Welcome to the Division of Social Science at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology. Since our establishment in 1991, the Division has been one of the strongest social science programs by international comparison. Our faculty are recruited through competitive international searches; and at present, the 30 divisional faculty members are spread across five disciplines: Economics; Sociology; Political Science; Psychology; and Geography. We are ranked No. 1 in world-leading research in Social Science and Political Science (including Public Policy & Administration, and International Relations), and No. 1 in internationally excellent research in Sociology and Anthropology, according to the 2020 Research Assessment Exercise of the University Grants Committee, conducted among the 8 universities in Hong Kong.

The Division is committed to providing outstanding training programs in qualitative and quantitative social science research, typically with reference to China. Our PhD graduates now hold academic positions at prominent institutions throughout the world, including the United States, Mainland China, Singapore, Hong Kong, and Taiwan. Meanwhile, our MPhil graduates have successfully pursued doctoral training in top PhD programs in the United States, the United Kingdom, and Australia. The Division also offers a one-year MA in Social Science taught postgraduate program, from which an increasing number of graduates enter research postgraduate programs.

In fall 2017 our division launched an undergraduate major in Quantitative Social Analysis. This program is motivated by a growing need to make use of social data in addressing issues in business, city and regional planning, sustainability, and social policy. In partnership with the Division of Humanities, in 2011 we introduced an undergraduate major in Global China Studies, which enables students to develop theoretically informed and empirically grounded knowledge of China, Hong Kong, and other Chinese societies around the world.