HKU and 2 mainland universities hit global top 10 subject rankings

Several subjects taught at the University of Hong Kong, Peking University and Tsinghua University have been listed among the world's top 10 by an international ranking released on Wednesday, making China the biggest winner in Asia.

The latest annual rankings released by UK-based publisher Times Higher Education cover 11 major subjects including arts and humanities, computer science, education studies, engineering, law, and life sciences.

HKU placed seventh globally for education studies, making it the sole Hong Kong university with a subject in the world's top 10.

Chinese University of Hong Kong's education studies, and HKU's medical and health subjects placed 13th and 18th, respectively, on the global rankings.

This year, the number of majors taught at Chinese mainland universities that have entered the top 10 ranking has increased from four to seven. All of them are offered by either Peking University or Tsinghua University, including PKU's computer science and THU's physics, both of which ranked 10th globally.

The National University of Singapore also made the list with two majors ranked among the top 10 globally — business and engineering.

Phil Baty, the publication's chief global affairs officer, said this year's ranking proved that the global landscape of higher education and research is undergoing a transformation, with the traditional dominance of the West being challenged by the rapid rise of East Asia.

HKU topped all other local universities in nine out of 11 rankings, including engineering, law and social sciences. In a written response, it said it will strive to become "a world-leading university transforming humanity's future".

All 11 subjects from CUHK are ranked among the top 100 globally, and four subjects are within the top 50, namely education, medical and health, computer science, and business and economics.

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology has both its computer science, and business and economics subjects ranked within the global top 30.

The City University of Hong Kong has seven subjects and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University has six subjects among the world's top 100 in THE's rankings, while six of the Hong Kong Baptist University's subjects are included among the world's top 200.

The Education University of Hong Kong and Lingnan University both entered the ranking for the first time, with EdUHK ranked among the world's top 50 for education.

Lawmaker Ken Wong Kam-leung said he believes the rankings reflect the profound academic foundation of Hong Kong's higher education system, with various disciplines consistently ranking among the world's top tiers. It also shows that the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region government's efforts in recent years to develop into an international education hub have achieved notable results, he added.

Wong, who is also president of the Hong Kong Federation of Education Workers, told China Daily, "Universities in Hong Kong and the mainland can collaborate more in the future with the development of the Northern Metropolis University Town, in establishing joint laboratories and dual-degree programs."

For example, Wong said, in the field of computer science, institutions from both sides could jointly design a curriculum system, enabling students to first study foundational theories and algorithms at mainland universities before participating in research projects on specialized applications such as artificial intelligence and fintech in Hong Kong.

It can not only help students combine theoretical depth with an international perspective, but also foster academic exchanges and collaboration between faculty members and students from both regions, he added.