Welcome to the Division of Emerging Interdisciplinary Areas (EMIA) at HKUST!
In today’s world, technology is evolving faster than ever and shaping the rules and future of our society. The society needs talents with multidimensional visions and knowledge, who can apply innovative technological skills to solve real world problems. In light of the above, the EMIA was established on 1 July 2021 to foster the agile development of new education programs and contribute to identifying emerging cutting edge and niche topics. This new Division will also help coordinate interdisciplinary education and research initiatives within and outside HKUST for agile development of emerging topics and support the added responsibilities regarding University-wide undergraduate teaching and learning endeavour.
EMIA offers BSc degree in Individualized Interdisciplinary Major (IIM), and MPhil and PhD degrees in Individualized Interdisciplinary Program (IIP), which are the first in the Greater China Region. IIM and IIP allow students to create their own degree programs that best suit their own intellectual interests and passion. We also work with different Schools at HKUST to launch a novel academic framework “Major + X” as a new option for undergraduates to study an emerging hot topic (”X”) and its applications relevant to traditional major program, using an interdisciplinary approach. Our first extended major program, Major+Artificial Intelligence (AI) was launched in Fall 2021 and is highly popular among university applicants. The second “X” in Digital Media and Creative Arts will be offered in 2022-23. More exciting programs will be launched in the near future, stay tuned!
Apart from education endeavour, EMIA is commissioned to provide opportunities for innovation and faculty engagement in agile manners and foster close and direct collaboration between campuses in degree programs and research activities overseen by the Division. EMIA engages faculty members from diverse backgrounds and research areas, such as psychology, artificial intelligence, marketing, mathematics, engineering, biology and linguistics.
Please visit our website to learn more about our Division. If you are interested in joining our undergraduate or postgraduate programs, or exploring opportunities in interdisciplinary research on emerging areas, please do not hesitate to contact us. I look forward to joining hands with you to turn your passion into reality!
Prof. Huamin QU
Head, Division of Emerging Interdisciplinary Areas