City University of Hong Kong (CityU) shone once again in the 2023 rankings of the top 100 universities granted US utility patents, according to the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). CityU was ranked 44th in the world and for the 8th consecutive year, was ranked first among local institutions.

“CityU is committed to promoting inspirational, interactive and innovative education, fostering a culture of innovation and excellence in research, and developing innovative solutions to address global issues through groundbreaking research,” said Professor Freddy Boey, CityU President. “Through initiatives like HK Tech 300 and the CityU Academy of Innovation, CityU actively drives the transformation of intellectual property into practical applications, and nurtures tech talent and enterprise to contribute to society.” As of February 2024, CityU has filed more than 1,540 patents for technologies around the world, 747 of which have been granted so far.

Furthermore, CityU was recognised as the Most International University in the World in the recently published Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2024.  CityU’s outstanding innovation and research achievements have also earned a lot of recognition. For example, CityU won 36 awards at the 48th International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva, the highest number of awards among local universities for the third consecutive year. And 27 CityU faculty members were named Highly Cited Researchers in 2023 by Clarivate, placing CityU 44th worldwide, 10th in Asia and 2nd in Hong Kong. By faculty size, CityU’s percentage of the world’s most Highly Cited Researchers puts us first in Hong Kong. In addition, over 180 faculty members were among Stanford University’s list of the world’s top 2% most-cited scientists in 2022. Compared to faculty size, CityU’s percentage of the world’s top 2% of the most highly cited scientists was one of the highest among universities in Asia.

HK Tech 300 fosters the transfer of CityU intellectual property and technology into practical applications

The CityU HK Tech 300 programme and the establishment of the CityU Academy of Innovation (CAI) have further consolidated the University’s leading position in innovative education and talent cultivation.

To provide educational and growth opportunities for young people and translate CityU research results and intellectual property into practical applications, CityU launched “HK Tech 300”, a large-scale flagship innovation and entrepreneurship programme, in 2021, with an allocation of HK$600 million in total. This substantial funding and scale make HK Tech 300 the largest university-based entrepreneurship programme in Asia. The programme has so far awarded over 660 start-up teams a seed funding of HK$100,000 each, and more than 130 start-up companies angel fund investment of up to HK$1 million each. Many of these teams have transformed cutting-edge technologies invented by outstanding CityU scholars into marketable products.

CityU also announced the establishment of the CAI in January 2024, offering a range of programmes in innovation and entrepreneurship suitable for undergraduate, masters, and doctoral students. Among them, the Master of Science in Venture Creation is currently open for application. The programmes offered by CAI will leverage HK Tech 300 to facilitate collaboration among industry, universities and researchers, enhance the practical experience of aspiring young entrepreneurs, nurture more tech talent and deep-tech start-ups, and facilitate the application of R&D results to have a positive impact on society.

Founded in 2010, the NAI comprises members from international universities and governmental and non-governmental organisations, among others. It encourages inventors to register innovative creations and intellectual property to educate and mentor world-class students and enable members’ inventions to benefit society. Since 2013, the NAI has ranked the top 100 universities worldwide for the highest number of utility patents granted by the United States Patent and Trademark Office. CityU has obtained the most US patents among local universities for the past eight consecutive years.