University of Hong Kong

Founded in 1911, the University of Hong Kong is the oldest tertiary-education institution in Hong Kong and has a global reputation for excellence in teaching, research and innovation.

HKU is currently ranked 4th in the Times Higher Education Asia University Rankings, and 31st in the World University Rankings. It is also the world’s most international university, according to the THE rankings, an award based on its international student score, its international staff score, its international co-authorship score and the international reputation metrics collected by THE.

HKU is internationally recognised for its accomplishments as a research-led university. Researchers at HKU repeatedly secure the lion’s share of competitive government research funding and HKU prides itself on having a wide range of international collaborations. These include research projects, visiting professorships and joint doctorate programmes with world-class institutions. As part of this work, HKU actively participates in international networks, with 38 academics named on the list of “Highly Cited Researchers 2022” from Clarivate.

HKU has 10 academic faculties where English is the main language of instruction. They include the Faculty of Architecture, Arts, Business and Economics (HKU Business School), Dentistry, Education, Engineering, Law, Medicine (Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine), Science and Social Sciences.

As a global university, the HKU campus welcomes more than 5,000 international students from 90 countries and regions. In addition, HKU has established relationships and partnerships with more than 430 leading universities around the world in 47 countries, carrying out academic exchanges and scientific research cooperation. It provides abundant opportunities for students to study abroad.

HKU offers one of the best educational experiences in the world. Our flexible, cross-disciplinary learning approach lets you customise your programme. You can select your own unique combination of majors, minors and electives; study abroad, get involved in service learning or pursue an internship. The opportunities are endless!

Undergraduate programmes

Architecture: Real estate and construction, urban planning and design, landscape architecture, conservation, Design+

Arts: Humanities, Chinese, English, fine arts, history, music, philosophy

Business & Economics: Accounting and finance, business administration, international business and global management, economics and finance, asset management and private banking, quantitative finance             

Dentistry: oral health, orthodontics, periodontics, hygiene, oral surgery

Education: Language education, early childhood education and special education, speech and hearing sciences, social data science, applied child development, information management

Engineering: Civil engineering, computer engineering, computer science, electrical engineering, electronic engineering, industrial engineering, mechanical engineering, engineering science, biomedical engineering

Law: Constitutional law, commercial, corporate and financial law, international trade & economic law

Medicine: Surgery, pharmacy, nursing, biomedicine, Chinese medicine              

Science: Basic sciences, food and nutrition, statistics, environmental science, ecology and biodiversity

Social Sciences: psychology, politics and public administration, journalism, geography, social sciences, social work

Bachelor of Arts & Sciences (BASc)

From September 2019, we will also be offering a suite of new BASc programmes:

• BASc offered by the faculties of Arts, Science and Social Sciences
• BASc(AppliedAI) offered by the faculties of Science and Engineering
• BASc(Design+) offered by the faculties of Architecture and Engineering
• BASc(FinTech) offered the faculties of Business & Economics and Engineering
• BASc(GlobalHealth&Development) offered by the faculties of Dentistry, Law, Medicine, Science and the Asia Global Institute 
• BASc(SocialDataScience) offered by the faculties of Education and Engineering

Dual degree programmes

In a world without borders, why limit yourself? With our dual degree programmes, you get to study at, and graduate from, two world’s leading universities.

• HKU-Peking University Dual Degree in Law
• HKU-University of California, Berkeley Dual Degree Programme
• HKU-Sciences Po Dual Degree Programme
• HKU-UCL Dual Degree in Law
• HKU-Cambridge Undergraduate Recruitment Scheme (Engineering and Computer Science)
• HKU Bachelor of Social Sciences - The Graduate Institute Geneva Master of Arts

Postgraduate masters and doctoral programmes (taught)

Our taught masters and doctoral programmes are coursework-based degrees, ranging from one to four years, and offered to both full- and part-time students. HKU provides flexible learning options for you to develop and enrich your professional skills and knowledge for career advancement. Our programmes are highly competitive and attract students from Hong Kong, mainland China and all around the world.

Postgraduate masters and doctoral programmes (research)

HKU offers Master of Philosophy (MPhil) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programmes in a wide range of subjects. You will have a chance to work with renowned professors who are experts in their research areas. Some professors are highly recognised internationally, and ranked as the world's top 1% of scientists.

Joint PhD Programmes

HKU and King's College London 
Joint Educational Placement for PhD between HKU and the University of Toronto 
Joint Education Programme for PhD between HKU and Southern University of Science and Technology 

Scholarship opportunities

HKU supports its researchers well financially through Hong Kong PhD Fellowships, University Postgraduate Fellowships and Postgraduate Scholarships. MPhil and PhD students are also eligible for various financial support for academic conference and travel. Full-time non-local research postgraduate students who register on July 1, 2019 and thereafter are guaranteed a hall place in their first year of study.

Learn more

International Undergraduate Admissions 
Taught Postgraduate Admissions 
Research Postgraduate Admissions 
Exchange Programmes 
Summer Programmes

HKU provides various opportunities for students to round up their experience and outlook, to grow not only professionally, but also intellectually and personally.

Global Links

The world is interconnected like never before. At HKU, we have embraced this seminal shift by forging a network of collaborations with more than 340 of the world’s leading universities. With HKU as your base, you’ll get to go to places like Cambridge, or Harvard to further expand your horizons!

“A summer spent at Cambridge the Pembroke-King's Programme truly changed my life, as this is where I’ve learned what it takes to write a real scientific essay. Easy? No. Gratifying? Very!!”

Abdullah Husain, Bachelor of Science

Gateway to China   

The resurgence of China is this century’s biggest story. While China is modernizing fast, its ancient culture continues to inform its development. Studying at HKU, you are in a unique position to participate in this seismic shift. With our China Vision initiative, our students can participate in a wide range of China-related activities ranging from studying crowd control and evacuation in Shanghai, fighting liver diseases in Yunnan or working in R&D for car maker Nissan China.

“I helped build a school in the Dabao Village in China as part of Project Mingde. I will always remember what those kids said to me, as I was leaving. ‘Brother, please stay!’ I was touched.”

Pung Chun Nok Samson, Bachelor of Engineering

Real Word Experience with the Best

What happens in the classroom matters. But you need something more. At HKU, we strive to make sure that our students learn to tackle real world challenges. For example, our business school works with organisations like Citibank to develop programmes giving students real insights about career choices, while our mentorship programmes put students in direct contact with industry leaders keen to help them make the most of their abilities.

 “After a 10-week summer internship at JPMorgan Chase, I was hired as a technology analyst in the Global Risk and Finance Technology team! I never thought an internship could be that important.

Ken Ho, Bachelor of Business Administration

Research Opportunities at all Levels

As we seek to nurture the researchers of tomorrow, we have developed a set of unique research opportunities for our undergraduates. For example, students can apply for an Undergraduate Research Fellowship Programme (URFP) and undertake a substantive research project as part of their studies. Budding scientist may also join our Young Scientists Scheme, an innovative framework that will provide opportunities to students to explore their interests, by engaging in research projects at HKU and overseas, guaranteed exchange opportunities at prestigious universities as well as participation in international science conference. A research mentor is also assigned to every student in the scheme, to provide guidance on their research path. 

“With four Harvard and MIT postgraduates, I worked on a state-of-the-art topic, the Hi-C genome project that was originally published in the journal Science as the cover article several years ago.”

Tang Yun Fan, Bachelor of Science

Summer Institute - Enrich yourself in Summer!

HKU Summer Institute offers a wide range of programmes from different faculties, providing quality learning and rare chances to study abroad for students. The programmes are open to all undergraduates and secondary students and are best suited for students who are looking to expand their academic and cultural horizons during summer in one of the most vibrant cities in Asia.

Learn More:

International Undergraduate Admissions

Taught Postgraduate Admissions

Research Postgraduate Admissions

Exchange Programmes

Summer Programmes