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University · Pok Fu Lam · Hong Kong

University of Hong Kong

In research, University of Hong Kong stands highest in Social Sciences (#2 of 6,365 worldwide), Social Sciences (#5 of 10,521 worldwide) and Computer Science (#5 of 4,667 worldwide), 2022–2025. Relative to its size it is most specialised in Periodontics, Orthodontics and Dentistry — Periodontics is 4.0× its share of world research.

hku.hkROR OpenAlex
World rank, 2022–2025
#25
of 28,054 · #131 all time
Rank in Hong Kong
#1
of 21
Research works
88k
▲ 18% vs 2013–17
Citations
2.8M
32.1 per fractional work
Top-10% rate
31.2%
record average 16.5%
Open access
35%
world 28%

What is University of Hong Kong known for in research?

The fields where it stands highest, 2022–2025, ranked among every institution above the floor in each field.

FieldWorld rankWhere that sitsTop-10% rateWorksAll time
Social SciencesField #2 of 6,365 37.9%2,259 #48
Social SciencesDomain #5 of 10,521 34.9%4,737 #74
Computer ScienceField #5 of 4,667 34.2%1,946 #57
Information SystemsSubfield #3 of 1,291 40.4%195 #31
Physical SciencesDomain #31 of 12,888 31.7%7,641 #136
DemographySubfield #1 of 413 50.1%113 #18
Literature and Literary TheorySubfield #1 of 390 46.7%104 #2
EducationSubfield #5 of 1,892 53.7%386 #10
Artificial IntelligenceSubfield #6 of 1,884 34.3%703 #61
Sociology and Political ScienceSubfield #10 of 2,578 31.0%693 #89

Each strip is that field’s whole ranked pool, with the notch where University of Hong Kong sits in it, in the colour of the band that rank falls in. The track under the rate is the rate itself: it carries no world mark, because the world rate differs by field (from about 6% to 21% in this record).

Which of those standings moved

The same fields on both windows: where it stood over the whole record, and where it stands in 2022–2025. The distance is the story, and it is the one thing the two rank columns above cannot show.

  1. Social Sciences#48 #2
  2. Social Sciences#74 #5
  3. Computer Science#57 #5
  4. Information Systems#31 #3
  5. Physical Sciences#136 #31
  6. Demography#18 #1
  7. Literature and Literary Theory#2 #1
  8. Education#10 #5
  9. Artificial Intelligence#61 #6
  10. Sociology and Political Science#89 #10
all time2022–2025, better2022–2025, worse

A dot further right is a better standing. Fields it was not ranked in over the whole record are left out.

What does University of Hong Kong specialise in?

Where its research is concentrated relative to its size: Periodontics takes 4.0× the share of its output that it takes of world research.

  1. PeriodonticsSubfield · 96.6 works4.0×
  2. OrthodonticsSubfield · 70.2 works3.5×
  3. DentistryField · 275.6 works3.2×
  4. General DentistrySubfield · 23.6 works3.1×
  5. Computer Science ApplicationsSubfield · 111.8 works2.6×
  6. Oral SurgerySubfield · 85.3 works2.5×
← less than its size predicts1×more →

Location quotient, a volume reading rather than an impact one. It surfaces small, lopsided specialities.

Field profile

Location quotient across every field it publishes in: outside the ring is more than an institution of this size would be expected to publish, inside it is less.

Agricultural and Biological Sciences: 0.23× its world share, 188 worksAgricultural and Bio…Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology: 1.05× its world share, 980 worksBiochemistry, Geneti…Immunology and Microbiology: 1.00× its world share, 177 worksImmunology and Micro…Neuroscience: 1.29× its world share, 369 worksNeurosciencePharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutics: 0.47× its world share, 29 worksPharmacology, Toxico…Chemical Engineering: 0.54× its world share, 33 worksChemical EngineeringChemistry: 0.77× its world share, 212 worksChemistryComputer Science: 1.43× its world share, 1,946 worksComputer ScienceEarth and Planetary Sciences: 1.11× its world share, 307 worksEarth and Planetary …Energy: 0.74× its world share, 120 worksEnergyEngineering: 1.09× its world share, 2,875 worksEngineeringEnvironmental Science: 0.99× its world share, 867 worksEnvironmental ScienceMaterials Science: 0.95× its world share, 584 worksMaterials ScienceMathematics: 0.98× its world share, 203 worksMathematicsPhysics and Astronomy: 1.27× its world share, 494 worksPhysics and AstronomyDentistry: 3.24× its world share, 276 worksDentistryHealth Professions: 0.69× its world share, 319 worksHealth ProfessionsMedicine: 0.83× its world share, 2,786 worksMedicineNursing: 0.57× its world share, 49 worksNursingVeterinary: 0.27× its world share, 6 worksVeterinaryArts and Humanities: 0.76× its world share, 386 worksArts and HumanitiesBusiness, Management and Accounting: 0.86× its world share, 484 worksBusiness, Management…Decision Sciences: 1.26× its world share, 213 worksDecision SciencesEconomics, Econometrics and Finance: 1.27× its world share, 476 worksEconomics, Econometr…Psychology: 1.72× its world share, 918 worksPsychologySocial Sciences: 1.02× its world share, 2,259 worksSocial Sciences1×world share
more than its size predictsabout as predictedless

Rings at 0.5×, 1× and 2×. Widest outward: Dentistry, 3.2×. Every wedge is a field page.

Who are the top researchers at University of Hong Kong?

Ranked on the composite score, Pak C. Sham, Xiaojuan Qi and Ester Cerin lead among researchers whose main affiliation is University of Hong Kong.

  1. 1 Pak C. Sham Hong Kong · #271 worldwide 4.1k citations · 120 works
  2. 2 Xiaojuan Qi Hong Kong · #1,142 worldwide 4.4k citations · 95 works
  3. 3 Ester Cerin Hong Kong · #1,276 worldwide 4k citations · 85 works
  4. 4 David Nunan Hong Kong · #3,336 worldwide 903 citations · 90 works
  5. 5 Paul Yip Hong Kong · #3,346 worldwide 4.7k citations · 64 works
  6. 6 David Dudgeon Hong Kong · #5,014 worldwide 1.4k citations · 86 works
  7. 7 James Lam Hong Kong · #5,302 worldwide 2.4k citations · 166 works
  8. 8 Tak‐Wah Lam Hong Kong · #9,538 worldwide 1.3k citations · 72 works
  9. 9 Guochun Zhao Hong Kong · #9,542 worldwide 2.9k citations · 134 works
  10. 10 Patrick Y.K. Chau Hong Kong · #9,597 worldwide 851 citations · 53 works
All ranked researchers at University of Hong Kong

Which keywords describe research at University of Hong Kong?

By fractional works in 2022–2025, weighted toward what it does more of than the world: Deep Learning, Machine Learning, Neural Networks, Epidemiology, Globalization, China, Regulation and Inflammation.

▲ more of its work than of the world’s◆ about the world’s share▼ less than the world’s

Size is fractional works in 2022–2025 in the topics tagged with each word; colour is the word's share of this institution's work against its share of the world's. The 40 words are chosen for being large and distinctive. Each links to the topic it comes from most.

All 40 words, with their numbers
  1. Deep Learning1,011▲ 1.68×83 topics
  2. Machine Learning688▲ 1.20×93 topics
  3. Epidemiology655◆ 0.94×130 topics
  4. Neural Networks509▲ 1.88×37 topics
  5. Globalization393◆ 1.14×109 topics
  6. Climate Change371▼ 0.78×98 topics
  7. Inflammation337◆ 0.92×83 topics
  8. Sustainability327▼ 0.76×92 topics
  9. Mental Health277◆ 1.08×43 topics
  10. Remote Sensing267▲ 1.23×38 topics
  11. Cancer263◆ 1.11×58 topics
  12. Quality of Life253◆ 1.00×56 topics
  13. Public Health250◆ 0.98×54 topics
  14. Artificial Intelligence239◆ 0.99×55 topics
  15. COVID-19233◆ 0.97×30 topics
  16. Biomedical Applications231◆ 1.11×36 topics
  17. Depression220▲ 1.43×25 topics
  18. Regulation206▲ 2.2×25 topics
  19. Convolutional Neural Networks200▲ 1.55×14 topics
  20. Nationalism185▲ 2.3×24 topics
  21. Social Support166▲ 1.70×19 topics
  22. Higher Education160▲ 1.68×21 topics
  23. Student Engagement150▲ 2.1×15 topics
  24. Urbanization150▲ 2.1×14 topics
  25. SARS-CoV-2147▲ 2.6×6 topics
  26. Well-being137▲ 2.0×14 topics
  27. China126▲ 7.8×8 topics
  28. Inequality117▲ 2.9×10 topics
  29. Academic Achievement108▲ 3.6×10 topics
  30. Self-Regulation106▲ 3.4×6 topics
  31. Unsupervised Learning102▲ 4.1×3 topics
  32. Representation Learning98▲ 4.0×3 topics
  33. Dental Caries89▲ 5.2×2 topics
  34. Democratization80▲ 7.0×3 topics
  35. Civic Education75▲ 19×2 topics
  36. Christianity73▲ 6.9×4 topics
  37. Confucianism72▲ 9.8×1 topic
  38. Falun Gong72▲ 9.8×1 topic
  39. Hong Kong Identity71▲ 46×1 topic
  40. Localism71▲ 46×1 topic

Which research topics does University of Hong Kong publish most on?

By volume in 2022–2025: Chinese history and philosophy, Hong Kong and Taiwan Politics, Online Learning and Analytics and SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research.

Chinese history and phil…72Chinese history and philosophy: 72 fractional worksHong Kong and Taiwan Pol…71Hong Kong and Taiwan Politics: 71 fractional worksOnline Learning and Analytics: 64 fractional worksSARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 …63SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research: 63 fractional worksUrban Transport and Acce…62Urban Transport and Accessibility: 62 fractional worksBIM and Construction Integration: 58 fractional worksTopic Modeling58Topic Modeling: 58 fractional worksAdvanced Neural Network …53Advanced Neural Network Applications: 53 fractional worksEFL/ESL Teaching and Learning: 52 fractional worksPerovskite Materials and Applications: 52 fractional works
Sociology and Political ScienceComputer Science ApplicationsInfectious DiseasesTransportation5 others

Area is fractional works; colour is the subfield each topic belongs to.

  1. 1 Chinese history and philosophy Sociology and Political Science 72 works
  2. 2 Hong Kong and Taiwan Politics Sociology and Political Science 71 works
  3. 3 Online Learning and Analytics Computer Science Applications 64 works
  4. 4 SARS-CoV-2 and COVID-19 Research Infectious Diseases 63 works
  5. 5 Urban Transport and Accessibility Transportation 62 works
  6. 6 BIM and Construction Integration Building and Construction 58 works
  7. 7 Topic Modeling Artificial Intelligence 58 works
  8. 8 Advanced Neural Network Applications Computer Vision and Pattern Recognition 53 works
  9. 9 EFL/ESL Teaching and Learning Language and Linguistics 52 works
  10. 10 Perovskite Materials and Applications Electrical and Electronic Engineering 52 works

How open and international is its research?

Against the world’s own shares — the tick on each track. Both are shares of its output, so they sit on one scale and can be read against each other as well as against the world.

openly available34.9%not open65.1%

World: 28% of research is openly available.

with international co-authors47.2%domestic only52.8%

World: 19% is written across borders.

How has University of Hong Kong's research output changed?

Output in 2018–2022 was 18% higher than in 2013–2017.

1990200020102020
grewheldshrank

The same series as a ribbon — one cell per year, darker for more. The line above answers how much; this answers when.

Research measures only: rankings here say nothing about teaching, admissions or student experience. Comparable institutions and collaboration partners are in the interactive view on the map.