HKUST’s new Academy of Interdisciplinary Studies announced

The taglines “Leading without boundaries” and ” Research without boundaries” are not new at one of the most innovative faculty at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology’s. But today, one of my Facebook notifications lighted up, and the message said HKUST’s Interdisciplinary Program Office group has been renamed HKUST Academy of Interdisciplinary Studies (AIS).

The HKUST’s new Academy of Interdisciplinary Studies (AIS), formerly known as the Interdisciplinary Program Office, is leading the charge in building a sustainable future where equity and equality drive human behavior by designing curriculums that call for sustainability and nurture transferable and transversal skills in students. With job markets and required skills constantly evolving, today’s students need to develop problem-solving, creativity, and critical thinking skills to become productive members of society. Subject-specific skills and critical thinking are expected requirements for many industries across the job market, making multidisciplinary education, research, and training a primary objective for many institutions’ programs and overall goals.

The interdisciplinary approach to education focuses on partnerships with the industry, the adoption of challenge-based programs, and work-based approaches. An excellent example is the experiential approach using a project-based course with an interdisciplinary approach, collaboration between external entities and faculty, and engaging mentoring of students by faculty and external entities. This approach helps students build their cognitive, interpersonal, and intrapersonal competencies.

Universities are no longer secondary institutions for economic progress, but primary ones in a knowledge-based society. Businesses can be proactive in designing their talent pipeline by collaborating with educators to ensure students acquire the required skills for complex problem-solving, creativity, adaptability, communication, emotional intelligence, and critical thinking. The shift towards sustainability in higher education should promote interdisciplinary and transdisciplinary perspectives in addition to ethical conversations and reflections to support policymakers’ efforts towards equity and inclusion.

Scientists have realized that some problems are too complex to be treated by a single field of research and that other disciplines must be involved. The interdisciplinary approach to education encourages critical thinking, analysis, and open discussions of equity and inclusion topics in interdisciplinary contexts and strengthens the trust between students, educational institutions, and the industry. Policies and accreditations need to be aligned with this goal to facilitate lifelong learning and make these programs relevant to skill demands. The AIS aimed to provide a 360 all round education to the students and HKUST is at the forefront of this important effort.

From the official posting at the Facebook Group, it says

“We are proud to announce that Interdisciplinary Programs Office, IPO, will be renamed as the Academy of Interdisciplinary Studies, AIS, with effect from today. Established in 2008, IPO has been contributed to interdisciplinary education and research and pioneered as an incubator for new pedagogies and programs.

Along the past 15 years, with the unwavering support from every one of you, IPO has evolved and scaled up from a program office to a school-level structure serving as a tenure home to faculty, a powerhouse for interdisciplinary collaborative research, and a test bed for pilot programs. Now, we are ready to shoulder more responsibilities and further develop the interdisciplinary education and research with flexibility and agility, especially in new and emerging areas”

Official announcement (updated on Jul 3, 2023) https://hkust.edu.hk/news/teaching-and-learning/hkust-elevates-interdisciplinary-education-and-research-launch-academy