Strategic Plan 2021-2028

5 Our Schools and IPO structures have served the University well, and we expect them to continue to do so for many years to come. Yet in order to effectively realize our broader goals, we must identify ways to not only be more hospitable to endeavors that cross disciplinary boundaries, but also to encourage systematic efforts unbounded by disciplinary de nitions. While such interdisciplinary efforts are re ected and supported in HKUST's current activities, a system-wide framework, fundamentally outside our current discipline-focused structures, is needed in order to encourage and develop new and emerging frontiers. A fundamental change of this sort is not possible by merely overlaying or adjusting the existing disciplinary format. It must be done without compromising our support for established disciplinary pursuits whose intrinsic merits remain undiminished. Resetting Our Academic Framework Leading universities promote cross-disciplinary research directions in part because of their implications on addressing major societal challenges with possible implications on humanity. As both scope and integration of our research and educational endeavors evolve, we naturally expect a broadened range of activities that include not only the blue sky, curiosity-driven efforts t ha t have f o rmed t he co re o f ou r p rog r am, bu t a l so mo re mission-encouraged research spurred by the grand challenges facing humanity. HKUST is well-positioned to ful ll our institutional ambition by leading efforts to both: (1) pursue curiosity-driven investigations on topics in any discipline, whose ultimate impact may not be initially apparent (e.g., discovery of black holes, the double helix, fractals and strange attractors, the invention of the transistor), as well as (2) mount mission-encouraged, multi-faceted responses in systematic ways