Activating Four Competencies for Design’s Paradigm Shifts
Institutional Improvements Trajectory
Building on our commitment to research excellence and educational impact, we have delivered remarkable progress across key performance dimensions. This year’s advances in education quality, research, internationalisation, and collaboration are contributing to our strong foundation for future growth.
Education Quality
Our education quality is reflected in a stronger research training environment: research student registrations rose 66% with more Fellowship awardees, graduations increased 23%, and international awards nearly tripled in the past 5 years.
Research Output
From the 2020 Hong Kong Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) to preparations for RAE 2026, research publications and outputs have increased by 70%.
Global Mix
Our student composition benefits from Hong Kong's international orientation. Since 2022, non-local postgraduate students hover ~90%, while undergraduate first year admits increased 162%. Incoming exchange tripled and international internships doubled.
External Collaborations
The number of signed international agreements, partnerships, and hosted events continues to rise annually, crossing 70 formal partnerships in recent years.
Research Achievements & Infrastructure
We continue to solidify our efforts to underscore design's pivotal role in societal advancement.
Unprecedented Growth
The School has achieved extraordinary growth in research funding over six years, increasing from $54.8M to 279.2M. This sustained research investment positions design as a leading force for innovation and knowledge creation, on par with scientific and engineering fields.
We have secured over 40 awarded research projects, including major grants from the Research Grants Council (RGC), the Innovation and Technology Fund (ITF), the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), and industry partnerships spanning diverse sectors.
Research Impact Areas
Three impact cases were selected for Hong Kong’s flagship research assessment, which is peer‑reviewed by international experts. They showcase how our research shapes circular food systems, humanitarian place‑making, and public housing policy across Asia and beyond.
03:36:08
YouTube
2025 Design Research Impact and Global Insights Colloquia
2025 Design Research Impact and Global Insights Colloquia Date: 25 August 2025 (Monday) Venue: Senate Room (M1603), Block M, PolyU, Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong Timecodes 00:00:00 - Opening Remarks Prof. Kun-Pyo LEE 00:05:30 - Prof Peter Hasdell, Topic: Insitu Project 2015-2025: enabling impactful research 00:58:00 - Prof. Kit YICK, Topic: Data-driven testing for sports bra design: integrating dynamic movements and biomechanical insights 01:34:20 - Dr Markus WERNLI, Topic: Soil Trust (泥玩): bri
Strategic Partnerships and Global Reach
Strategic global partnerships strengthen our research capabilities and create opportunities for innovation and collaboration.
6
Joint Research Labs
established with top 20 design institutions for impact research and cross-cultural exchange.
2
Mainland Research Centres
focusing on practical applications and policy development.
83
Active Collaborative Projects
yielding significant research outputs, expanded student mobility.
Knowledge Transfer Mechanisms
Direct Policy Integration
"Design Guide for Public Housing" rewrites Hong Kong Housing Authority development standards, directly shaping spatial quality evaluations and inclusive common areas for thousands of residents.
Community Co-Production
Initiatives such as “Co‑Building Kuk Po” and "Soil Trust" co-create tools, manuals, signage, and events with local communities, turning design research into shared practices for rural revitalisation and circular food systems.
Educational Technology Deployment
Virtual Assistant TIMS moves AI and interaction design research into everyday teaching, giving students 24/7 support and positioning PolyU’s smart campus innovation as a replicable model.
02:01
YouTube
QS Reimagine Education Awards 2024 | Engage, Empower, Excel: PolyU's Smart Campus Innovation
QS Reimagine Education Award 2024 - Gold Award (Omnichannel -Smart Campus) & Global Education Award The project features the development of an innovative educational chatbot, Virtual Assistant TIMS (VAT), which learns from teachers’ course materials and teaching styles. VAT operates through WhatsApp (as a carrier) to provide a 24/7 one-on-one personalized virtual tutor to the students of that course. The platform fully demonstrates a ubiquitous learning environment, and members of the grand jur
Cultural Preservation in Practice
The neon sign archive converts long-term visual culture research into books, exhibitions, and reference materials actively used by cultural practitioners, educators, and heritage stakeholders across the city.
Global Reach and Scholarly Exchange
The School continues to be a choice destination for global talent and international exchange. Our diverse student body reflects this global appeal:
~90%
TPG Students
Non-local taught postgraduate students
~92%
RPG Students
Non-local research postgraduate students
~22%
UG Students
Non-local undergraduate students
With 72 institutional partnerships and joint PhD programs, our faculty and students continue to strengthen an international design network.
Global Events
At IASDR 2025 Taipei, PolyU was a top contributor to the submissions at this major design research conference.
IFoU 2027
De_sign Metapolis
at PolyU Design
We are looking forward to hosting you in Hong Kong!
Contact: Prof. Gerhard Bruyns, Conference Chair
Soil Trust Farm Studio Book Launch
The published manual transforms three years of community co-design into replicable infrastructure of recipes, methods, and ecological principles that extend circular food systems beyond the project's original 100+ participants. As one of three cases selected for Research Assessment Exercise 2026 and a recipient of the Don Norman Design Award, Soil Trust demonstrates design research as scalable public resource.
December 2024
The published manual transforms three years of community co-design into replicable infrastructure of recipes, methods, and ecological principles that extend circular food systems beyond the project's original 100+ participants. As one of three cases selected for Research Assessment Exercise 2026 and a recipient of the Don Norman Design Award, Soil Trust demonstrates design research as scalable public resource.
December 2024
Making Empathy Physical
The Empathy Library permanent installation at the Material Resource Centre transforms inclusive design from theory into embodied experience, such as the aged simulation suits and VR capability reduction tools. They let students inhabit diverse perspectives physically.
December 2024
The Empathy Library permanent installation at the Material Resource Centre transforms inclusive design from theory into embodied experience, such as the aged simulation suits and VR capability reduction tools. They let students inhabit diverse perspectives physically.
December 2024
Sound, Sight, Taste, Memories
Our Kuk Po Together project, funded by the government's Countryside Conservation, curated the light art exhibition for the Countryside Harvest Festival. Installations interpreting "mountain, sea, and light" across this 300-year-old Hakka village alongside performances, concerts, and markets drew urban publics to a remote heritage site. Years of participatory design research with villagers translates into cultural programming that activates conservation through public experience.
January 2025
Our Kuk Po Together project, funded by the government's Countryside Conservation, curated the light art exhibition for the Countryside Harvest Festival. Installations interpreting "mountain, sea, and light" across this 300-year-old Hakka village alongside performances, concerts, and markets drew urban publics to a remote heritage site. Years of participatory design research with villagers translates into cultural programming that activates conservation through public experience.
January 2025
Wearable Intelligence, Emotional Support
Two iF Design Awards 2025 for our Research Centre for Future (Caring) Mobility demonstrate design research addressing wellbeing across physical and emotional health. The Transparent Knee Guard integrates liquid metal sensors and fibre mesh to monitor knee rehabilitation with 93.42% accuracy in behavior recognition, delivering real-time clinical data. EmoFriends transforms plush toys into stress-monitoring companions through patented Emosense touch technology, also winning Gold at Hong Kong Techathon+ 2025.
February 2025
Two iF Design Awards 2025 for our Research Centre for Future (Caring) Mobility demonstrate design research addressing wellbeing across physical and emotional health. The Transparent Knee Guard integrates liquid metal sensors and fibre mesh to monitor knee rehabilitation with 93.42% accuracy in behavior recognition, delivering real-time clinical data. EmoFriends transforms plush toys into stress-monitoring companions through patented Emosense touch technology, also winning Gold at Hong Kong Techathon+ 2025.
February 2025
Building Hong Kong’s Social Robot Infrastructure
The HK$40.89M Theme-based Research funded Social Robots research, convening four universities (PolyU, CUHK, HKUST, HKU) and social work practitioners, shows that design research now operates at systems scale, addressing Hong Kong's mental health issues through multi-institutional infrastructure rather than isolated lab projects.
February 2025
The HK$40.89M Theme-based Research funded Social Robots research, convening four universities (PolyU, CUHK, HKUST, HKU) and social work practitioners, shows that design research now operates at systems scale, addressing Hong Kong's mental health issues through multi-institutional infrastructure rather than isolated lab projects.
February 2025
Convening Cultural Tech
Visitors making their final rounds at the Polyverse exhibition by the Research Centre for Cultural and Art Technology at the closing week. China's top 10 art institutions were convened under one curatorial vision while positioning Hong Kong as a platform where art academies, industry partners, and design converge.
March 2025
Visitors making their final rounds at the Polyverse exhibition by the Research Centre for Cultural and Art Technology at the closing week. China's top 10 art institutions were convened under one curatorial vision while positioning Hong Kong as a platform where art academies, industry partners, and design converge.
March 2025
Rewriting Typographic Rules
Design education encourages challenging inherited rules, not just mastering them. Our Communication Design graduate won Champion (Fan Favourite) at the Morisawa Type Competition, a 40-year global typeface design event. The design is an Egyptian Hieroglyphs that blends Traditional Chinese characters with animalistic motifs and human elements, breaking conventional stroke standards.
April 2025
Design education encourages challenging inherited rules, not just mastering them. Our Communication Design graduate won Champion (Fan Favourite) at the Morisawa Type Competition, a 40-year global typeface design event. The design is an Egyptian Hieroglyphs that blends Traditional Chinese characters with animalistic motifs and human elements, breaking conventional stroke standards.
April 2025
Teaching Through Global Collaboration
For seven years, the GBAᵉˣ Masters Studio has advanced design research for the Greater Bay Area through game-boarding and scenario-building methodologies. This year's exhibition presents seven proposals interrogating morphological models that challenge conventional regional planning—testing ecological resilience, polycentric connectivity, and adaptive land use while fostering dialogue on infrastructure, governance, and socio-economic equity in this dynamic urban region.
May 2025
For seven years, the GBAᵉˣ Masters Studio has advanced design research for the Greater Bay Area through game-boarding and scenario-building methodologies. This year's exhibition presents seven proposals interrogating morphological models that challenge conventional regional planning—testing ecological resilience, polycentric connectivity, and adaptive land use while fostering dialogue on infrastructure, governance, and socio-economic equity in this dynamic urban region.
May 2025
London Design Biennale – Visuospace
Visuospace brings PolyU Design’s neuroaesthetic and spatial cognition research onto the global stage as the Hong Kong Pavilion at the London Design Biennale 2025, translating data on emotion and urban form into an immersive 3D environment.
June 2025
Visuospace brings PolyU Design’s neuroaesthetic and spatial cognition research onto the global stage as the Hong Kong Pavilion at the London Design Biennale 2025, translating data on emotion and urban form into an immersive 3D environment.
June 2025
Hong Kong PolyU Design Show logged more than 76,000 Visitors
The annual Design Show reached an all-time high across two months, showcasing over 250 graduating student projects. The surge demonstrates growing public recognition of design's relevance to everyday life, drawing industry, families, and prospective students to the Jockey Club Innovation Tower. Public engagement at this scale transforms student work into a window on Hong Kong's design talent and possibilities.
June 2025
The annual Design Show reached an all-time high across two months, showcasing over 250 graduating student projects. The surge demonstrates growing public recognition of design's relevance to everyday life, drawing industry, families, and prospective students to the Jockey Club Innovation Tower. Public engagement at this scale transforms student work into a window on Hong Kong's design talent and possibilities.
June 2025
Cultivating Design Literacy Early
The Summer Institute and the Hatch Awards immerse young people in design thinking, prototyping, and social enterprise. Building design literacy at the secondary school level creates informed applicants who understand design's paradigm shift and societal role, raising the baseline for design futures.
July 2025
The Summer Institute and the Hatch Awards immerse young people in design thinking, prototyping, and social enterprise. Building design literacy at the secondary school level creates informed applicants who understand design's paradigm shift and societal role, raising the baseline for design futures.
July 2025
Design Research Impact & Global Insights Exhibition
This highly informative research event brings together PolyU Design impact cases including the Insitu Project, Soil Trust, and the Well-being Design Guide for Public Housing to demonstrate how design research delivers community resilience, circular food systems, evidence‑based housing policy, and data‑driven product innovation.
August 2025
This highly informative research event brings together PolyU Design impact cases including the Insitu Project, Soil Trust, and the Well-being Design Guide for Public Housing to demonstrate how design research delivers community resilience, circular food systems, evidence‑based housing policy, and data‑driven product innovation.
August 2025
The Work Behind Integration
Interdisciplinarity means it becomes crucial for undergraduate programme leaders to gather at the start of the academic year, preparing to welcome incoming students and coordinate the year ahead.
September 2025
Interdisciplinarity means it becomes crucial for undergraduate programme leaders to gather at the start of the academic year, preparing to welcome incoming students and coordinate the year ahead.
September 2025
From Classroom to Golden Horse
Our Digital Media Deputy Programme Leader and alum Step C., featured in Vogue Hong Kong, served as Art Director on Another World 世外, the first Hong Kong feature at Annecy in 22 years and the first GKIDS distribution from the city. Together with 17 PolyU Design alumni as Animators, she has just won “Best Animation” at the Golden Horse Awards (台灣金馬最佳動畫).(December edit)
October 2025
Our Digital Media Deputy Programme Leader and alum Step C., featured in Vogue Hong Kong, served as Art Director on Another World 世外, the first Hong Kong feature at Annecy in 22 years and the first GKIDS distribution from the city. Together with 17 PolyU Design alumni as Animators, she has just won “Best Animation” at the Golden Horse Awards (台灣金馬最佳動畫).(December edit)
October 2025
Architecture at Work
Four concurrent exhibitions fill the Jockey Club Innovation Tower's galleries throughout November — Japanese rural revitalization research (Radiate the Heart of Satoyama), SF Express service design tour, BA Digital Media's 15-year retrospective, and imagining future Hong Kong scenes using adaptable furniture and XR environments — creates what visitors describe as a vibrant community destination beyond architectural tourism.
November 2025
Four concurrent exhibitions fill the Jockey Club Innovation Tower's galleries throughout November — Japanese rural revitalization research (Radiate the Heart of Satoyama), SF Express service design tour, BA Digital Media's 15-year retrospective, and imagining future Hong Kong scenes using adaptable furniture and XR environments — creates what visitors describe as a vibrant community destination beyond architectural tourism.
November 2025
Closing the Year with Presence
PolyU Design led submissions at IASDR 2025 in Taipei, earning two Best Paper Awards for human augmentation co-creation and AI-powered cultural heritage acoustic design. Our International Advisory Board member Prof. Don Norman, catches up between sessions with Prof. Stephen J. Wang, from one of the best papers' team, in Taipei after keynoting Hong Kong's Design Leadership Forum days earlier. These conversations between collaborators, mentors, and emerging scholars do not close the year; they carry the work forward across cities and generations, in an era when AI iterates on patterns and design research and education determine what’s worth iterating.
December 2025
PolyU Design led submissions at IASDR 2025 in Taipei, earning two Best Paper Awards for human augmentation co-creation and AI-powered cultural heritage acoustic design. Our International Advisory Board member Prof. Don Norman, catches up between sessions with Prof. Stephen J. Wang, from one of the best papers' team, in Taipei after keynoting Hong Kong's Design Leadership Forum days earlier. These conversations between collaborators, mentors, and emerging scholars do not close the year; they carry the work forward across cities and generations, in an era when AI iterates on patterns and design research and education determine what’s worth iterating.
December 2025