Hong Kong universities shined in the latest World University Rankings by Subject, with sixcourses placing among the global top 10 and notable regional leadership in data science and artificial intelligence.

The University of Hong Kong led the city’s strong performance with four subjects in the world top 10. Its dentistry program attained second place globally, while education, linguistics, and geography ranked third, ninth and 10th respectively.

The Chinese University of Hong Kong’s nursing program secured fifth place worldwide, and its linguistics program rose from 33rd to 10th place.

The rankings, released by British education company Quacquarelli Symonds (QS) on Wednesday, evaluated more than 18,300 programs from over 1,700 universities across 100 countries and regions. The survey involved input from about 175,000 academics and 100,000 employers.

A total of 231 program offerings from eight public universities and the Hong Kong Academy for Performing Arts (HKAPA) were featured, 70 percent of which improved their rankings. Twenty-five programs made their debut, including Lingnan University’s communication and media studies, and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University’s politics course.

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Hong Kong was among the regions witnessing “notable improvements from their universities”, alongside the Chinese mainland and South Korea, according to QS.

In a statement, HKU President and Vice-Chancellor Zhang Xiang said the rankings testified to the“commendable global standing of our subjects”. He said the university will continue to set benchmarks in education and research, contribute to the evolution of various disciplines, and effect positive change locally and globally.

Five universities in Hong Kong ranked in the global top 50 for the data science and AI subject — a category introduced in 2023. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology led at 17th place, followed by HKU (18th), CUHK (19th), PolyU (40th), and the City University of Hong Kong (45th). QS described this achievement as a sign of leadership in Asia.

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In the education and training category, the Education University of Hong Kong rose eight spots to 12th.