Dear Council and Court members, colleagues, students, alumni,

Happy Chinese New Year!

The past Year of the Snake was a busy yet rewarding year for the University. With the concerted efforts and dedication of the whole University community, the excellence of the University is again being demonstrated and recognised within and outside Hong Kong. The University consolidated our position around the top 100 universities in the Quacquarelli Symonds World University Rankings. Our faculty members also received numerous prestigious awards which are well deserved accolades for their academic achievements.

We are delighted to see the significant impact on the teaching and research culture at the University of our Pioneering 4-year interdisciplinary Discovery-enriched Curriculum (DEC), a curriculum that inspires students to initiate their own discoveries. The spirit of DEC is well demonstrated and embodied in our recent study tour to Antarctica, the first of its kind organised by a local university.

New academic initiatives reinforce our commitment to excellence in research and professional education. The Council is glad to approve the collaboration with the Shuangliu Government in the establishment of the City University of Hong Kong Chengdu Research Institute, which further increases our research capability. We are also delighted to see the enhancement in programme diversity brought about by the establishment of a new Department of Biomedical Sciences. We are confident that this new department, together with the School of Veterinary Medicine, will contribute to food safety, public health and infectious disease control in Hong Kong and the wider region.

This year is the 30th Anniversary of the University which is a significant milestone in our history. I applaud everyone involved in the University’s development, and look to the future with confidence. We look forward to your participations in our year-long celebration events for the anniversary.

With warmest regards, I wish you all a wonderful Year of the Horse with lots of good fortune, happiness and prosperity.

Herman Hu
Chairman of the Council
City University of Hong Kong
4 February 2014

各位校董會及顧問委員會成員、同事、同學及校友﹕

新年快樂！

剛過去的蛇年，對城大而言既是忙碌的一年，亦是成果豐碩的一年。憑藉大學全體同仁的共同努力與無私奉獻，城大持續表現出色，並繼續獲得本地及海外的認同。根據國際高等教育資訊機構 Quacquarelli Symonds 的排名榜，城大穩居百強上下。城大教研人員亦獲得多個重要獎項，他們的卓越學術成就可謂實至名歸。

近年來，城大推行嶄新的四年制「重探索求創新課程」，鼓勵學生去發現探索。這項舉措對大學的教研文化產生深遠影響，對此我們深感欣慰。不久前，城大學生遠赴南極考察、探索，成為本地大學主辦極地探索活動之先驅，充分展示本校的「重探索求創新」精神。

各項新學術措施有助城大實現其硏究優異、專業教育出眾的目標。去年，校董會欣然議決批准大學與四川省成都市雙流縣政府合作成立「香港城市大學成都研究院」，此舉進一步加強大學的研究能力。近期創辦的生物醫學系，令大學課程設置更加豐富，對此我們也深感高興。我們相信，新學系與動物醫學院將齊頭並進，為香港及亞太區的食品安全、公共衛生與傳染病控制作出貢獻。

2014年是城大三十周年校慶年，是我校發展歷史上的一個重大里程碑。在此，謹向一直支持大學發展的各界人士表示衷心感謝；對於大學的未來，我充滿信心。熱切期待各位踴躍參與年內舉辦的各項慶祝活動。

藉此新春佳節，謹向各位致以新年問候。祝願大家馬年萬事勝意、幸福安康、馬到成功！

香港城市大學校董會主席
胡曉明
2014 年 2 月 4 日