As one of the world’s leading academic institutions, HKUST is committed to enhance corporate social responsibility through its many programs, projects and curriculum which encourage its students and faculty to give back the society, as well as upholding environmental protection practices on our campus.

Service learning is one of the major elements in HKUST’s promotion of a holistic education, in nurturing all-round students with a heart to contribute to betterment of the society. HKUST has a university-wide initiative  “HKUST Connect”, where faculty, staff and students co-organize meaningful projects – ranging from visits to poor villages, hosting tutorial for ‘left-behind” children in rural mainland, to recycling unsold vegetable in local wet markets for the elderly and the underprivileged , with community organizations, education institutions and corporations. 

On the faculty level, professors also come up with many new initiatives which blend community service into curriculum.  SIGHT (Student Innovation for Global Health Technology), for example, is a student-driven initiative which allows students to first identify the most pressing health problems currently confronting the developing world, they are then encouraged to propose solutions and put that in action by collaborating with students from different backgrounds and expertise.  Participants of SIGHT have already produced an electronic database system which helps volunteer medical staff from different NGOs and humanitarian organizations to keep better track of patients’ medical records in the slum areas of Cambodia. They are also developing a quick screening process for patients with diabetic eye in Indonesia to alleviate burden of the local medical system, amongst other projects  In addition, in an era where technology and innovation are gaining importance for economic growth, HKUST’s award-winning Robotics Team, together with its engineering professors and students, sought to cultivate interests in science and mathematics not only among junior students, but also students with special  learning needs through organization of workshops, mentorship programs and competitions..

HKUST also considers it has an obligation to enhance sustainability education as well as promote eco-friendly initiatives on the campus. .  Our campus building was designed with the goals of minimizing solar load and maximizing natural sunlight, which reduce the requirements for air conditioning and artificial lighting.  Using seawater for cooling is another energy saving feature built in to the initial campus design.  Colleagues and students also work in unison to contribute to various green practices, including conducting used text book sales to facilitate and promote reuse of textbooks, operating a food waste recycling system to turn waste food into fertilizer, organizing an organic farm for staff and students to utilize fertilizer from recycled food waste, etc.

HKUST will continue to strive for contributing to corporate social responsibility through a series of ongoing voluntary projects and innovative researches among our students, faculty and staff, for the sustainability and active development of the community and the world.