News & Stories

Once a student from modest beginnings, Terry TSANG is now the CEO of Madhead, a leading mobile game developer. His smash-hit game, Tower of Saviors, has over 23 million downloads worldwide and features collaborations with top animation franchises. Despite his success, Terry remains deeply connected to his alma mater, HKUST. As an Alumnus, Council Member, and Donor, Terry’s devotion to HKUST is unwavering. What he treasures most in his office is a 20-year-old letter from HKUST—reminding him of when the University gave him emergency support during a family tragedy. “My father passed away suddenly during my final year of study,” Terry recalls, holding the letter. “It was devastating, but I’ll never forget how much HKUST supported us during that difficult time. This letter still sits on my desk today.”

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has been appointed by the Asia Pacific Observatory on Health Systems and Policies (APO), a collaborative partnership hosted by the World Health Organization (WHO)’s Regional Office for the Western Pacific, to spearhead a regional research consortium focused on digital health innovation. This prestigious appointment, secured through a competitive process, underscores HKUST’s global leadership in policy research under the theme “Leveraging Digital Health Technologies and Data to Strengthen Health System Outcomes.”

A recent study by The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) reveals a looming climate crisis: the world could face heightened risks of “precipitation whiplashes” – violent swings between extreme droughts and floods – as early as 2028. This research, led by Prof. LU Mengqian and Dr. CHENG Tat-Fan of HKUST’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, attributes the escalating risk to climate-driven intensification of Madden-Julian Oscillation (MJO) events. This large-scale pattern of tropical intraseasonal climate variability is now propagating faster due to global warming. The findings, published in the prestigious journal Nature Communications, pave the way for improved subseasonal forecasts, i.e., two to six weeks in advance, enabling timely decision-making in disaster preparedness and management, and helping to enhance food and water security, energy management, and infrastructure resilience.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has received a record of nearly 20,000 non-local undergraduate (UG) applications for the 2025/26 academic year, competing for approximately 800 places. This represents a remarkable 40% year-on-year increase in applications from international students, with candidates from more than 85 countries and regions, including Germany, France, Kazakhstan, Mongolia, the UAE, the Philippines, Vietnam, Thailand, and Uzbekistan. 

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and AstraZeneca Hong Kong (AstraZeneca) today announced the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to build on their long-standing partnership, aiming to accelerate research and development (R&D) and drive innovation in the city’s life sciences ecosystem. The signing ceremony was held at the HKUST Unicorn Day 2025, an occasion where entrepreneurs, investors, and industry leaders come together for technological knowledge exchange and collaboration. Witnessed by President of HKUST and the Morningside Professor of Life Science, Prof. Nancy Ip and General Manager of AstraZeneca Hong Kong and Macau Ms. Shan Wu, the MoU was officially signed by Vice-President for Research and Development at HKUST, Prof. Tim Cheng and Head of Medical Affairs, BioPharmaceuticals & Rare Disease of AstraZeneca Hong Kong Mr. Tin Hung Wong.  

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) has risen three places to 44th in the QS World University Rankings 2026, reinforcing its dedication to excellence in teaching, research, and global education while championing diversity and innovation. This year’s rankings evaluated 1,500+ institutions across 106 locations —the most extensive evaluation to date. HKUST demonstrated outstanding performance in academic reputation, research output, and internationalization, with significant progress in education and employability metrics.

Nearly 1,300 global investors, industry leaders and government and academia representatives from over a dozen countries converged at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) for Unicorn Day – now one of the largest entrepreneurial events in Hong Kong’s higher education sector. Attendees explored partnerships and exchanged ideas to drive innovation. 

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST)-led research team has adopted gyromagnetic double-zero-index metamaterials (GDZIMs) - a new optical extreme-parameter material – and developed a groundbreaking method to control light using GDZIMs. This discovery could revolutionize fields like optical communications, biomedical imaging, and nanotechnology, enabling advances in integrated photonic chips, high-fidelity optical communication, and quantum light sources. Published in Nature, the study was co-led by Prof. CHAN Che-Ting, Interim Director of the HKUST Jockey Club Institute for Advanced Study and Chair Professor in the Department of Physics, and Dr. ZHANG Ruoyang, Visiting Scholar in the Department of Physics at HKUST.