HK Universities See Success in Drive to Attract More Top Talent From Abroad

But concerns raised about talent diversity as many of them are of mainland Chinese origin

- Magdalene Fung

HONG KONG - Professor Gao Yang, a prominent scholar in the fields of robotics and aerospace, left King's College London to join the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) in May after being approached to take up new roles there.

While her move back to Asia was primarily driven by her family's needs, she said Hong Kong's current focus on developing its scientific fields at a world-class level as a strategic driver for long-term growth was a major pull factor for her.

At the same time, the geopolitical and economic climates elsewhere in the world — in particular, Western countries — have become increasingly challenging for academics to navigate.

Said Prof Gao: "Compared with the greater uncertainties in the UK and Europe, the situation in Hong Kong in terms of the volume and scale of support poured into research, innovation and commercialisation looks a lot more positive, stable and sustainable."

The mainland China-born academic, who has spent 20 years teaching in the United Kingdom after a decade of studying in Singapore, now heads HKUST's Centre for AI Robotics in Space Sustainability as well as its Space Science and Technology Institute, and teaches at its department of mechanical and aerospace engineering.

Prof Gao is one of the successes that Hong Kong is seeing in its drive to attract more international talent to teach at the city's top universities.

It comes as the Asian financial hub ramps up efforts to develop its artificial intelligence and science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) industries as engines to power future growth in the city.

The city has also been increasingly aligning its economic development with China's objectives, which include ramping up technological innovation and scientific research in competition with the United States.