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The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a
public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociological concept of the ''Öffentlichk ...
research university A research university or a research-intensive university is a university that is committed to research as a central part of its mission. They are the most important sites at which knowledge production occurs, along with "intergenerational kn ...
in
Ma Liu Shui Ma Liu Shui is an area in Sha Tin District, in the New Territories, Hong Kong. The area faces Tide Cove (Sha Tin Hoi) and Tolo Harbour. The Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Science Park are located in Ma Liu Shui. Name ety ...
,
Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delta i ...
, formally established in 1963 by a charter granted by the
Legislative Council of Hong Kong The Legislative Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (LegCo) is the unicameral legislature of Hong Kong. It sits under China's " one country, two systems" constitutional arrangement, and is the power centre of Hong Ko ...
. It is the territory's second-oldest university and was founded as a federation of three existing colleges
Chung Chi College The Chung Chi College is one of the constituent colleges of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), and one of the three original colleges that joined to form the CUHK in 1963. Founded in 1951 by representatives of Protestant churches in ...
,
New Asia College New Asia College is a constituent college of the Chinese University of Hong Kong located in Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong. History New Asia College was founded in 1949 by Chinese scholars Ch'ien Mu (Qian Mu), Tang Junyi (Tang Chun ...
and United College – the oldest of which was founded in 1949. CUHK is organized into nine constituent colleges and eight academic faculties, and remains the only
collegiate university A collegiate university is a university in which functions are divided between a central administration and a number of constituent colleges. Historically, the first collegiate university was the University of Paris and its first college was the C ...
in the territory. The university operates in both English and Chinese, although classes in most colleges are taught in English. Four Nobel laureates are associated with the university, and it is the only tertiary institution in Hong Kong with recipients of the Nobel Prize,
Turing Award The ACM A. M. Turing Award is an annual prize given by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for contributions of lasting and major technical importance to computer science. It is generally recognized as the highest distinction in comput ...
, Fields Medal and
Veblen Prize __NOTOC__ The Oswald Veblen Prize in Geometry is an award granted by the American Mathematical Society for notable research in geometry or topology. It was founded in 1961 in memory of Oswald Veblen. The Veblen Prize is now worth US$5000, and is ...
sitting as faculty in residence.


History


Origins

The university was formed in 1963 as a federation of three existing colleges. The first of these,
New Asia College New Asia College is a constituent college of the Chinese University of Hong Kong located in Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong. History New Asia College was founded in 1949 by Chinese scholars Ch'ien Mu (Qian Mu), Tang Junyi (Tang Chun ...
, was established in 1949 by anti-Communist Confucian scholars from Mainland China amid the
revolution In political science, a revolution (Latin: ''revolutio'', "a turn around") is a fundamental and relatively sudden change in political power and political organization which occurs when the population revolts against the government, typically due ...
there. Among the founders were
Ch'ien Mu Ch'ien Mu or Qian Mu (; 30 July 1895 – 30 August 1990) was a Chinese historian, philosopher and writer. He is considered to be one of the greatest historians and philosophers of 20th-century China. Ch'ien, together with Lü Simian, Chen Yink ...
,
Tang Junyi Tang Chun-I or Tang Junyi (, 17 January 1909 – 2 February 1978) was a Chinese philosopher, who was one of the leading exponents of New Confucianism. He was influenced by Plato and Hegel, as well as by earlier Confucian thought. Biography ...
, and Tchang Pi-kai. Curriculum focused particularly on Chinese heritage and social concerns. The early years of this school were tumultuous, with the campus relocating several times between rented premises around Kowloon. Academics there were often self-exiled from the mainland and they struggled financially, with students sometimes sleeping on rooftops and teachers foregoing pay to sustain the college. Funds were gradually raised and the school moved to a new campus in Kau Pui Lung, built with the support of the
Ford Foundation The Ford Foundation is an American private foundation with the stated goal of advancing human welfare. Created in 1936 by Edsel Ford and his father Henry Ford, it was originally funded by a US$25,000 gift from Edsel Ford. By 1947, after the death ...
, in 1956. Following the Communist revolution and the breakdown in relations between China and the United States at the 1950 outbreak of the
Korean War , date = {{Ubl, 25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953 (''de facto'')({{Age in years, months, weeks and days, month1=6, day1=25, year1=1950, month2=7, day2=27, year2=1953), 25 June 1950 – present (''de jure'')({{Age in years, months, weeks a ...
, all Christian colleges and universities in the People's Republic of China were shut down.
Chung Chi College The Chung Chi College is one of the constituent colleges of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), and one of the three original colleges that joined to form the CUHK in 1963. Founded in 1951 by representatives of Protestant churches in ...
was founded in 1951 by Protestant churches in Hong Kong to continue the theological education of mainland churches and schools. The 63 students of its first year operating were taught in various church and rented premises on Hong Kong Island. The college moved to its present location in
Ma Liu Shui Ma Liu Shui is an area in Sha Tin District, in the New Territories, Hong Kong. The area faces Tide Cove (Sha Tin Hoi) and Tolo Harbour. The Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Science Park are located in Ma Liu Shui. Name ety ...
(i.e., the present CUHK campus) in 1956. By 1962, a year before the founding of CUHK, Chung Chi had 531 students in 10 departments taught by a full-time faculty of 40, excluding tutors. United College was founded in 1956 with the merging of five private colleges in
Guangdong Guangdong (, ), alternatively romanized as Canton or Kwangtung, is a coastal province in South China on the north shore of the South China Sea. The capital of the province is Guangzhou. With a population of 126.01 million (as of 2020) ...
province: Canton Overseas, Kwang Hsia, Wah Kiu, Wen Hua, and Ping Jing College of Accountancy. The first school president was Dr F.I. Tseung. The original campus on
Caine Road Caine Road is a road running through Mid-Levels, Hong Kong. It connects Bonham Road to the west (at the junction with Hospital Road and Seymour Road), and Arbuthnot Road, Glenealy and Upper Albert Road to the east. The road is named after Wi ...
on Hong Kong Island accommodated over 600 students. These three colleges (along with some others created during this era) helped fill a void in the post-secondary education options available to Hong Kong Chinese students. Before 1949, such students could attend a university in the mainland. But with this option spoiled by the upheavals in China, students were unable to further their studies at a university unless their English proficiency was sufficient to enrol at the
University of Hong Kong The University of Hong Kong (HKU) (Chinese: 香港大學) is a public research university in Hong Kong. Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. HKU was also the f ...
, then the only university in the territory. In 1957, New Asia College, Chung Chi College, and United College came together to establish the Chinese Colleges Joint Council.


Foundation

In June 1959, the Hong Kong government expressed its intent to establish a new university with a medium of instruction of Chinese. The same year, the Post-Secondary Colleges Ordinance was announced to provide government funding and official recognition to New Asia, Chung Chi and United colleges in hopes that the money would "enable them to raise their standards to a level at which they might qualify for university status, probably on a federal basis". The ordinance was enacted on 19 May 1960. The Chinese University Preparatory Committee was established in June 1961 to advise the government on possible sites for the new university. The following May, the Fulton Commission was formed to assess the suitability of the three government-funded Post-Secondary Colleges to become constituent colleges of the new university. The commission, headed by Vice-Chancellor John Fulton of the newly established
University of Sussex , mottoeng = Be Still and Know , established = , type = Public research university , endowment = £14.4 million (2020) , budget = £319.6 million (2019–20) , chancellor = Sanjeev Bhaskar , vice_chancellor = Sasha Roseneil , ...
, visited Hong Kong over the summer and produced an interim report recommending the establishment of the federal university comprising the three colleges. The Fulton Commission report was tabled in the Legislative Council in June 1963, and the Chinese University of Hong Kong Ordinance was passed in September of that year. The school was officially inaugurated in a ceremony at City Hall on 17 October 1963, officiated by the founding chancellor, Sir
Robert Brown Black Sir Robert Brown Black (3 June 1906 – 29 October 1999) was a British colonial administrator who served as Governor of Singapore from 1955 to 1957, and Governor of Hong Kong from 1958 to 1964. Born in Edinburgh and educated at George Watson ...
. The next year, Dr.
Li Choh-ming Li Choh-ming (李卓敏, 1912 – 1991) was a Chinese-born American economist and educator. He was the founding Vice-Chancellor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1963. He compiled The Li Chinese Dictionary (Cantonese-Mandarin). He was ...
was appointed the first Vice-Chancellor of the university. The university originally comprised the Faculty of Arts, Faculty of Science and Faculty of Social Science. Construction began at the site of the new campus in the
Ma Liu Shui Ma Liu Shui is an area in Sha Tin District, in the New Territories, Hong Kong. The area faces Tide Cove (Sha Tin Hoi) and Tolo Harbour. The Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Science Park are located in Ma Liu Shui. Name ety ...
area, where Chung Chi College was already established, for new facilities to house central administration and the relocated New Asia and United colleges.


1963–present

Construction of the new campus continued throughout the 1960s to a development plan produced by W. Szeto and Partners. Above the valley occupied by Chung Chi College, on two plateaux formed by granite quarrying for the Plover Cove dam, the quarters for the other two colleges would flank the Central Campus housing administrative buildings and other shared facilities. Some of the most iconic buildings on campus, like the University Library, were built in this period along the monumental axis of the University Mall in the subdued concrete aesthetic for which the school is known. The School of Education, which would later become a faculty, was founded in 1965. The Graduate School, the first in Hong Kong, was founded in 1966 and the first batch of master's degrees were awarded the following year. In the early 1970s, New Asia and United College moved into their new premises on the highest plateau of the campus. The Student Union was established in 1971. The School of Medicine was founded in 1977 and the teaching hospital, the
Prince of Wales Hospital Prince of Wales Hospital is a large of Tertiary referral hospital and large of teaching hospital from Faculty of Medicine in Chinese University of Hong Kong in Sha Tin, New Territories in Hong Kong.. Named after Charles, Prince of Wales (now ...
in nearby Sha Tin New Town, was established several years later. The university constitution was also reviewed in the 1970s with an aim to assess the school's growth and chart its future. In 1975 the chancellor appointed an external commission, again chaired by Lord Fulton, to review the university constitution. Aside from Fulton, the commission comprised I.C.M. Maxwell (its secretary), Sir Michael Herries, and Professor C.K. Yang. The commission held five days of filmed hearings to garner comments from stakeholders. This second Fulton Report recommended that academic policy, finances, matriculation of students, appointment of staff, curriculum, examinations, and the awarding of degrees fall under the purview of the university administration. Buildings would also be maintained by the university regardless of which college owned them. The colleges would be entrusted with small group "student-oriented teaching". Rationalisation was suggested to reduce duplication of efforts among the different colleges. The federal structure of the university would thus be replaced by something closer to that of a unitary university. This was controversial among the colleges. The Board of Governors of New Asia College flatly rejected the recommendations of the report, alleging that it would destroy the collegiate system, turning the colleges into "empty shells". Dr. Denny Huang, a longtime member of the Board of Governors of Chung Chi College, criticised the effort to centralise powers and stated that the college governorship would be reduced to "nothing more than managers of an estate". The Fulton Report recommendations were packaged into the Chinese University of Hong Kong Bill 1976. In defence of the bill the acting Secretary for Social Services, M.C. Morgan, said that "a situation with each college developing into a little university of its own was not compatible with the sensible evolution of a modern major seat of higher learning". The changes recommended by the report came into effect in December 1976. The first non-founding college, Shaw College, was named after its patron, Sir
Run Run Shaw Sir Run Run Shaw (19 November 1907 – 7 January 2014), also known as Shao Yifu and Siu Yat-fu, was a Hong Kong entertainment mogul and philanthropist. He was one of the most influential figures in the Asian entertainment industry. He founde ...
, who donated five hundred million Hong Kong dollars toward its establishment in May 1985. The Chinese University of Hong Kong (Declaration of Shaw College) Ordinance was passed by the Legislative Council in July 1986, and the fourth college was officially opened in March 1990 by Run Run Shaw and Governor David Wilson. The 1990s brought about another building boom. The original Chung Chi teaching and administration blocks were demolished and replaced with larger, more modern structures in several phases over the course of a decade. The Ho Sin-Hang engineering block opened in 1994 to house the new School of Engineering. In 1994, the school transitioned to a British-style three-year bachelor's degree system. The
Hong Kong Internet Exchange Hong Kong Internet eXchange (HKIX; ) is an internet exchange point in Hong Kong. The cooperative project is initiated by the Information Technology Services Centre (ITSC) of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) providing the service free o ...
, a metropolitan network backbone, was founded in 1995 and remains an internet hub for the region. In the 2000s, the underwent another period of expansion, in part to accommodate increased student numbers brought about by the 334 Scheme. Five new colleges came into operation:
Morningside College (Hong Kong) Morningside College () is one of the nine colleges of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). Motto The motto of the College is Scholarship, Virtue, Service. History Morningside College was established in 2006 with generous and imaginative ...
and S. H. Ho College were announced in 2006, and were followed in 2007 by C. W. Chu College,
Wu Yee Sun College Wu Yee Sun College is one of the five new colleges of the Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public research university in Ma Liu Shui, Hong Kong, formally established in 1963 by a charter gra ...
and Lee Woo Sing College. These colleges are smaller in scale than the older ones, each comprising only one or two blocks rather than an entire section of campus and housing fewer students, but they nonetheless each contain the usual array of facilities like student hostels, amenities and communal dining halls. New teaching blocks and a student amenity centre were also opened near the railway station.


Goddess of Democracy

On 29 May 2010, when the CUHK student union sought to permanently locate a 'Goddess of Democracy' statue on campus, the administrative and planning committee of the university convened an emergency meeting for 1 June, chaired by incumbent Vice-chancellor Lawrence Lau, to consider the request.Siu, Beatrice (8 June 2010
Goddess posed huge `political risk' to campus
, ''The Standard'' Retrieved on 8 June 2010.
The application was turned down; the reason provided was the need for the university to maintain political neutrality. Staff and students objected to the refusal, however, accusing the committee of self-censorship; students declared they were prepared for a stand-off against the university, saying they would ensure the statues were accommodated on campus "at all costs"."Goddess statue for CUHK campus `at all costs"
, ''The Standard'' Retrieved on 5 June 2010.
A student meeting was convened, and student union President Eric Lai told 2,000 attendees that the university officials should apologise for their opposition of the art display."Students give statue a new home".'' South China Morning Post'' On 4 June, bowing to public outcry and student pressure, the university relented, and allowed the statue on campus. Vice-chancellor designate Joseph Sung, who was consulted on the vote ''in absentia'', admitted that it was the biggest political storm in 21 years. He revealed that, in addition to preserving political neutrality, safety and security concerns were factors in the decision. He also drew a distinction between this application – for a permanent University installation – and hypothetical applications for short-term expressions of free speech, suggesting the latter would have been more likely to be approved, but he criticised the management team as "immature" and "inexperienced" in handling the incident. An editorial in '' The Standard'' criticised the committee's naivety in not anticipating the reaction. It was also highly critical of Sung for seeking to distance himself from the decision with such a "lame excuse".'Mary Ma' (8 June 2010)
"Sung rides on Goddess storm"
, ''The Standard'' Retrieved on 8 June 2010.
Outgoing Vice-chancellor Lawrence Lau defended the committee's decision as "collective and unanimous" after "detailed consideration," citing the unanimous vote of the administrative and planning committee, and he disagreed with Sung's characterisation of the management team. While the vote was unanimous, however, Sung stated that he had suggested the wording of the decision include the qualification that the committee "had not reached a consensus." The student union said the two professors should have communicated to reach a consensus, and that Lau's reply "failed to explain why the school used political neutrality as a reason to reject the statue."Chong, Tanna (9 June 2010) "Students call for clear position on statue".'' South China Morning Post''. Retrieved on 5 June 2010.


2019 protest conflict

During the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests, the campus became the site of a series of clashes between protesters and the
Hong Kong Police Force The Hong Kong Police Force (HKPF) is the primary law enforcement, investigative agency, and largest disciplined service under the Security Bureau of Hong Kong. The Royal Hong Kong Police Force (RHKPF) reverted to its former name after the t ...
. Students and protesters disrupted traffic near the university to facilitate a Hong Kong-wide general strike on 11 November 2019. On 12 November, the riot police entered the campus and fired 1,567
tear gas Tear gas, also known as a lachrymator agent or lachrymator (), sometimes colloquially known as "mace" after the early commercial aerosol, is a chemical weapon that stimulates the nerves of the lacrimal gland in the eye to produce tears. In ...
rounds, 380
bean bag round A bean bag round, also known by its trademarked name flexible baton round, is a type of baton round, fired from a shotgun, and used for less lethal apprehension of suspects. Description The bean bag round consists of a small fabric "pillow" ...
s and 1,312
rubber bullet Rubber bullets (also called rubber baton rounds) are a type of baton round. Despite the name, rubber bullets typically have either a metal core with a rubber coating, or are a homogeneous admixture with rubber being a minority component. Alth ...
s while protesters built barricades, throwing bricks and
petrol bombs A Molotov cocktail (among several other names – ''see other names'') is a hand thrown incendiary weapon constructed from a frangible container filled with flammable substances equipped with a fuse (typically a glass bottle filled with fla ...
. President Rocky Tuan tried to seek mediation with the police, which was rejected. It resulted in a two-day siege of the university by the police from 13 to 15 November. Most protesters left the campus by 15 November. At least 70 students were injured. Protestors barricaded most entrances and exits, leading to a campus-wide transport disruption. The increasing violence led to the University Senate voting to cancel the ongoing semester, followed by a university-wide evacuation.


Administration and organisation


Governance

Prior to Hong Kong's
handover In cellular telecommunications, handover, or handoff, is the process of transferring an ongoing call or data session from one channel connected to the core network to another channel. In satellite communications it is the process of transfe ...
, the colony's governor was the de jure chancellor of the university. That role was assumed by the territory's chief executive following the handover. For a list of pre- and post-handover university chancellors, refer to the articles for the
governor of Hong Kong The governor of Hong Kong was the representative of the British Crown in Hong Kong from 1843 to 1997. In this capacity, the governor was president of the Executive Council and commander-in-chief of the British Forces Overseas Hong Kong. ...
and the
chief executive of Hong Kong The Chief Executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region is the representative of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and head of the Government of Hong Kong. The position was created to replace the office of governor of ...
.


Administration


President and vice-chancellor

The president/vice-chancellor is under the council of the university, followed by the pro-vice-chancellor/vice-president. There are nine colleges and eight faculties, each of which has its own dean/head. List of presidents and vice-chancellors since 1963 #
Li Choh-ming Li Choh-ming (李卓敏, 1912 – 1991) was a Chinese-born American economist and educator. He was the founding Vice-Chancellor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1963. He compiled The Li Chinese Dictionary (Cantonese-Mandarin). He was ...
(1963–78) # Ma Lin (1978–87) # Sir Charles Kao (1987–96) #
Arthur Li Arthur Li Kwok-cheung, GBM, GBS JP (; born 27 June 1945) is a Hong Kong doctor and politician. He is currently member of the Executive Council of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region and the chairman of the Council of the Universi ...
(1996–2002) #
Ambrose King Ambrose King Yeo-chi, SBS, JP (; born 14 February 1935) is a Hong Kong sociologist, educator, writer and academic. He was formerly vice-chancellor of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). Personal life Ambrose King received most of his ...
(2002–30 June 2004) # Lawrence Lau (1 July 2004 – 30 June 2010) # Joseph Sung (1 July 2010 – 31 December 2017) # Rocky Tuan (1 January 2018 – present)


Organisation

CUHK is a comprehensive research university with most departments and schools organised into eight faculties, namely the Faculties of
Arts The arts are a very wide range of human practices of creative expression, storytelling and cultural participation. They encompass multiple diverse and plural modes of thinking, doing and being, in an extremely broad range of media. Both ...
, Business Administration, Education, Engineering,
Law Law is a set of rules that are created and are enforceable by social or governmental institutions to regulate behavior,Robertson, ''Crimes against humanity'', 90. with its precise definition a matter of longstanding debate. It has been vario ...
,
Medicine Medicine is the science and practice of caring for a patient, managing the diagnosis, prognosis, prevention, treatment, palliation of their injury or disease, and promoting their health. Medicine encompasses a variety of health care pr ...
, Science, and Social Science, along with a graduate school which administrates all the postgraduate programmes provided by different academic units. Moreover, associate School of Continuing and Professional Studies (CUSCS) offers associate degree and higher diploma programmes.


Funding

In 2005, the university budget was HK$4,558 million, with government subvention of about HK$2,830 million. In the 2018–19 fiscal year (starts 1 April), total income was increased to $9,624 million while government subvention had risen to $5,121 million, about 53.2% of the total budget.


Academics


Teaching and learning

CUHK currently adopts a strategic plan in five fields of academic inquiry: Biomedical Sciences, Chinese Studies, Economics & Finance, Geoinformation & Earth Sciences and Information Sciences. Despite the stipulation of using Chinese language as the principal medium in the university's ordinance, CUHK has emphasised the importance of both
English English usually refers to: * English language * English people English may also refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * ''English'', an adjective for something of, from, or related to England ** English national ide ...
and Chinese. However, most classes still adopt English as the main language of instruction.


Research

The Yale-China Chinese Language Centre (CLC), formerly New Asia – Yale-in-China Chinese Language Center, was founded in 1963 under the joint auspices of
New Asia College New Asia College is a constituent college of the Chinese University of Hong Kong located in Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong. History New Asia College was founded in 1949 by Chinese scholars Ch'ien Mu (Qian Mu), Tang Junyi (Tang Chun ...
and the
Yale-China Association The Yale-China Association (), formerly Yale-in-China, is an independent, nonprofit organization which seeks to develop educational programs in and about China and further understanding between Chinese and American people. Founded in 1901 and o ...
. The centre became part of Chinese University in 1974 and has been responsible for the teaching of one language education (
Putonghua Standard Chinese ()—in linguistics Standard Northern Mandarin or Standard Beijing Mandarin, in common speech simply Mandarin, better qualified as Standard Mandarin, Modern Standard Mandarin or Standard Mandarin Chinese—is a modern standar ...
and
Cantonese Cantonese ( zh, t=廣東話, s=广东话, first=t, cy=Gwóngdūng wá) is a language within the Chinese (Sinitic) branch of the Sino-Tibetan languages originating from the city of Guangzhou (historically known as Canton) and its surrounding ar ...
) of university students as well as other Putonghua and Cantonese learners. Courses are offered for non-native speakers and for native speakers of Chinese. Programmes are divided into Putonghua courses for local students, Cantonese courses for mainland Chinese Students and Putonghua and Cantonese courses for non-native Chinese speakers. The university also hosts several research centres. The Childhood Bilingualism Research Centre (CBRC) is part of the Department of Linguistics and Modern Languages. Research at the centre includes documenting the development of bilingualism in bilingual children and assessing the bilingual competence they gain in childhood; raising the public's awareness of Hong Kong children's development of biliteracy and trilingualism; and studying and supporting the revitalisation of
minority languages A minority language is a language spoken by a minority of the population of a territory. Such people are termed linguistic minorities or language minorities. With a total number of 196 sovereign states recognized internationally (as of 2019) and ...
in the context of bilingual and multilingual education. The centre is directed by Professor Virginia Yip and Professor Stephen Matthews. The Universities Service Centre for China Studies (USC), founded in 1963 as "The Universities Service Center," was renamed and moved from Kowloon to the campus in 1988. Its mission is to support the study of contemporary China and Hong Kong, especially among mainland Chinese, Hong Kong, and international scholars. The centre houses a major collection of mainland newspapers, periodicals, and official publications.


Libraries and museums

The University Library System (ULS) comprises seven different libraries and several special collections. The largest library is the University Library at the Central Campus, which recently underwent a significant renovation and building expansion. The other six libraries are the
Elisabeth Luce Moore Library The Elisabeth Luce Moore Library, donated by the Henry Luce Foundation, was named after Mrs. Elisabeth Luce Moore. It is located in the Chung Chi College of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. Resources found in the Elisabeth Luce Moore Libra ...
, Ch’ien Mu Library, Wu Chung Library, Architecture Library, Li Ping Medical Library, and Lee Quo Wei Law Library. Among the collections housed by ULS includes the Hong Kong Studies Archive, Hong Kong Literature Collection, Chinese Overseas Collection, Nobel Laureate GAO, Xingjian Collection, Nobel Laureate CY Yang Archive, American Studies Resource Collection and Modern Chinese Drama Collection. CUHK also houses the
Chinese University of Hong Kong Art Museum The Chinese University of Hong Kong Art Museum is an art museum located on the main campus of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. See also * Department of Fine Arts, Chinese University of Hong Kong * List of museums in Hong Kong __NOTOC__ Th ...
, which houses "a wide range of artefacts illuminating the rich arts, humanities and cultural heritage of ancient and pre-modern China." A new Museum of Climate Change, the first such museum in Hong Kong, opened in December 2013 in the Yasumoto International Academic Park building. Funded by the
Hong Kong Jockey Club The Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) is one of the oldest institutions in Hong Kong, having been founded in 1884. In 1959, it was granted a Royal Charter and renamed The Royal Hong Kong Jockey Club (). The institution reverted to its original name ...
, the 100 exhibits on display illustrate the effects of climate change. The museum is open to the public free of charge. Also in 2013, the University Gallery opened in the central library to showcase the history of the school in light of its Golden Jubilee anniversary.


Reputation and rankings

CUHK has been consistently regarded as a member of the top three higher learning institutions in the territory by various university rankings. In particular, it has continuously been the top Hong Kong institution in the '' ARWU'', which is based on awards and research output, including those league tables in 2006, 2010, 2011, and 2013. ''HKU Public Opinion Programme'' survey (2012) gave it the 2nd place. Besides overall rankings, a
list of subject rankings of Hong Kong tertiary institutions This page lists various subject rankings, including QS University Subject Rankings, U.S. News & World Report, Times Higher Education World University Subjects Rankings and Academic Ranking of World Universities, of universities and colleges in ...
is available to show the strength of its individual disciplines ranked by the above organisations. The university came 95th in the world by '' US News & Report''. ''China's Alumni Association'' placed it among the "6-Star
Greater China Greater China is an informal geographical area that shares commercial and cultural ties with the Han Chinese people. The notion of "Greater China" refers to the area that usually encompasses Mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau, and Taiwan in East ...
's Universities" (the highest level) and it was ranked fourth in the Association's ''2014 Ranking of Institutions with the Most Best Disciplines in HK, Macau and Taiwan''. CUHK received eight Higher Education Outstanding Scientific Research Output Awards (Science and Technology) from the Ministry of Education (MoE) in 2014, including two first-class awards and five second-class awards in Natural Sciences, making it the institution receiving the highest number of awards in the local tertiary sector. CUHK was ranked as world's #49 in 2019 in QS ranking. CUHK business school was ranked 17th in the ''Financial Times EMBA rankings'', and its
MBA A Master of Business Administration (MBA; also Master's in Business Administration) is a postgraduate degree focused on business administration. The core courses in an MBA program cover various areas of business administration such as accounti ...
programme was placed 27th worldwide in the ''Global MBA Rankings'' (2013) and 94th in the ''Economist's 2012 ranking''. Despite a short history of 36 years as of 2017, CUHK's medical school was ranked as world's #49 in 2014 and #47 in 2016 in QS ranking. It has built abundant specialty research centres and hailed constant research innovations by its faculty. The medical school curriculum also places a heavy emphasis on bioethics and humanity in medicine and has built this course track in collaboration with Columbia University. CUHK is expecting its first and only private hospital to finish construction in 2021. The hospital's philanthropic mission is to provide affordable and quality health care to serve local Hong Kong citizens and it will help admit and treat public hospital patients to ease the burden of overflow beginning in its 5th year of operation.


Student life


School environment

CUHK possesses the largest campus of all higher education institutions in Hong Kong. The hilly campus hosts a range of facilities essential for an all-round campus experience, such as libraries, art museums, music halls, a swimming pool, sports fields, tennis courts, squash courts, a water sports centre and gymnasiums. Many points (e.g., Pavilion of Harmony) around the campus offer attractive views of
Tide Cove Sha Tin Hoi / Sha Tin Sea () or Tide Cove is a cove at the mouth of the Shing Mun River. It is between Ma Liu Shui and Ma On Shan. The cove is open to Tolo Harbour (Tai Po Hoi). It was largely reclaimed for the development of Sha Tin New Town. ...
and the
Tolo Harbour Tolo Harbour, or Tai Po Hoi (, historically ) is a sheltered harbour in northeast New Territories of Hong Kong. Geography Tide Cove aka. Sha Tin Hoi is to the south of the harbour, and Plover Cove, Three Fathoms Cove and Tolo Channel are to ...
. The university has two full-size sports grounds with running tracks: the Sir Philip Haddon-Cave Sports Field and the Lingnan Stadium. The Olympic-size swimming pool at the Benjamin Franklin Centre was completed in 1973, with an opening ceremony held in October 1974 hosted by Charles T. Cross. The university Water Sports Centre, on the shore of Tide Cove, offers facilities and equipment hire for sailing, rowing, and windsurfing. Most of CUHK is in
Sha Tin District Sha Tin District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. As one of the 9 districts located in the New Territories, it covers the areas of Sha Tin, Tai Wai, Ma On Shan, Fo Tan, Siu Lek Yuen, and Ma Liu Shui. The district is the most popu ...
although small parts are in
Tai Po District Tai Po District is one of the 18 districts of Hong Kong. The suburban district covers the areas of Tai Po New Town (including areas such as Tai Po Market, , Tai Po Industrial Estate, Tai Wo Estate), Tai Po Tau, Tai Po Kau, Hong Lok Yuen, ...
.


Collegiate system

As a
collegiate university A collegiate university is a university in which functions are divided between a central administration and a number of constituent colleges. Historically, the first collegiate university was the University of Paris and its first college was the C ...
, the school comprises nine colleges that differ in character and history, each retaining substantial autonomy on institutional affairs:
Chung Chi College The Chung Chi College is one of the constituent colleges of The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK), and one of the three original colleges that joined to form the CUHK in 1963. Founded in 1951 by representatives of Protestant churches in ...
,
New Asia College New Asia College is a constituent college of the Chinese University of Hong Kong located in Sha Tin, New Territories, Hong Kong. History New Asia College was founded in 1949 by Chinese scholars Ch'ien Mu (Qian Mu), Tang Junyi (Tang Chun ...
, United College, Shaw College,
Morningside College Morningside University is a private university affiliated with the United Methodist Church and located in Sioux City, Iowa. Founded in 1894 by the Methodist Episcopal Church, Morningside University has 21 buildings on a campus in Sioux City (ar ...
, S. H. Ho College, Lee Woo Sing College,
Wu Yee Sun College Wu Yee Sun College is one of the five new colleges of the Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public research university in Ma Liu Shui, Hong Kong, formally established in 1963 by a charter gra ...
and C. W. Chu College. All undergraduates are affiliated to one of them. Colleges are designed as communities with their own hostels, dining halls and other facilities. Students receive pastoral care and whole-person education, including formal and non-formal general education by means of close interaction with teachers and peers, and in some colleges, assemblies and college final year project. Colleges promote extracurricular social and athletic activities with an aim of building camaraderie among students. This focus on 'student orientated teaching', education through both formal teaching and student empowerment, distinguishes CUHK from other universities in the territory. When the structure of the university was revamped in 1976, and the autonomy of the colleges diminished, Lord Fulton clarified the role of the colleges: "the natural home of student-oriented teaching is the college
hich Ij ( fa, ايج, also Romanized as Īj; also known as Hich and Īch) is a village in Golabar Rural District, in the Central District of Ijrud County, Zanjan Province, Iran Iran, officially the Islamic Republic of Iran, and also ...
is an association of senior and junior members come together in pursuit of shared academic interests and aims." He wrote that the colleges help students achieve "a sense of his or her personal significance and responsibility, and on that basis to enrich the common life."


Transportation

Although the campus is located away from the busier districts of Hong Kong, access to the school is easy. The university is served by University station of the
Mass Transit Railway The Mass Transit Railway (MTR) is a major public transport network serving :Hong Kong. Operated by the MTR Corporation Limited (MTRCL), it consists of heavy rail, light rail, and feeder bus service centred on a 10-line rapid transit network ...
(MTR) as well as the Hong Kong bus system. Bus and railway stations are located beside Chung Chi College, with additional bus stops just outside the two school entrances on
Tai Po Road Tai Po Road is the second longest road in Hong Kong (after Castle Peak Road). It spans from Sham Shui Po in Kowloon to Tai Po in the New Territories of Hong Kong. Initially, the road was named Frontier Road. Location The road begins at Nathan ...
. To cope with new students from the 3-3-4 education system, the new exit D of University station opened in September 2012. A system of shuttle bus routes, operated by the university's Transport Office, runs between the MTR station, academic buildings, and residences. Shuttle buses are free for students and staff. There are paid shuttle light bus operating from Monday to Saturday as well. The topography of the campus, as well a layout confusing to newcomers, may deter many from walking around campus. Many buildings on campus incorporate lifts and bridges designed to provide shortcuts in ascending the hill. The latest campus master plan has recognized this strategy as desirable and proposes the development of new walking routes to reduce reliance on the campus bus system.


Notable people

As of 2013, four Nobel Prize winners are associated with the university, including Chen Ning Yang,
James Mirrlees Sir James Alexander Mirrlees (5 July 1936 – 29 August 2018) was a British economist and winner of the 1996 Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences. He was knighted in the 1997 Birthday Honours. Early life and education Born in Minnigaf ...
, Robert Alexander Mundell and former university president
Charles K. Kao Sir Charles Kao Kuen Charles K. Kao was elected in 1990
as a memb ...
. Other notable faculty members include mathematician
Shing-Tung Yau Shing-Tung Yau (; ; born April 4, 1949) is a Chinese-American mathematician and the William Caspar Graustein Professor of Mathematics at Harvard University. In April 2022, Yau announced retirement from Harvard to become Chair Professor of mathem ...
, laureate of the Fields Medal and the
Veblen Prize __NOTOC__ The Oswald Veblen Prize in Geometry is an award granted by the American Mathematical Society for notable research in geometry or topology. It was founded in 1961 in memory of Oswald Veblen. The Veblen Prize is now worth US$5000, and is ...
, and computational theorist
Andrew Yao Andrew Chi-Chih Yao (; born December 24, 1946) is a Chinese computer scientist and computational theorist. He is currently a professor and the dean of Institute for Interdisciplinary Information Sciences (IIIS) at Tsinghua University. Yao use ...
, laureate of the
Turing Award The ACM A. M. Turing Award is an annual prize given by the Association for Computing Machinery (ACM) for contributions of lasting and major technical importance to computer science. It is generally recognized as the highest distinction in comput ...
, and surgeon James Ware.Distinguished Faculty Members
.


See also

* Education in Hong Kong *
Joint University Programmes Admissions System The Joint University Programmes Admissions System (), or commonly known as JUPAS (), designed by Dr Gregory Chan Hin Fai, is a unified system for applying for full-time undergraduate programmes in Hong Kong. In 2017 admission, all government fu ...
*
List of buildings and structures in Hong Kong This is a list of buildings and structures in Hong Kong, in alphabetical order. Sports venues * Hong Kong Coliseum * Hong Kong Stadium * Kai Tak Sports Park * Mong Kok Stadium * Queen Elizabeth Stadium Shopping malls * Apm (Hong Kong) * Disco ...
*
List of universities in Hong Kong The following is a list of higher education institutions in Hong Kong, under Hong Kong law. Only the first three categories ( UGC-funded institutions, self-funded institutions and public institutions, except Hong Kong Institute of Vocational ...
* Orientation camps in Hong Kong * '' Renditions'' *
The Chinese University of Hong Kong Chorus The Chinese University of Hong Kong Chorus (aka CU Chorus, formerly named The Student Chorus, the Student Union of the Chinese University of Hong Kong, ) is founded by a group of students of the Chinese University of Hong Kong in December 1972. ...
*
The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen (CUHK-SZ) is a campus of the public Chinese University of Hong Kong in Shenzhen, Guangdong. It is a joint venture between Shenzhen University and the Chinese University of Hong Kong. CUHK-Shenzhen was ...
*
The Chinese University Press The Chinese University of Hong Kong Press is the university press of the Chinese University of Hong Kong The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a public research university in Ma Liu Shui, Hong Kong, formally established in 1963 by ...
* CUHK democracy wall standoff


Notes


References


External links

* * {{Authority control 1963 establishments in Hong Kong Educational institutions established in 1963 Ma Liu Shui Nursing schools in Hong Kong