University of Hong Kong

The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is Hong Kong's first and foremost tertiary institution. It was founded in 1911 on the initiative of the governor of Hong Kong, Sir Frederick Lugard, who negotiated a generous donation from the Parsee merchant Sir Hormusjee Nowrojee Mody. The University was established to provide a modern tertiary education for Chinese students, and incorporated the Hong Kong College of Medicine, which had been teaching western medical science since 1887. In December 1916 the University held its first congregation, with just 23 undergraduates and five honorary graduates.

www.hku.hk

The new University began life with three Faculties: Medicine, Engineering and Arts. Before the Second World War, most of its students came from Hong Kong, mainland China, and the British colony of Malaya, attracted by the quality of its education. Graduating as engineers, doctors and teachers, they formed part of an intellectual elite that laid the foundations for Asia's modernisation.

One of the University's proudest connections in its early days was with Dr Sun Yat-sen, the founder of modern China. Dr Sun, who studied at the Hong Kong College of Medicine between 1887 and 1892 and graduated with a Licentiate in Medicine and Surgery, revisited Hong Kong in February 1923. Addressing a large audience of staff and students in the University's Great Hall on 20 February, he declared: "I feel as though I have returned home, because Hong Kong and the University of Hong Kong are the birthplace of my knowledge."

The University admitted its first female undergraduate in 1921. A School of Chinese Studies was founded in 1927, and in 1939 a fourth faculty (Science) was established. By the end of the 1930s the University was preparing to modernise its campus and curricula, but its growth was temporarily halted when Hong Kong fell to the Japanese in December 1941. The University was forced to suspend its teaching and research during the Japanese occupation.

Its motto is "Sapientia et Virtus" in Latin, meaning "wisdom and virtue", and "明德格物" in Chinese. The official language of instruction is English.

Campus

The University owns around 50 hectares of land in various parts of Hong Kong. The university's main campus covers 160,000 square metres of land on Bonham Road and Pok Fu Lam Road in the Mid-levels of Hong Kong Island. HKU buildings are some of the few remaining examples of British Colonial architecture in Hong Kong.

The buildings in the main campus, some of which date back to the University's earliest years, feature a pleasing mixture of colonial and modern architectural styles. The campus has a total floor area of 243,700 square metres, and houses eight of the University's ten faculties. The Faculties of Medicine and Dentistry work from specialised facilities at the nearby Queen Mary Hospital and the Prince Philip Dental Hospital in Sai Ying Pun. Student residential accommodation is provided in and around the main campus, and there are also University-owned sports facilities and staff quarters nearby.

To support its future growth and development, the University will mark its centenary by building a new extension, the Centennial Campus, to the west of the existing main campus. This expansion will provide the space necessary to support the University's core functions of teaching and research as it moves into its second century.

Research and Endowment

The University of Hong Kong is a founding member of Universitas 21, an international consortium of research-led universities. HKU benefits from a large operating budget supplied by high levels of government funding compared to many Western countries. Since 1991, the Research Grants Council (RGC) has granted the University of Hong Kong a total of HK$893 million, the highest amount amongst all eight universities in the territory. HKU professors were among the highest paid in the world as well, having salaries equalling or exceeding those of their U.S. counterparts in private universities. However, with the reduction of salaries in recent years, this is no longer the case.

39 academic staff from HKU are ranked among the world's top 1% of scientists by the ISI, by means of the citations recorded on their publications.

Libraries

HKU Libraries (HKUL) was established in 1912 and is the oldest academic library in Hong Kong with over 2.3 million holdings. While the total stock in physical volumes has been growing, the electronic collection has also expanded rapidly. A web-based library catalogue, DRAGON, allows one to search HKUL's books, journals and other resources.

HKUL now comprises the Main Library and six specialist branch libraries, the Dental, Education, Fung Ping Shan (East Asian Language), Yu Chun Keung Medical, Lui Che Woo Law and the Music Library. They are located in buildings around the campus with varying opening hours.

Academic Reputation

According to the Times Higher Education Supplement 2008 World University Rankings, HKU is ranked 26th in the world, 3rd in Asia and 1st in the Greater China region which includes People's Republic of China, Hong Kong SAR, Macau SAR, and Taiwan (ROC). HKU was also included in the 2006 Newsweek rankings of the Top 100 Global Universities.

Faculties

Faculty of Architecture
Faculty of Arts
Faculty of Business and Economics
Faculty of Dentistry
Faculty of Education
Faculty of Engineering
Faculty of Law
Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine
Faculty of Science
Faculty of Social Sciences

The University of Hong Kong Was Ranked 26th in the 2008 THES-QS World University Ranking