News & Stories

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) signed a memorandum with Guangdong University of Technology (GDUT) today to map out the details of co-hosting the “National Challenge Cup” – a competition branded as the Olympiad of Science and Technology for university students. It is the first time for a local university to co-host the event in the Cup’s 25 years of history.The biennial "National Challenge Cup" is a mega contest in academic and technological innovation for university students in China. Since Tsinghua University first hosted the event, it has turned into an iconic competition on science and innovation with its scale growing from a few hundred participants out of 19 institutes, to nearly 7,000 students from over 400 universities. Winners included a member of the Chinese Academy of Engineering, nearly 10 heads of state key laboratories and over 220 professors and doctoral advisors.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) will add its first three courses on edX (xConsortium) - one of the two major platforms in the world that offers Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), in its ongoing efforts to promote this next generation learning medium that not only gives any eager learner worldwide an opportunity to take classes provided by top universities, but also make learning more personalized and flexible for students.The University will also offer a pilot scheme this summer for HKUST students to earn credits for their degree study, provided that they complete six weeks of face-to-face course work on campus on top of the MOOC they take. The course will be listed on their transcript and the credits can be counted as degree requirements.The three new courses to launch between June and September are as follows:

A research team led by Prof Yilong Han at the Department of Physics of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has for the first time successfully observed homogeneous melting at single-particle resolution, closing the long-term debate on alleged defects generated before melting. In addition to this, Prof Han and his team members Ziren Wang, Feng Wang, Yi Peng and Zhongyu Zheng also measured the superheat limit of colloidal crystals for the first time. All of these discoveries have been published in the latest issue of , one of the world's most prestigious scientific journals.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) is among the first in Asia and the only university in Greater China to sign an agreement today (19 September) with Coursera to bring HKUST's courses online worldwide. Coursera is an education technology organization founded by computer science professors from Stanford University. Coursera's current partners comprise world leading universities such as Stanford University, Princeton University, University of Michigan, and the University of Washington. With today's announcement, HKUST will be hosting three debut online courses reaching students across the globe.

Established by the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST), HKUST NIE Social Media Laboratory officially opens today. As Asia's first research laboratory specializing in the study of social media culture and technologies, HKUST NIE Social Media Laboratory will bring academic and commercial significance to the development and application of social media in the region.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) partnered with UCLA to host Hong Kong's first Research in Industrial Projects for Students (RIPS), a summer research plus industrial internship and international education exchange program. RIPS had collaborated with Berlin and Beijing before, and this year it was being held in Hong Kong. RIPS-HK featured projects with a major mathematical component and was supported by prominent industrial sponsors Huawei, MetLife and BGI.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) launches the first Air Quality Research Supersite to enhance air quality research and to tackle air pollution problems in Hong Kong and the Pearl River Delta. With a HK$9 million Special Equipment Grant from the University Grants Committee and a HK$6 million grant from the Environmental Conservation Fund, the Supersite enables real-time characterization of ambient particulate matter (PM) in the air to strengthen understanding of the nature and sources of fine particles.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has recently held the first carbon-neutral university congregation in Asia.A post-event carbon audit has shown that HKUST’s 2010 Congregation, held over three days from 10 to 12 November at the Hong Kong Jockey Club Atrium on campus, achieved carbon neutrality based on British Standards Institution’s PAS 2060 protocol.The environmental measures on carbon reduction taken include providing additional recycling bins, composting used cups and plates, providing a carbon-friendly menu, as well as using recycled paper and environmentally friendly ink for printing the congregation program.A meaningful start, a pledge to improve