HKUST plans third medical school to train doctors in emerging tech
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology is building Hong Kong's third medical school, with a graduate-entry program starting in 2028. President Nancy Ip outlined plans for a healthcare innovation ecosystem, faculty recruitment, and a teaching hospital, while also discussing efforts to att
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) is advancing plans to establish the city's third medical school, aiming to train doctors skilled in emerging technologies and create a self-sustaining healthcare innovation ecosystem, president Nancy Ip Yuk-yu has said.
The four-year graduate-entry medical programme is expected to welcome its first cohort of 50 students in 2028. Construction of the eight-storey Medical Education and Research Complex at the Clear Water Bay campus is progressing, with six floors completed and topping-out planned for early 2027, Ip said. Under founding dean of medicine King Li King-chuen, the university is recruiting faculty globally and consulting the government and Medical Council on accreditation.
Ip said medical students would need to embrace advanced technologies. HKUST aims to create a 'closed-loop' ecosystem in which clinicians work with university scientists to address challenges at the bedside, develop discoveries into commercial products with industry partners, and bring new treatments back to patients. Kai Tak Hospital will initially serve as the school's teaching hospital, while a permanent medical campus and flagship teaching hospital are planned for Ngap Tam Mei in the Northern Metropolis' San Tin University Town.
HKUST is also exploring other contributions to the Northern Metropolis. After visits to Sweden, Switzerland, Germany, the UK and the US, Ip said several overseas universities had expressed interest in launching joint degree programmes and research projects, and bringing corporate partners to the area. The plans align with HKUST's broader Innovation Corridor strategy, with the main campus focusing on frontier research and talent attraction, while the Northern Metropolis campus will concentrate on technology transfer, entrepreneurship and medical innovation.
HKUST has risen 11 places to 33rd in the QS World University Rankings 2027. It received full marks for industry connections in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2027, has established 33 corporate joint laboratories with global companies, and its startup ecosystem has nurtured more than 2,000 active ventures, including 11 global unicorns such as DJI.
Ip, the first female president of a university in Hong Kong and a world-renowned neuroscientist, said she hopes her example will inspire more women to pursue careers in science. Speaking about the 'leaky pipeline' that sees women leave academic research, Ip said diversity strengthens scientific discovery. 'The world needs science, and science needs women,' she said. To support female academics, HKUST has introduced policies including tenure-clock extensions for maternity leave.
HKUST is also actively drawing global students and scholars by pairing research infrastructure with career support. The university has roughly 21,000 students, with non-local students accounting for about 1,000 of the 3,200 incoming undergraduate cohort in 2026—a non-local ratio of nearly 50 per cent, representing over 60 countries and regions. Ip said the university had recruited 160 professors worldwide over the past three years, with plans to hire another 100 to 200 scholars in the next two to three years.