Overview of Schools

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) was founded in October 1991^※ as a research university. Its academic structure is built around four core schools — Science, Engineering, Business and Management, and Humanities and Social Science — supplemented by the Academy of Interdisciplinary Studies and a constellation of specialised research and policy institutes.

As of December 2025^※, total enrolment stands at 20,475, comprising 11,765 undergraduates and 8,710 postgraduates. The University has 976 regular full-time faculty members (943 academic staff and 33 visiting staff), 100% of whom hold a doctorate^※, drawn from world-leading institutions including MIT, Stanford, Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge. Research funding for the 2024–25 year reached HK$1,196.1 million^※, a significant increase on a decade ago.

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# 1. School of Science

The School of Science is composed of one division (Life Science) and four departments (Chemistry, Mathematics, Physics, and Ocean Science)^※. Its stated vision is "to be a leading research school defined by innovative education and cutting-edge research."

Scale: 144 faculty members^※ in total (as of 2025), with approximately 4,850 students (3,341 undergraduates, 1,509 postgraduates — of whom 860 are research postgraduates and 649 are on taught programmes); non-local students number roughly 2,114^※.

2025 subject-ranking highlights:

Distinctive strengths: Flagship research areas include neuroscience, stem cells, materials chemistry (with particular strength in aggregation-induced emission, or AIE), quantum science, and marine science and technology. Notably, Prof. Tang Benzhong, Chair Professor in the Department of Chemistry, discovered the AIE phenomenon in 2001 and was awarded the State Natural Science Award (First Class) in 2017 — the first HKUST scholar to receive this honour^※.

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# 2. School of Engineering (SENG)

Established when the University first opened, the School of Engineering has grown to become HKUST's largest school^※, with over 3,900 undergraduates and over 3,300 postgraduates — together accounting for more than one-third of total University enrolment. Its faculty numbers also exceed 30% of the University total.

Six departments:

1. Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering (CBE)
2. Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (CIVL)
3. Department of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE)
4. Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering (ECE)
5. Department of Industrial Engineering and Decision Analytics (IEDA)
6. Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering (MAE)

In addition, the school houses the Division of Integrative Systems and Design (ISD), established in 2017^※, which offers Hong Kong's first undergraduate degree programme centred on experiential learning.

Global rankings (2026): 38th in engineering in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings; 40th for Engineering & Technology in the QS World University Rankings by Subject, placing it among the top engineering universities in Hong Kong^※. Both rankings place the school within the top ten among all Chinese universities.

Degrees awarded: Since its founding, the School of Engineering has conferred over 45,000 degrees^※. Alumni are active worldwide across entrepreneurship, industry, NGOs and beyond.

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# 3. School of Business and Management (SBM / HKUST Business School)

The School of Business and Management consists of six departments^※: Accounting, Economics, Finance, Information Systems, Business Statistics and Operations Management, Management, and Marketing. The school has over 160 faculty members^※ from more than 25 nationalities, over 3,800 undergraduates, and an alumni body of over 37,000^※ spanning more than 100 nationalities.

Dual accreditation: The Business School holds both AACSB (US)^※ and EQUIS (Europe)^※ accreditation. It was one of the first business schools in Asia to receive EQUIS accreditation (2000)^※, and belongs to international alliances including CEMS and GMAC.

Flagship programme: The Kellogg-HKUST Executive MBA (EMBA)^※, jointly offered with the Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University since 1998, has been ranked world number one in the Financial Times EMBA rankings on 12 occasions (2007, 2009–2013, 2016–2018, 2020, 2022–2023)^※.

MBA rankings: Bloomberg Businessweek ranked it No. 1 in Asia-Pacific for two consecutive cycles (2023–2024 and 2024–2025)^※; the Financial Times has placed it in the global top 20 on 13 occasions^※.

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# 4. School of Humanities and Social Science (SHSS)

The School of Humanities and Social Science comprises two divisions — the Division of Humanities and the Division of Social Science^※ — covering over 15 disciplines. It also offers creative arts courses in music, writing, and film.

The Division of Humanities concentrates its research around four broad themes: linguistics; literature, film and media studies; history and anthropology; and philosophy and religion.

The Division of Social Science has around 30 faculty recruited through international searches^※, spanning economics, sociology, political science, psychology, and geography, with a particular strength in quantitative research methods.

In the 2020 University Grants Committee Research Assessment Exercise^※ — which evaluates all eight UGC-funded universities — the Division of Social Science was ranked first in Hong Kong for "world-leading research (4*)" in Social Sciences and Political Science (including public policy and administration, and international relations), and also first in Hong Kong in Sociology and Anthropology.

The school also houses three research centres — the Centre for Chinese Linguistics, the South China Research Center, and the Global China Center^※ — alongside the independently run Center for Language Education^※.

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# 5. Academy of Interdisciplinary Studies (AIS)

The Academy of Interdisciplinary Studies evolved from the Interdisciplinary Programs Office (IPO) in 2008^※ and serves as a flexible institutional platform for promoting interdisciplinary education and research. It houses the Division of Integrative Systems and Design (ISD, established 2017)^※ and several interdisciplinary undergraduate programmes.

Undergraduate programmes:

The T&M-DDP admits only 35 students per year^※ and requires an interview; competition is intense.

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# 6. Division of Public Policy (PPOL)

The Division of Public Policy focuses on three research pillars — science, technology and innovation policy; environmental and sustainability policy; and social and urban policy — and offers a Master of Public Policy (MPP), a Master of Public Management (MPM), and research MPhil/PhD programmes^※. Its Public Policy Case Development Initiative^※ has been producing teaching cases on Hong Kong and mainland China policy issues since 2017. Administratively independent, PPOL functions as a dedicated hub for interdisciplinary policy research.

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# 7. HKUST Jockey Club Institute for Advanced Study (IAS)

The Jockey Club Institute for Advanced Study was founded in 2006 with a mission "to provide a catalytic platform for the world's leading scientists and scholars." It concentrates on fundamental research and cross-disciplinary knowledge exploration.

Scale and impact: Since its inception, the Institute has hosted over 280 postdoctoral fellows and visiting scholars^※ and organised more than 1,900 international academic events^※. Over the past five years, it has supported over 40 projects through UGC General Research Fund grants^※.

The Institute holds several endowed senior chairs, such as the IAS Paul C. W. Chu Professorship in fundamental physics and the IAS Helmut & Anna Pao Sohmen Professor-at-Large. Recent priority areas include: fundamental physics and quantum matter, energy materials, biomedicine, financial econometrics, and AI for scientific discovery. The Institute bridges the sciences and the humanities, with chairs also held by scholars of Chinese literature and music.

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# 8. School of Medicine — In Formation

On 18 November 2025, the Hong Kong SAR Government's Executive Council approved HKUST's plan to establish Hong Kong's third medical school^※. The school plans to launch a four-year, second-entry bachelor's degree programme (MBBS) built around an interdisciplinary core that integrates data science, AI and robotics, with the aim of producing "medical professionals combining clinical excellence with technological literacy."

According to publicly available information, the new medical school plans an initial intake of roughly 50 students in the 2028/29 academic year^※. The University has made a financial commitment exceeding HK$7 billion^※ towards the project (including a new eight-storey building on the Clear Water Bay campus, expected to be completed by mid-2028). Module 11 of this site will track the medical school's development in detail; this overview merely flags its existence.

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# 9. Joint School

The Joint School hosts multiple cross-institutional and international collaborative degree programmes. Total enrolment in 2024–25 was 1,039 (621 undergraduates, 418 postgraduates)^※. Representative programmes include:

• BSc in Data Science and Technology (DSCT) — jointly offered with the Department of Computer Science
• BSc in Biotechnology and Business (BIBU) — jointly offered with the Business School and the Division of Life Science
• BSc in Risk Management and Business Intelligence (RMBI) — launched in 2009, Hong Kong's first undergraduate degree integrating risk management with business intelligence^※
• BSc in Mathematics and Economics (MAEC)

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# Enrolment by School, 2024–25

Note: The table above is drawn from the 2024–25 Annual Report (data as of October 2024). There is a timing difference with the December 2025 snapshot (total 20,475), and minor adjustments have been made to the individual school subtotals.

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