HKUST - Master of Public Policy Program

We are delighted to celebrate Prof. Jingwei Alex HE from the Division of Public Policy at HKUST for his newly published article, “From local innovation to national policy: Cross-boundary policy entrepreneurship in China's health regulatory reform". His study examines how cross‑boundary policy entrepreneurship—spanning local government, corporations, and public hospitals—drove a major health regulatory reform in China. Drawing on in‑depth interviews, the research identifies four types of policy entrepreneurs and shows how their collective strategies helped scale local innovations into national policy.

Join us in congratulating Prof. Jingwei Alex HE on this impactful contribution to public policy research!

🎉 Congratulations to Prof. Alex Jingwei He! 🎉

We are proud to announce that Professor He has been recognised in Stanford/Elsevier's top 2% of scientists for 5 consecutive years!

Field: Public Administration
Hong Kong Rank: 3rd
Global Rank: 462nd

This achievement highlights his outstanding contributions to the field and reflects the excellence within our Division of Public Policy at HKUST.
Join us in celebrating this remarkable accomplishment!

We are delighted to share that our faculty member, Prof. Yarime Masaru, has been listed among the Stanford/Elsevier Top 2% Scientists in the sub-field of Environmental Sciences.

This recognition highlights Prof. Yarime’s significant contributions to advancing sustainability research and interdisciplinary scholarship in environmental science and policy. His work continues to inspire innovative approaches to addressing global environmental challenges through collaboration across academia, industry, and government.

To learn more about the dataset and full listing, please visit: https://elsevier.digitalcommonsdata.com/datasets/btchxktzyw/8

We Won Second and Third Place at the 2025 Tsinghua International Case Analysis Competition!
🎉 Celebrating the incredible achievements of the PPOL Teams at the 2025 Tsinghua International Case Analysis Competition of Public Policy on SDGs!

On August 16, Tsinghua University’s School of Public Policy and Management hosted the Grand Final, featuring 12 outstanding finalist teams from 75 universities across 7 countries.

We are thrilled to announce that two teams from HKUST-PPOL achieved remarkable success:

Team Betelgeuse (ZHANG Yuge, SHAN Yutian, PENG Jiahui) won Second Prize with their case, “The Blade of Disfigurement and The Purse of Profit: Multilayered Dilemmas and Exploratory Governance Initiatives in Hunan’s Betel Nut Regulation.” Their research highlights the complex intersections of public health, industry regulation, and governance innovation.

Team ZeroX (ZHU Mingqi, CHEN Shumin, CHAN Tsz Ni, LIEW Jiayi) received Third Prize for their case, “Paying for Household Waste in a Metropolis? The Failure of Hong Kong’s Municipal Solid Waste Charging Scheme.” Their analysis critically examines the challenges of implementing environmental policies in metropolitan contexts.

Additionally, we are proud to recognize that ZHANG Yuge, PENG Jiahui, and LIEW Jiayi each received the Best Individual Performance Award for their exceptional contributions to case research and presentation.

This year’s competition attracted 90 teams and 288 participants worldwide, showcasing the dedication of young scholars in addressing urgent global challenges like climate change, inequality, and sustainable urban governance.

Congratulations to both PPOL teams for their rigorous research, innovative thinking, and outstanding performance on the global stage! We look forward to their continued contributions to advancing the UN Sustainable Development Goals.

We are pleased to announce that our faculty members, Raul P. Lejano, Professor at the Division of Public Policy at HKUST, has published a new article titled “Conjectures on a Relational Turn in Policy Studies” in Policy Sciences, co-authored with Wing Shan Kan, from Hong Kong Baptist University.

📍 This research explores the emerging focus on the relational dimensions of public policy, emphasizing how the relationships between policy actors shape their identities and the policy process itself. The authors review existing literature and propose several propositions regarding the relevance of relationality for policy analysis. Their findings suggest that understanding policy through a relational lens can enhance our comprehension of institutional dynamics and improve collaborative governance practices.
To learn more about the article, please visit: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11077-025-09574-9

We are delighted to announce that Prof.Alex Jingwei He from the Division of Public Policy at HKUST has been selected as the recipient of the 2025 IPPA Award for Transition and Developing Economies.

This distinguished award honors scholars who have made impactful contributions to public policy research in the context of developing and transitional economies. Prof. He is notably the first Chinese scholar to receive this recognition since the award’s inception.

He is officially presented with the award at the 7th International Conference on Public Policy, which is held this July in Chiang Mai, Thailand.

This milestone reflects Prof. He’s longstanding dedication to health systems, social policy, and innovation in public governance. Congratulations to Prof. He on this remarkable achievement!

We’re delighted to announce that Dr. Fangxin Francine Yi, Research Assistant Professor at HKUST’s Division of Public Policy, has been awarded the 2025–26 Lincoln Institute China Program International Fellowship.

Her selected project, “Fiscal Decentralization and the Strategic Embedding of Land-Centered Urbanization: Three Decades Under the Tax-Sharing System,” explores how fiscal reform, land policy, and regional inequality have intersected in China since the 1994 Tax-Sharing Reform.

This prestigious fellowship supports leading-edge research on urban development, land governance, and fiscal policy. Dr. Yi’s work sheds important light on how decentralizing tax collection and rebalancing spending responsibilities shape China’s urban future.

Congratulations, Dr. Yi! We’re excited to see your work contribute to more sustainable and equitable policymaking in China and beyond.

🌟 We are proud to announce that three esteemed faculty members from the Division of Public Policy (PPOL) have received the General Research Fund (GRF) under the University Grants Committee (UGC) of Hong Kong! 🎉

The UGC is a prestigious body that supports and promotes research excellence in higher education institutions across Hong Kong. Each year, the UGC receives a significant number of applications, making the competition intense and the selection process highly rigorous. Securing a GRF is a notable achievement that reflects the quality and impact of the research conducted by our faculty.

Congratulations to . Kira Matus, . Alex Jingwei He, and . Nicolo Ludovice on this remarkable accomplishment! This recognition not only highlights their individual excellence but also underscores that PPOL has become the best-performing division within the Academy of Interdisciplinary Studies (AIS) this year.

Thank you to everyone for your hard work and dedication!

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