To foster the interdisciplinary research, CityU established 2 Research Institutes, 19 Research Centres, and 9 Applied Strategic Development Centres covering different areas of strategic importance.
With the approval from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, CityU established 2 State Key Laboratories and 1 Chinese National Engineering Research Center.
The Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study (HKIAS), which was launched on 22 November 2015, aspires to be an international centre of excellence for the advancement of technology and innovation by bringing together an interdisciplinary team of world-renowned scholars and researchers, including Nobel laureates and academicians, to contribute to the solutions of pressing real-world problems.
HKIDS will serve as a hub for joint research, tackling challenging issues in data science, building on the University’s strengths, and bringing together interdisciplinary faculty and students who possess similar research interests.
The Centre of Super-Diamond and Advanced Films (COSDAF) aims to be internationally recognized as a leading research centre in nanomaterials and nanotechnology.
The Liu Bie Ju Centre for Mathematical Sciences (LBJ) is to conduct first-class research in applied mathematics and in computational mathematics. As a leading research centre in the Asia-Pacific region, its basic objective is to strive for excellence in applied mathematical sciences.
The Centre for Judicial Education and Research (CJER) oversees the management and strategic development of the Chinese judges programmes, currently run by the School of Law (SLW).
The establishment of the State Key Laboratory of Terahertz and Millimeter Waves (SKLTMW) at CityU was approved by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China in 2008. It is the first laboratory of its kind in the engineering discipline in Hong Kong. Research activities in the Laboratory focus on the advancements and applications of millimeter wave and terahertz technologies.
The mission of the State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution (SKLMP) is to protect the marine environment of Hong Kong and South China by identifying major threats such as algal toxins and contaminants of emerging environmental concern, and developing tools and technologies to address and tackle marine pollution problems.
Established in 2015 with the approval by the Ministry of Science and Technology of the People’s Republic of China, the Hong Kong Branch of National Precious Metals Material Engineering Research Center (NPMM) aims to strengthen the national center’s overall capacity by conducting the research of precious metals and nanomaterials, as well as the relevant devices.
The Multimedia-software Engineering Research Centre (MERC) aims at contributing to development of technologies of multimedia and emerging media-types, in Hong Kong, Pearl River Delta region and other areas of mainland China as a whole, enabled by research with high societal impact, educated human resources, and commercialization of new software from top-class engineering researches.
The Guy Carpenter Asia-Pacific Climate Impact Centre (GCACIC) focuses on enhancing the understanding of climate-related perils and making prediction of the occurrence of such perils in the Asia-Pacific region.
The Centre for Applied Computing and Interactive Media (ACIM) is to promote the development of core competencies in the areas of computational science and engineering, data visualization, digital humanities, new media technology and the creative arts.
The Centre for Chaos and Complex Networks (CCCN) aims to promote fundamental and applied research on the emerging and cutting-edge technology of chaos control and synchronization, as well as complex dynamical networks, targeting academic leadership and commercial and industrial applications.
The Centre for Functional Photonics (CFP) focuses on fundamental studies of light-matter interactions, as well as on design and applications of functional optical materials, with an interdisciplinary team of scientists from departments of Physics, Chemistry, Mechanical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Materials Science and Engineering at CityU.
The Centre for Chinese and Comparative Law (RCCL) aspires to become the premier Chinese and comparative law research centre in the Asia Pacific region through organizing and facilitating research on Chinese and comparative law.
The Centre for Communication Research (CCR) aims to investigate the cutting-edge issues under the forces of technological convergence and media globalization in the Asian context. Its core members are at the forefront of research and publications in international communication, media effects, new media, communication for social change, and political economy of the media.
Named after the world-renowned linguist Professor M.A.K. Halliday, the Halliday Centre for Intelligent Applications of Language Studies (HCLS) aims to advance the knowledge about how language works to construe human experience and enact social relationships, and to apply linguistic insights in education and other applications.
The Southeast Asia Research Centre (SEARC) has established a strong international reputation as an important setting for the study of political, economic, and social issues in contemporary Southeast Asia. It is the only research Centre focused on Southeast Asia in Hong Kong.
The Centre for Advanced Structural Materials (CASM) is to advance the fundamentals and technologies in advanced structural materials which will create innovative solutions for different key industrial sectors, such as biomedical, automotive, aerospace, sustainable energy.
The Ability R&D Energy Research Centre (AERC) focuses on research to develop the state-of-the-art energy-efficient and energy-saving technologies to reduce fossil fuel consumption, and to develop clean and renewable energy technologies to achieve sustainable energy supply.
The Centre for Social Media Marketing and Business Intelligence (CSMR) aims to enhance the College of Business’s research strength in social media marketing, e-commerce, and business intelligence, and to provide a platform for conducting high impact interdisciplinary research work.
The Centre for Biosystems, Neuroscience, and Nanotechnology (CBNN) merges nanotechnology with biosystems and neuroscience to create a revolutionary impact on many aspects of medicine. The centre aims at developing materials, structures, devices, and microsystems with nanometre precision for single molecule and cell interactions.
The Centre for Robotics and Automation (CRA) is established by a multidisciplinary research team aiming to develop new knowledge and technology to integrating cyber-infrastructure with engineering systems to enable new technological developments in areas such as manufacturing automation, nanotechnology and drug discovery.
The Center for East Asian and Comparative Philosophy (CEACOP) aims to promote and enhance the study of East Asian and comparative philosophy, by conducting research programmes in East Asian and comparative ethics, political philosophy, law, religion, the ethical status of non-human animals, and environmental ethics.
The objectives of the Research Centre on One-Belt-One-Road (OBOR) are to promote economic prosperity of the countries along the belt and road and regional economic cooperation, to strengthen exchanges and mutual learning between different civilizations, and to promote world peace and development.
The AIMtech Centre is one of the four Applied Strategic Development Centres of CityU. The Centre draws on existing strength of the Department of Computer Science in the applied R&D of multimedia information processing and visualization and Internet computing.
The Centre for Smart Energy Conversion and Utilization Research (CSCR) focuses on the fundamental and applied research in power electronics and its applications.
The Hong Kong Commercial and Maritime Law Centre (HKCML) seeks to enhance and promote research in commercial law and maritime law, and to provide educational opportunities to scholars, lawyers and business professionals.
The mission of Centre for Applied One Health Research and Policy Advice (OHRP) is to develop policies at local, national, regional and international levels for the prevention and control of infectious animal diseases affecting human health, as well as animal health.
The Research Centre for Sustainable Hong Kong (CSHK), established in June 2017, is an Applied Strategic Development Centre of CityU. CSHK houses the SusHK Hub and supports all the research and collaborative activities with stakeholders from different sectors and regions. The mission of CSHK is to analyze and develop solutions to meet critical sustainability issues in Hong Kong from a multi-disciplinary perspective. Professor Linda Chelan Li, Department of Public Policy of CityU, is appointed as Centre Director.
The Center for Decentralized Trust Computing (CDTC) was founded at the City University of Hong Kong in December 2018. This center meets the distributed system community's urgent need for world-class expertise in computer science that spans cryptography, blockchain technologies and cryptocurrencies, distributed systems, and system security techniques. Aiming for the foundational support and enabling technologies of blockchain and smart contract, CDTC will focus on the areas of Decentralized Trust Computing, from blockchain foundations and theoretical guarantees, to general secure computations and storage applications atop blockchain, and to safeguarding smart contract from systematization perspectives.
The mission of Centre for Companion Animal Health is to improve the quality of life of companion animals by producing high impact research that will bring evidence-based solutions to major health and welfare problems.
Jointly established by the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS) and the School of Law (SLW), the Centre for Public Affairs and Law (CPAL) promotes world class research on interdisciplinary studies in social sciences and law disciplines related to public affairs. It builds knowledge using evidence-based approaches, big data and devising policy and law-based solutions to policy challenges.
The inter-university 3D Atom Probe Tomography Unit, directed by University Distinguished Professor C.T. Liu, is equipped with 3D atom probe tomography (3D-APT), which is a state-of-the-art micro-analysis technique offering extensive capabilities for both 3D imaging and quantitative chemical analysis with near atomic resolution for conducting advanced materials research.
Laboratory Animal Research Unit (LARU) is a centralised animal facility at CityU. It has two holding rooms for rat and mice and a surgical area for dissection or other related experiments. Users can apply to house their research animals in LARU and it is charged on a daily basis.
CAS-CityU Joint Laboratories, which include Joint Laboratory of Nanomaterials and Nanomechanics, Joint Laboratory for Robotics, Joint Laboratory for Functional Materials and Devices, Joint Laboratory on Neutron Scattering Science and Technology, are jointly established by the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and CityU.
The City University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Research Institute (CityUSRI), situated in the Shenzhen’s Gaoxin District, is a permanent base for applied research, incubation and professional education in the mainland. CityUSRI has 15 research centres and laboratories, including the following eight Applied R&D Centres established by the University:
The City University of Hong Kong Chengdu Research Institute (CityUCRI) is a joint project between CityU and the Shuangliu government of Chengdu (Sichuan Province) based on a collaborative agreement. It was the University’s first research institute established in the western region of the mainland, for research and development, incubation and innovation, and professional education and training.