Court hears latest CityU updates
Members were treated to a comprehensive update on what has been happening at City University of Hong Kong (CityU) over the year at the 17th meeting of the Court held at CityU on 19 November.
The meeting featured personal addresses by the Pro-Chancellor, Council Chairman and President plus a specially commissioned Court video.
After welcoming Court members, with special attention to new appointees, Pro-Chancellor Dr Chung Shui-ming, GBS, JP, expressed his deep satisfaction with the way CityU is handling the Covid-19 crisis.
“Another excellent year has passed by for CityU,” Dr Chung told the Court, which is the supreme advisory body of the University. “Despite the enormous pressures that the pandemic has inflicted globally, we have not sat back and taken a passive position. In fact, there is a great deal to talk about in terms of exciting developments in research, professional education, outreach and governance.”
He commented specifically on the good work CityU carries out on behalf of the youth. “CityU cares deeply about the young people on campus. They embody, each and every one of them, the CityU spirit of determination, loyalty and innovation,” he said.
In his address, Council Chairman Mr Lester Garson Huang, SBS, JP, drew the Court’s attention to the success of HK Tech 300, which was set up in March 2021 with an allocation of $500 million to create 300 start-ups in three years.
The response to this programme has been excellent in terms of the quality of the proposals from aspiring entrepreneurs as well as offers of funding, requests for association, and mentoring from the community, he said.
Mr Huang touched on the City University of Hong Kong (Dongguan) Project, a strategic move in the Greater Bay Area; several governance issues that have been revised to ensure greater efficiency and management; the new University Anthem, with inspirational lyrics by CityU’s President Way Kuo; the aforementioned HK Tech 300; and HK Tech Tiger, a new initiative aimed at providing top students with advanced studies, including a range of study options overseas.
He also commented on alumna Ms Grace Lau Mo-sheung winning the Bronze medal in the Karate Women’s Kata competition at the Tokyo Olympics over the summer and the extensive support for our new fundraising campaign, “United, We Soar!”. “These funds will be used to carry out our mission to give back to society at every opportunity, and especially to support research needed to overcome the Covid-19 pandemic,” he said.
In his report, President Kuo introduced a range of facts and figures highlighting the strength of the University.
In terms of productivity, CityU faculty are number one in Hong Kong. This is calculated by averaging figures for citations per faculty member over the past seven years. In terms of the top 1% of highly cited faculty members against the overall faculty size, CityU is amongst the best in the world. CityU is also very strong in terms of US patents granted per faculty member.
Moreover, several faculty members had attracted millions of dollars’ worth of grants from InnoHK, a major initiative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government to develop Hong Kong as the hub for global research collaboration.
President concluded his report by sharing that while the construction of the CityU training farm near Tai Po was on track, quarantine measures and Covid-19 had delayed the opening, which meant no CityU milk and ice cream yet. But the President said he hoped Court members could sample home-grown dairy products at the next Court meeting.