The Chinese University of Hong Kong

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) is a comprehensive university firmly rooted in research and community betterment. Since its establishment in 1963, CUHK has consistently upheld the highest standards of scholarly output and contributions to society.

As a leading global research university, CUHK is dedicated to fostering research that can transform lives worldwide. Our ground-breaking work spans critical areas, from revolutionising prenatal testing and cancer detection through liquid biopsy to advancing biotechnology in soybean cultivation. We're pioneers in molecular analysis for cancer and metabolic disease treatment, drug development for rare neurodegenerative diseases, and network coding theory, which has radicalised data transmission. Our expertise extends to artificial intelligence and robotics, driving meaningful change in biomedical and smart city technologies.

CUHK fosters a global vision that bridges both tradition and modernity as well as China and the West. As a civic university, CUHK is dedicated to serving the needs and promoting the well-being of the people of Hong Kong, mainland China, and the wider world. At CUHK, we spark passion, serving society to advance human progress, fostering greatness and social purpose for a better future.

Home to over 70 diverse nationalities, CUHK is proud to represent some of the world’s most promising students and professionals. The main campus overlooks the breath-taking Tolo Harbour and is the largest, greenest and most sustainably designed campus in Hong Kong. It houses an extensive range of learning facilities as well as cultural, sporting and social amenities that help cultivate an all-round campus experience.

Armed with a rich history and a forward-thinking mindset, CUHK continues to be a driving force in shaping a brighter future for all.

Join the quest for progress.

CUHK aims to nurture students with both specialised knowledge and wisdom for life. Its bilingual and multicultural curriculum is characterised by a flexible credit unit system. Academic programmes in an array of disciplines are offered by eight Faculties, including Arts, Business Administration, Education, Engineering, Law, Medicine, Science and Social Science, and the Graduate School. CUHK future proofs its educational offerings by listening to industry and government and introducing innovative new programmes such as Biotechnology, Entrepreneurship and Healthcare Management, Computational Data Science, and Learning Design and Technology. CUHK’s robust programmes are supplemented by the provision of state-of-the-art facilities and resources to ensure students have a world-class experience.

Over the past decades, continual enhancement has resulted in a balanced curriculum of both breadth and depth. With the support of the Centre for Learning Enhancement and Research (CLEAR), CUHK has consistently been recognised by bodies such as Hong Kong’s University Grants Committee for achieving the highest standards of teaching and learning.

Undergraduate Programmes

Academic Programmes

At CUHK, a wide scope of academic programmes organised in a four-year undergraduate curriculum structure are offered by its eight Faculties. Currently, the University provides more than 160 major and minor programmes.

General Education

General Education forms a key component of undergraduate studies at CUHK. University and College General Education courses are tailored to nurture whole-person development, foster soft-skills and cultivate a strong sense of social responsibility. The University’s General Education programme received the Exemplary Programme Award for Improving General Education from the Association for General and Liberal Studies in 2015 and the Hong Kong’s University Grants Committee Teaching Award in 2016.

Physical Education

As the only publicly-funded university in Hong Kong that offers a required Physical Education programme for undergraduates, CUHK is dedicated to promoting sports to enhance students’ whole-person development.

Co-operative education and mentorship programmes

The university-wide credit-bearing co-operative education programme, Co-op@CUHK, is designed to bridge the gap between tertiary education and the workplace by providing undergraduate students with experiential work-integrated learning opportunities at an extensive network of partner employers. Mentorship programmes at college, faculty, school, departmental or programme levels serve to expand students’ horizons and widen their networks.

Global exchange and internship

CUHK encourages students to participate in global exchange and internship programmes to broaden their horizons and equip students with academic, intercultural, and professional skills which will serve them throughout their professional lives. It also welcomes visiting students from partner institutions around the world, which enriches the diversity of the campus experience and offers international students a unique opportunity to experience Hong Kong.

Useful links:

CUHK Undergraduate Admissions

CUHK Exchange Programmes

CUHK Summer School

Postgraduate Programmes

The CUHK Graduate School offers over 220 taught and research postgraduate programmes awarding more than 6,000 postgraduate degrees, diplomas and certificates every year. The wide spectrum of programmes aims to prepare students for careers that would allow them to become world leaders in their specialised fields.

CUHK provides cutting-edge learning resources and hostel facilities on a green campus, offering the perfect backdrop for scholars from around the globe to immerse themselves in a culturally diverse and intellectually stimulating environment. A rich array of scholarships and grants are available to enable the world’s best talent to receive exemplary education at the University.

CUHK Graduate Admissions

Graduates and Alumni

CUHK is marked by a successful and supportive alumni family with over 280,000 members reaching into all professions and sectors around the world. CUHK graduates, in great demand among local employers and multinational companies, are highly rated in government and private employer surveys. Almost 90% of respondents to the University’s annual Graduate Employment Survey secure employment within the first year of their graduation. Graduates who opt for pursuing further studies are welcomed by prestigious institutions worldwide.

Alumni proudly support current students with a range of mentorship opportunities and career guidance ensuring that students benefit from the experience of hundreds of thousands of alumni with diverse careers located around the world.  CUHK’s alumni have collectively formed more than 130 alumni associations ensuring a strong sense of community and connection to their alma mater continues throughout their careers.

CUHK Alumni Affairs Office

Research Excellence

A leading research university in Asia and among the best in the world, CUHK is committed to creating a thriving ecosystem to support research and innovation to improve lives globally. Research at CUHK aims at contributing to global issues that truly matter. Among its most notable research achievements are the advances made in liquid biopsy in prenatal testing and early cancer detection, biotechnological improvements of soybean, molecular analysis for cancer and metabolic disease detection and treatment, drug development for rare neurodegenerative diseases, network coding theory that has revolutionised data transmission and network applications, and artificial intelligence and robotics for innovative technologies in biomedical and smart city applications.

CUHK boasts a galaxy of distinguished scholars and researchers who are highly regarded authorities in various specialities. It is unique among Hong Kong universities in having faculty members who are recipients of prestigious accolades, including the Nobel Prize, Fields Medal and Turing Award.

Nobel laureates in close association with CUHK:

• Sir Charles K. Kao, Nobel Laureate in Physics (2009), former CUHK Vice-Chancellor and Distinguished Professor-at-Large
• Sir James A. Mirrlees, Nobel Laureate in Economic Sciences (1996), former Master of CUHK Morningside College and CUHK Distinguished Professor-at-Large
• Yang Chen-ning, Nobel Laureate in Physics (1957), CUHK Distinguished Professor-at-Large

Research Priorities

CUHK has identified four unique, yet complementary strategic areas of research which anchor the University’s research focus under its Strategic Plan:  

 1) China: Tradition and Modernity

As China takes centre stage in the world’s economic, cultural and political arenas, understanding and engaging China is of critical importance to global development. CUHK possesses geographical and cultural advantages to spearhead various aspects of China research, with over 200 faculty members and a good number of centres and institutes devoted to various aspects of China Studies.

 2) Innovative Biomedicine

With an ageing population in many parts of the world and the sporadic emergence of global infectious disease threats, biomedical research is essential to defending, upkeeping and enhancing public health. CUHK is a world leader in genetic, genomic and precision medicine. It is a pioneer in, among other things, non-invasive prenatal testing, cancer liquid biopsies and genomics of cancers common in Asia.

3) Information and Automation Technology

Information technology pervades all aspects of human life. CUHK is a leading institution in Asia in machine learning and AI research. It has attested expertise in data networks, information coding, network security, big data analytics, robotics, financial technologies, optimisation, renewable energy, optical communications and computer-aided design automation, and biomedical imaging.

4) Environment and Sustainability

With the world facing a climate emergency, CUHK aims to position itself as a global thought leader in research on environment and sustainability in densely populated and highly mobile cities, as well as a global hub in computational approaches to environment and sustainability research. The University’s sustainability research is anchored in a commitment to advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

CUHK is also the leader of several research projects under selected Areas of Excellence being allocated preferential funding by the University Grants Committee of Hong Kong.

Research Institutes and Centres

CUHK has established multiple research institutes and centres to support interdisciplinary research on a local, national and international level. There are 300 research institutes to date. CUHK has recently founded six InnoHK Centres specialising in health, biomedicine, robotics and artificial intelligence at the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks, the territory’s research incubator, under the Hong Kong Government's InnoHK initiative, combining expertise from CUHK and partners from prestigious global universities, to help position Hong Kong as a global powerhouse of innovation connecting the world with the rapidly emerging research and innovation ecosystem of the Greater Bay Area.

CUHK’s research quality can be further demonstrated by the establishment of five State Key Laboratories entrusted by the Ministry of Science and Technology of China. The University has also been collaborating closely with eminent institutions for higher education and research that are helping to advance knowledge in a variety of subject areas and addressing some of the world’s challenges.

Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship

CUHK focuses on integrating research, innovation and entrepreneurship into a dynamic and productive continuum, a superhighway that enables the translation of research into tangible benefits and the delivery of innovation to the world.

CUHK has seeded many start-ups and successful spinout companies. CUHK faculty members and alumni have founded four unicorns*.

There are also successful collaborations on professional, medical and social innovations with the government, non-governmental organisations, academic institutions and private companies in China and overseas to further the goals of maximising the impact of research and innovation on the global community.  

*including SenseTime (founded by Prof. Tang Xiaoou, Sean), SmartMore (founded by Prof. Jia Jiaya Leo), GeneHarbor (founded by Prof. Wang Jun) and Lalamove (founded by alumnus Mr. Shing Chow)

Research Support

Dedicated teams have been set up to render practical assistance to CUHK researchers in translating research output into positive societal impact. The Office of Research and Knowledge Transfer Services (ORKTS) provides professional services for patent filing, and recruits angel and venture capitalists for start-ups. The Office of Innovation and Enterprise (OIE) connects CUHK researchers with appropriate partners, industry and government to bring research to the market for the benefit of society. The Office for Greater Bay Area Developments works in collaboration with governments of the GBA node cities to fuel innovation development and promote collaborations between Hong Kong and mainland China.

Apart from generous funding and support schemes to facilitate research and knowledge transfer, CUHK faculty members can tap into grants offered by mainland China through CUHK Shenzhen Research Institute in Shenzhen wholly-owned by the University, which serves as a pivotal base for conducting research, training and technology transfer to complement national development plans for the Greater Bay Area.