We’ve been named the Most International University in the world by Times Higher Education for 2020.
This is a tremendous accolade, one that reflects the enormous effort we’ve made to demonstrate that CityU is global, culturally diverse and outward looking.
Several factors account for our success. Firstly, our students have a growing international perspective. Not content with enabling 50% of students to experience an overseas exchange, we have bumped that target to 65%. In addition, the number of international students and faculty on campus; co-authorship collaborations with international partners; and our overall international reputation have been greatly enhanced.
Not only that, we offer joint bachelor’s degree programmes with prestigious institutions such as Columbia University, and we introduced Hong Kong’s first-ever Bachelor of Veterinary Medicine programme in collaboration with Cornell University. More than half of our faculty members come from overseas, and over 80 nationalities are represented in our student body.
As important is that our faculty members partner with scholars worldwide to pursue cutting-edge, globally recognised research. An example is the memorandum of understanding (MoU) signed with the University of Oxford last year, which will strengthen collaboration in health engineering.
Professor Way Kuo, University President, believes hardware and software in a university are similarly important for achieving internationalisation, but "soulware" is also essential.
"Soulware refers to adopting the right frame of mind to enable connections between people, places and projects. We will continue to generate 'soulware' to enhance the University’s contribution to the international community," he said. "CityU's multicultural learning environment greatly broadens our students' horizons, which will benefit them for life."
Thus #1 International University for 2020 is an honour we can all share.
Gerry Christopher, Indonesia
Bachelor of Business Administration (Hons) in Business Operations Management
“CityU’s exchange programme offered me an opportunity to attend the Australian National University. I had the chance to meet public figures I admired and befriend some of the brightest minds on Asia-Pacific matters, which was great.”
Bilonda Lonji, South Africa
Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) in Materials Engineering
“What better place could there be than Hong Kong to study how cities evolve? Its architecture and technology locate Hong Kong at the cutting edge of innovation when it comes to high-density living and smart homes. CityU’s teaching has prepared me to reach my goals.”
