University Ranking

A new round of global university rankings was announced. HKU, ranked 18th last year, becomes 26th in position this year. Besides, HKUST, which newly joined the league table, ranked 39th among the best 50 universities around the world. When interviewed, one of the HKU spokepersons expressed that the 'downgrading' of HKU ranking was due to the fact that there is insufficient research funding to finance various research projects in the university. He further explained that unlike other universities in the North America, both federal government and private sectors will sponsor university research projects. Having heard about such comments, my first response was that there is no need to panic though the ranking of HKU dropped from 18th to 26th. First and foremost, HKU has a long history and it is so well-established in Asia, the new ranking will not diminish its appeals after all. I am sure most students and parents still regard HKU is the best in Hong Kong. Second, all universities in Hong Kong should no longer await research funding solely from the government especially those disciplines like applied sciences and computer engineering. University professors should not stay in their castles on the peak. What they should do is to think about how to use their project proposals to allure sponsorship from enterprise or well-known entrepreneurs. If those projects are beneficial to the well-being of society and enable businessmen to make money, it will not be difficult to get funding from private sectors.