Message from the Director
Message from the Director
In the past three years, our world has evolved tremendously with the shake of big data and machine intelligence, and the Hong Kong is also expanding its resources on server acquisition and AI research support. This has given HKU IDS many opportunities to revolutionize fundamental research, technology, and education in the dynamic field of data science.
As we enter 2025, the Institute remains dedicated to its mission of nurturing top-tier researchers and students in data science and machine intelligence. Since its establishment in 2022, the number of our research talents, including faculty members and postgraduate students, has grown rapidly from just a few individuals to over 60. This growth has provided a strong foundation for IDS to expand and develop. Faculty members recruited through the HKU-100 Global Professoriate Recruitment Campaign are co-hosted with various departments and faculties at HKU.
We wish to make continuous endeavours in sharpening research and education in data science. Let me also take this chance to express our sincere gratitude to the University for supporting our team along the way.
HKU IDS shall continue to strive for excellence in our three strategic research areas, (1) Fundamental data science; (2) Explainable AI and Human-Machine Interplays; and (3) Smart society. These areas will serve as the pillars of our research and innovation efforts, addressing critical challenges and opportunities in the field of data science and machine intelligence. Furthermore, through collaborations with other units, industry partners, and governmental bodies, HKU IDS aims to raise public awareness of technologies associated with data science and machine intelligence, focusing on issues like data security, privacy, and fairness. We have launched a series of programmes in collaboration with internal bodies and industrial sectors, across audience from academia, enterprises, and of course undergraduate students. I am confident that through collective efforts, we can position the new HKU IDS as a leading data science hub globally, setting new benchmarks for academic excellence and societal impact.
Please visit our website to explore the opportunities and collaborations that we offer. I eagerly anticipate the opportunity to collaborate with you closely in the future!
Professor Yi MA
Director of the HKU IDS
Professor, Chair of Artificial Intelligence
June 30, 2025
Message from the Founding Director (Vice-President and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research))
The Musketeers Foundation Institute of Data Science demonstrates the ambition of the University of Hong Kong (HKU) to steer an ever-challenging research area – advanced development in data science – in which we have strong potential to become world-class. On behalf of HKU, I would like to thank the Musketeers Education and Culture Charitable Foundation Ltd for the substantial donation to support this novel research institute. We aim to build a technological hub at our future research landmark here in Hong Kong, as well as at our Shenzhen campus, to further our education and research goals, starting with data science and followed by institutes in other niche areas.
The Institute will draw on strengths from different disciplines, along with focused investment and resources, to deliver impactful research for the benefit of society in Hong Kong and around the world. I have had the privilege of orchestrating the Institute’s set up since January 2021, with valuable support from, inter alia, the University, the Departments and Faculties involved in the recruitment exercise, our Development and Alumni Affairs Office, and an Advisory Board comprising international experts from leading universities. With the injection of funding from both the University through its global recruitment exercise and the Musketeers Foundation through the generous donation, we believe the new Institute is set for success in its research and educational work.
The very generous support of our donor, the Musketeers Foundation, highlights not only aspirations for developing novel research, but also foresight in providing the next generation of young researchers with a platform to pursue their dreams of creating a better world through scientific advancement in the use of data. The University will dedicate its efforts to developing this relatively new but potentially highly rewarding area, delivering world-class data science research with an educational mission and a sense of social responsibility. In the coming years, we will rely on our scholars and students, collaborators, industrial partners, the government, and all stakeholders to work together to push the frontiers of data science.
Professor Max Shen
Vice-President and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Research)
In the past two decades, our world has transitioned into a new age of big data and machine intelligence. As a result, many aspects of scientific research, engineering technology, and even social fabric have been fundamentally changed and advanced at an unprecedented pace. With the generous donation from the Musketeers Foundation, the establishment of the new Institute of Data Science (IDS) at The University of Hong Kong (HKU) demonstrates the ambition and commitment of the University’s leadership to seizing this historical opportunity to transform the fundamental research, technology, and education in this exciting new field.
At the turn of the new year of 2023, I am truly humble and honored to succeed Professor Max Shen as the new director of the Institute. With the strong support from the University and various Departments and Faculties which share the same vision with us in advancing data science research, our goal is to establish a top-notch research and educational platform that will attract and support world-class researchers and students in the areas of data science and machine intelligence. They will find the Institute a free and nurturing environment for conducting deep scientific research and developing impactful technologies that would benefit the society of Hong Kong and the world at large. It is gratifying to learn that the Institute has successfully recruited over ten scholars co-hosted with different departments under the HKU 100 Global Recruitment Campaign since its inception since January 2021, and we will spare no efforts in recruiting more research talents in our future expansion.
The HKU IDS will focus on three strongly related aspects, namely, (1) theoretical and computational foundation of data science and machine intelligence; (2) practical algorithms and systems that support computing and data analysis at all scales; and (3) application of data science methodology and technology to other niche areas such as engineering, medical science, physical science, and social science. In addition, by working with other institutes, industrial partners, and the government, HKU IDS would also like to promote broader social awareness of technologies associated with data science and machine intelligence, on issues such as data security, privacy, and fairness. I am confident that together we have a chance to make the new HKU IDS a top data science program in the world, by setting a new standard for both academic excellence and societal impact.
Please explore our website to see what opportunities and collaborations we can offer. I look forward to working closely with you!
Professor Yi MA
Director of the HKU IDS
Chair Professor of Computer Science
February 6, 2023
