being a UST in business, you should really take advantage of it. The economy is also sitting between the two largest economies in the world. I would say that’s a strategic advantage,” he said.