Lingnan University held its 2025/26 academic year New Student Orientation (NSO) and Official Welcome on campus today, 25 August, welcoming over 1,400 new undergraduates from the Hong Kong SAR, the Mainland, and overseas, including students from Germany, Kazakhstan, Nepal, Russia, South Korea, and Vietnam into the Lingnan family.
Prof S. Joe Qin, President and Wai Kee Kau Chair Professor of Data Science, delivers his speech.
Regarding this year’s Joint University Programmes Admissions System (JUPAS), Lingnan University’s Bachelor of Social Sciences (Honours) - Health and Social Services Management programme emerges as the most competitive programme in Hong Kong. Based on the top three choices (Band A), an average of 51 applicants competed for each place, reflecting the growing demand for interdisciplinary talents.
Prof S. Joe Qin, President and Wai Kee Kau Chair Professor of Data Science, officiated at the Official Welcome, warmly welcoming all the new students. He said that in recent years Lingnan has achieved remarkable breakthroughs in teaching, curriculum competitiveness, and research. The University continues to strengthen its research and innovation capabilities, upgrade campus facilities, and provide students with a world-class learning environment, with the aim of becoming a leading liberal arts research university in the digital era. Key achievements include:
(1). Lingnan University has marked a historic milestone by coming first globally for SDG 4: Quality Education, and first in Hong Kong for SDG 1: No Poverty in the Times Higher Education (THE) Impact Rankings 2025. This is the first time that a Hong Kong higher education institution has reached the top position worldwide in any SDG category, underscoring the University's internationally recognised contributions to advancing quality education and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
(2). Lingnan University ranks first among eight University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded universities in Hong Kong, based on two key performance indicators of the University Accountability Agreements (2022-2025): “Undergraduate satisfaction with the quality and value gained from their teaching and learning experience” and “Student engagement in start-ups and entrepreneurship”.
(3). This is the first time Lingnan has entered the 11th Silicon Valley International Inventions Festival 2025 (SVIIF), and its science and innovation teams won eight gold and five silver medals, the highest number of awards and gold medals of all Hong Kong higher education institutions. One of the projects, the AI-based Fencing Training and Assessment System led by Prof Sam Kwong Tak-wu, Associate Vice-President (Strategic Research), also received a special Prize of the International Federation of Inventors’ Association (IFIA).
(4). At the 50th International Exhibition of Inventions Geneva 2025, Lingnan’s science and innovation teams won five prestigious awards. The BLOOM - A Low-cost, Energy-efficient Baby Incubator Designed for Remote and Rural Communities in Developing Countries was given the Gold Medal with Congratulations of the Jury—the first time the university has received this honour.
(5). Work on the expansion of Lingnan University’s main campus in Tuen Mun has begun with the seven-storey Lingnan Education Organization Building, which will house the School of Data Science (SDS) and the interdisciplinary research hub. The building will further enlarge the University’s teaching and research facilities. In addition, Lingnan@West Kowloon in the M+ Building has added one more floor, and now has three floors of off-campus learning space covering 28,000 square feet, enabling students to work and mingle in one of Asia’s most vibrant cultural landmarks. The High-Performance Computing (HPC) Data Centre, Lingnan HPC NexT, which houses dozens of supercomputers, is comparable to the world’s current top 100 supercomputers.
President Qin added “The era of AI is reshaping workplace demands. Lingnan University is committed to whole-person education and interdisciplinary research by integrating AI elements across various disciplines. This approach equips students to harness technology to solve pressing social issues while cultivating research-oriented talents with an innovative spirit and critical thinking abilities. I encourage students to make full use of Lingnan’s diverse learning resources and facilities to foster creativity. This includes free access for all faculty and students to AI tools ChatGPT and DeepSeek,” and he wished new students a dynamic and fulfilling campus life.
On the same day, to prepare new students for university life and to foster a sense of belonging, Lingnan launched a series of “NSO Kaleidoscope” rich and diverse activities specifically designed for newcomers. These activities, which encourage contact between new students, and introduce them to university life, include a Guided Tour of the Library, a Lingnan Campus Tour, and an Introduction to the Sports Facilities, allowing them to explore campus resources and facilities early on.
Other highlights included “Happy Residential Life”, which described hostel living, and gave practical tips for adapting to residential life. In sessions such as “Setting Sail for Your Future: Establishing Goals and Heading for Your University”, and “Level Up: Scholarships & Success Secrets”, new students were shown how to set learning objectives and what they need to apply for scholarships, in order to build up their confidence, and set clear goals.
Two outstanding Lingnan alumni, Mr Yenson She, former Director at Mastercard Services, and Mr Michael Yip, Executive Officer of the HKSAR Government, were invited to tell the new students about their most memorable university experiences and interesting career paths, and they suggested that the newcomers make good use of the wide range of learning opportunities offered by Lingnan to be proactive, and to seize every chance to cultivate their talents, and prepare for both their personal and professional future.
The hostel wardens also met with the new students to answer their questions about residential life and to help them get used to hostel living.
To further familiarise new students with campus life, Lingnan will host a Campus Life Carnival on 4 September, where the University’s vitality and artistic atmosphere are evident in the 40 promotional booths set up by student organisations, sports teams, and different departments, which provide practical information on extracurricular activities and social networks, assisting newcomers to integrate into the Lingnan community more quickly.
