(East-West Question) Ni Mingxuan: How does "Hong Kong University of Science and Technology 2.0" explore the way for the reform of the global higher education paradigm?
China News Agency, Guangzhou, May 27th: Ni Mingxuan: How does "Hong Kong University of Science and Technology 2.0" explore the way for the reform of the global higher education paradigm?
China News Agency reporter Wang Jian
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (hereinafter referred to as "HKUST") (Guangzhou) is in intensive preparations for the construction of Nansha, the geographic and geometric center of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, and is expected to officially open in September this year.
The reform and exploration of the teaching model to be carried out by this "star school" has attracted attention.
Ni Mingxuan, president-elect of HKUST (Guangzhou), once said that HKUST located in Clear Water Bay, Hong Kong and HKUST (Guangzhou) located in Nansha, Guangzhou will jointly constitute "Hong Kong University of Science and Technology 2.0".
This is a key step in the strategic development of HKUST, but its significance is by no means limited to the university itself.
How does "HKUST 2.0" explore a new path for global higher education paradigm reform?
What new attempts have been made in education and teaching models?
Recently, President Ni Mingxuan accepted an exclusive interview with China News Agency's "East and West Questions" column to answer relevant questions.
The excerpts from the interview are as follows:
China News Service reporter: How do you understand "HKUST 2.0"? What will be the interaction between the Guangzhou campus and the Hong Kong Clearwater Bay campus?
Ni Mingxuan: To
understand "HKUST 2.0", we first need to define the relationship between HKUST and HKUST (Guangzhou).
Although the two schools share the signboard of "Hong Kong University of Science and Technology", in fact, the two schools are not in a relationship of "main school and branch campus", but a completely equal relationship of "Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, two schools complement each other".
Students can take courses on the other campus through online or offline methods, and the credits obtained are recognized by the two universities.
The disciplines and majors offered by the two schools do not overlap and will not duplicate each other.
The Clear Water Bay campus in Hong Kong focuses on traditional disciplines, while the Guangzhou campus focuses on fusion disciplines.
On the premise of equality between the two universities, the two sides will carry out close cooperation in scientific research. The tutors of the two universities can jointly guide graduate students, jointly apply for major projects, and share large-scale experimental equipment ("Central Research Facility", Central Research Facility).
Looking at the world, the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area integrates the favorable elements of "the right time, place and people", providing an excellent soil and environment for "HKUST 2.0" to promote the reform of higher education paradigm and cultivate innovative talents.
"HKUST 2.0" aims to cultivate cutting-edge talents who face the future and adapt to the future development of the technology industry and society, and cultivate leading talents with creative thinking, innovation ability, and new knowledge transformation ability. Incubate emerging industries with new technologies and truly become the engine of "innovation-driven development".
Rendering of the HKUST (Guangzhou) campus.
Photo courtesy of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) (in preparation)
China News Service reporter: What contribution is "HKUST 2.0" expected to make to the reform of the global higher education paradigm?
Ni Mingxuan:
With the goal of cultivating high-level innovative talents, "HKUST 2.0" will break down the barriers between disciplines and emphasize cooperation.
Based on the profound traditional disciplines of HKUST, HKUST (Guangzhou) will establish an integrated academic structure based on "hubs" and "disciplines", and develop interdisciplinary, emerging and cutting-edge disciplines, which is a world-wide one. an innovative initiative.
At the same time, "HKUST 2.0" will carry out teaching reform, implement a "mission-driven interdisciplinary active learning model", and reform teachers' teaching methods.
"HKUST 2.0" will fully implement the "dual tutor" system across regions, disciplines, industries and academia in the school.
The two mentors in the "dual mentor" system must be in different fields. For example, one is doing data science and the other is doing life science. Only then can it be possible to make good things in precision medicine.
These new concepts have attracted worldwide attention since they were proposed.
It is worth mentioning that the "Hong Kong University of Science and Technology 2.0" model of "Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, two schools complementing each other" is significantly different from the branch campus model of high-level Western universities (such as the model of the University of California system), which has inspired educators from different countries. inquiries and discussions.
It is conceivable that once the exploration of "HKUST 2.0" is successful, it will set up a new paradigm in the global higher education academia and become the object of research, reference and even imitation by world-class universities.
Rendering of the HKUST (Guangzhou) campus.
Photo courtesy of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) (in preparation)
China News Agency reporter: How to understand the "interdisciplinary" model? What explorations will "HKUST 2.0" have in this regard?
Ni Mingxuan:
The "interdisciplinary" model has only become popular in the last ten years. There are not many successful cases in the West. What factors prevented the previous "interdisciplinary" attempts from achieving the expected results?
The main reason is that "interdisciplinary" refers to the cooperation of scholars in different fields to solve problems that cannot be solved by a single discipline. Once cooperation, which discipline dominates, it becomes the main contradiction that is difficult to reconcile.
For example, "precision medicine" requires the medical school to cooperate with the computer department. The computer department can contribute to artificial intelligence, but if artificial intelligence is only used as an auxiliary tool, it is not what scholars in the computer field want to see.
Problems like this are difficult to solve.
The "dual school complementation" mechanism of "HKUST 2.0" is an important reason for our confidence in the "interdisciplinary" exploration of HKUST (Guangzhou).
Since the disciplines offered by the two universities do not overlap, HKUST gives full play to its research advantages in traditional disciplines, and HKUST (Guangzhou) focuses on interdisciplinary research.
The dislocation development of the two schools and the synergy and complementarity will greatly improve the efficiency of cooperation.
The independent financial system and reward system of the two universities will reduce the conflict of interest in scientific research, encourage the enthusiasm of scientific research cooperation, and promote the two sides to reach effective cooperation.
It is worth mentioning that HKUST (Guangzhou) will also invite industry leaders in different fields to serve as "adjunct professors", bringing the most advanced information and practical experience in the industry to students, and leading students to contact the front-line research projects and major projects in the industry. , broaden students' horizons and provide more opportunities for students' internship, employment and innovation and entrepreneurship.
Rendering of the HKUST (Guangzhou) campus.
Photo courtesy of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) (in preparation)
China News Service reporter: In addition to the "interdisciplinary" model, what experiences can Western universities learn from, and what innovations will HKUST (Guangzhou) make?
Ni Mingxuan:
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) will also learn from the successful teaching experience of Western higher education to cultivate students' creativity not only to "solve problems", but also to "find problems" and be "good problems".
HKUST (Guangzhou) will respect students' freedom of choice in research fields and give them sufficient space to explore the direction and topics they are truly interested in.
In many universities, if students want to "change majors" and do research they are interested in, they are often hindered by rigid procedures.
Students studying for postgraduate studies in colleges and universities in the mainland have to decide the direction of their studies from the time of application.
After admission, the direction and subject of the tutor's research largely determines the direction and subject of the student's research.
At HKUST (Guangzhou), we will hand over the choice to students, and students will determine their areas of interest before enrolling.
After one year of admission, students have a deeper understanding of the field and a knowledge of the research topics of professors. Students will then choose subdivision majors, choose tutors, and choose topics.
Secondly, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) will focus on cultivating the innovative ability of masters, and complete the training in a step-by-step manner that guides students to master the knowledge background - propose topics - verify topic selection.
Finally, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) will focus on cultivating students' "hands-on ability", drawing on the model of the world's top universities such as the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, to provide students with venues, equipment, equipment and necessary training and guidance, requiring students to "make things ”, bringing his research results and solutions from paper to reality.
Students are also expected to present and explain their work clearly through presentations.
The cultivation of these abilities will help students in their future entrepreneurship and employment.
The campus of HKUST (Guangzhou) under construction.
Photo courtesy of Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) (in preparation)
China News Service reporter: HKUST (Guangzhou) is located in the geometric center of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area, with an advantageous geographical location. How will "HKUST 2.0" be integrated into the planning and development of higher education in the Greater Bay Area?
Ni Mingxuan:
Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou) landed precisely because of the major opportunities for the construction of the Greater Bay Area.
Since its establishment more than 30 years ago, although HKUST has made many achievements in teaching, scientific research and knowledge transfer, its development is limited to the Clear Water Bay campus, and its active exploration in interdisciplinary fields is limited by various resources.
The establishment of HKUST (Guangzhou) is of great significance to HKUST itself.
We pin our hopes on "Hong Kong University of Science and Technology 2.0", release the dream that we have always wanted to do but have no chance to do, and cultivate high-level innovative talents for the development of the Greater Bay Area and even the whole country, in the field of "high-end" scientific research , In particular, to make contributions to the research of "stuck neck" technology.
"HKUST 2.0" is not only about building a new and outstanding university, but also about innovating and providing examples of high-end talent training models in China and even around the world.
(Finish)
Interviewee Profile:
Mingxuan Ni is an accomplished scholar in computer science and engineering.
He received his Ph.D. in electrical engineering from Purdue University in 1980, joined the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at Michigan State University in 1981, and was promoted to full professor in 1989.
He joined HKUST in July 2002 and held various positions, including Head and Chair Professor of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering, Dean of the Fok Ying Tung Institute, and Special Assistant to the President.
In January 2015, he was appointed as the Academic Vice-President and Chair Professor of the Department of Computer and Information Science of the University of Macau.
In May 2019, he returned to the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology as the Vice President and Chair Professor of the Department of Computer Science and Engineering.
In June 2021, he was appointed as the President-designate of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou).