An important ingredient in the success of HKUST has been its investment in human capital. The many programs that have become competitive at the highest levels internationally owe their success to the high quality of the academic staff attracted to the institution. To accelerate the movement of a number of these programs to full-fledged international leadership, HKUST will target the recruitment of a small number of genuine "stars"—people whose names are instantly recognized by the international academic community and whose presence at HKUST would bring immediate visibility. These academic luminaries will be mentors for the most talented students, and powerful role models for the entire student body. They will also form the nucleus of an Institute for Advanced Study, modeled on the internationally renowned Institute for Advanced Study at Princeton, which will bring to the Hong Kong a steady flow of the world's top scholars.

This is an opportune time for Hong Kong to establish such an institute in view of the scientific accomplishment in the past decade by scholars in Hong Kong, at HKUST in particular. The Institute will be supported by a partnership of the public and private sectors, and will be situated on a prime, serene location on the HKUST campus. It will attract scholars of the highest caliber to Hong Kong to work with local academics. The Institute will be a vehicle through which Hong Kong can attain the highest international level of scientific discovery and scholarship and will increase international recognition for scholarship in Hong Kong.