HKUST Annual Report 2024-2025

5 C H A I R M A N ’ S F O R E WO R D We are also proud that the Ministry of Science and Technology approved the establishment of the new State Key Laboratory of Climate Resilience for Coastal Cities, in collaboration with The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. This lab joins our two other recently renamed State Key Laboratories—the State Key Laboratory of Nervous System Disorders and the State Key Laboratory of Displays and Opto-Electronics—reinforcing HKUST’s commitment to research that addresses pressing challenges in public health, technology, sustainability, and climate resilience. HKUST also strengthened our national and regional presence. During a productive visit to Beijing with President Prof. Nancy IP, we met with senior officials including Mr. XIA Baolong, the Director of the Hong Kong and Macao Work Office of the Communist Party of China Central Committee and the Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of the State Council. The opening of the HKUST Shanghai Center—our first industry-academia- research base in the Yangtze River Delta—will expand collaborations with universities and enterprises in Shanghai and beyond, driving innovation and commercialization. Broad confidence in HKUST’s research was reflected in nearly HK$1.2 billion in total secured for around 1,700 new and ongoing projects in 2024-25. This year, we also achieved the highest number of projects awarded funding in the second batch of the Research, Academic, and Industry Sectors One-plus (RAISe+) Scheme, with seven projects receiving between HK$10 million to HK$100 million each. In addition, HKUST set a new institutional record by securing over HK$279 million in funding for six projects across all three flagship schemes of the Research Grants Council under the University Grants Committee (UGC)—the highest number of projects funded among all UGC-funded universities in Hong Kong. These include four under the Areas of Excellence and Theme-based Research Scheme, and two under the 2025/26 Strategic Topics Grant. These achievements underscore HKUST’s leadership in securing competitive research funding and its strong trajectory for the year to come.