The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and the University of Waterloo have signed an agreement that will allow doctoral students from various disciplines to earn a dual PhD from both institutions.

The President of HKUST Prof Tony F Chan, and President and Vice-Chancellor of the University of Waterloo Prof Feridun Hamdullahpur, have signed an agreement for a cotutelle – a dual doctoral degree program offered by both institutions.  Selected students from any faculty will study under the guidance of scholars from both universities, spending almost equal time in both locations. This agreement broadens the two universities’ existing partnership on a dual engineering PhD degree, signed last year.

Prof Chan said HKUST is happy to deepen its collaboration on doctoral education with the University of Waterloo, a leading university in North America.  “Building on our existing strategic Dual Engineering PhD partnership, this extended collaboration will further enhance the exposure and exchange between the two institutions, and I believe many innovative ideas of tomorrow will be cultivated and conceptualized,” he said.

Prof Hamdullahpur also expressed his delight to the strengthened partnership. “Waterloo is pleased to build on our excellent relationship with HKUST, one of the world’s leading universities,” he said. “Doctoral students from a variety of disciplines will now have an exceptional opportunity to create academic and research collaborations with leading experts in their fields and benefit from the culture of innovation at both universities.”

The students must meet all requirements of both institutions, but they only need to prepare one doctoral thesis and perform one thesis defense. Upon successful completion of the program, they will receive a degree from each institution, indicating it was performed in cotutelle.

About Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) (www.ust.hk) is a world-class research university focuses on science, technology and business as well as humanities and social science.  HKUST offers an international campus, and a holistic and interdisciplinary pedagogy to nurture well-rounded graduates with global vision, a strong entrepreneurial spirit and innovative thinking.  Renowned for its academic rigor and research accomplishments, HKUST attained the highest proportion of internationally excellent research work in the Research Assessment Exercise 2014 of Hong Kong’s University Grants Committee, and is the world’s second in the latest QS’ Top 50 under 50 ranking.  Its graduates were ranked 13th worldwide and top in Greater China in Global Employability University Survey 2016, while the flagship Kellogg-HKUST EMBA program of its School of Business and Management was ranked No 1 seven times by Financial Times’ Global EMBA Rankings.

About the University of Waterloo
University of Waterloo is Canada’s top innovation university. With more than 36,000 students, the university is home to the world’s largest co-operative education system of its kind. The university’s unmatched entrepreneurial culture, combined with an intensive focus on research, powers one of the top innovation hubs in the world. For more information about Waterloo, please visit uwaterloo.ca.