School of Science

Dean:

Michael M. LOY, BS, PhD Univ of California, Berkeley (Professor of Physics)

Associate Deans:

Shiu-Yuen CHENG, BSc Chinese Univ of Hong Kong; PhD Univ of California, Berkeley (Head and Professor of Mathematics)

Nancy Y. IP, BS Simmons Coll; PhD Harvard (Head and Professor of Biochemistry, Director of Biotechnology Research Institute, Co-Director of Molecular Neuroscience Center, and Project Coordinator of High-Throughput Drug Screening Center for Traditional Chinese Medicine)

The School of Science which comprises five departments: Biochemistry, Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Physics, enrolls about one-quarter of the University's undergraduate and postgraduate students. All departments offer undergraduate programs leading to the BSc degree and postgraduate programs leading to the research-based degrees of Master of Philosophy (MPhil) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD). In addition, there are the course-based Master of Science (MSc) programs in Mathematics and Physics, together with three interdisciplinary MSc programs, namely: Biotechnology, Materials Science and Engineering, and Environmental Science and Engineering.

In response to the needs of Hong Kong and consistent with the special mission of HKUST, the departments in the School emphasize studies in applied science. The undergraduate programs provide a strong core of instruction in both basic and applied science through course work and laboratory studies. The research-oriented postgraduate programs aim at preparing students to become scientists who are capable of carrying out independent and original research. In MSc programs, the emphasis is on course work to strengthen students' general knowledge in their chosen area of science, and to train research and technical personnel for industry.

To enhance teaching and learning effectiveness, the School has established the Active Physics Learning Environment (APLE) for instruction purposes. This innovative approach provides a multi-media system through which students can access lesson texts, charts, illustrations, animation and video clips, and a universal laboratory interface for on-line data taking. In each department, there are also well-established laboratories which are equipped with state-of-the-art facilities and computer network for teaching and research.

The School's research programs are also supported by a number of central service facilities and interdisciplinary research institutes, of which the Biotechnology Research Institute, the Advanced Materials Research Institute, the Center for Coastal and Atmospheric Research, and the Center for Scientific Computation are of particular relevance.