The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) is very pleased that we continue to achieve outstanding ratings in the Research Assessment Exercise 2020 (RAE 2020) of the University Grants Committee (UGC), which is a further improvement from our performance in RAE 2014.
In this latest review exercise, HKUST is involved in 9 out of the 13 panels, and of those 9 panels, we came first amongst all local universities with the highest percentage of "world leading" research work in five disciplines, namely physical science, electrical & electronic engineering, built environment, business & economics, and social science. Meanwhile, nearly 90 per cent of our research were assessed to have "considerable or outstanding impacts" in terms of reach and significance.
HKUST President Prof. Wei SHYY said, "The University is very proud of our faculty, and I would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank our colleagues for their strong commitment and the creation of knowledge. The University will continue to collaborate with all our collaborators across education, research and business sectors to promote discovery, invention as well as knowledge transfer, to address long term fundamental issues as well as current challenges."
About 70% of the research work submitted by the eight UGC-subsidized universities were rated as "world leading" or "internationally excellent" in this exercise - a significant improvement from the review in 2014. Prof. Shyy said part of the reasons are the enhanced support by the government and the UGC in terms of research funding and policies promoting research and innovation. "The RAE 2020 results have shown that universities in Hong Kong are internationally very competitive," said Prof. Shyy. "We hope more outstanding research talents will be attracted to the city."
