CityU Research: Creative Media, Data Science, and AI

City University of Hong Kong (CityUHK) Comprehensive Information Database · 04 Research Module This article focuses on CityU's research at the intersection of "computation + creativity": digital/media art represented by the School of Creative Media (SCM), and data science and AI represented by the School of Data Science (SDSC) and the Hong Kong Institute of AI for Science (HKAI-Sci). For materials/engineering, see materials-and-engineering-research.md; for an institutional inventory, see institutes-and-labs.md; the SCM building (Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre) also appears in the campus module.

# 1. School of Creative Media (SCM): Asia's Pioneer in Creative Media

The School of Creative Media (SCM) is one of CityU's most iconic "soft power" brands.

• Establishment and positioning: Founded in 1998^※, SCM was the first institution of its kind in Asia for higher education in creative media. Its mission is to nurture interdisciplinary artists and creative media professionals, and to develop new ideas and technologies for the creative industries (per the SCM School Overview^※).
• Interdisciplinary foundation: SCM students' training spans computer science, fine arts, visual design, creative writing, cultural studies, and digital technology — making the School a laboratory at the intersection of "art × science × humanities".
• Graduate outcomes: According to SCM, over 90%^※ of its graduates are now working as artists or professionals in the creative industries.

# 1.1 Research Areas

SCM's research spans multiple domains along the boundaries of digital media, art, science, and the humanities. Per the SCM Research Overview^※, its research fields include:

• New Media Art and Installation
• HCI and Computer Graphics
• Software Art, Machine Learning, and AI
• Physical Computing and Fabrication
• Playable Media
• Sound Art, Animation
• Film, Video, and Photography
• Socially and ecologically engaged art, and media and cultural studies

Researchers are also active in augmented/virtual reality (AR/VR) and immersive media, software art, computer animation, 3D printing, video installations, and related practices.

# 1.2 Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre

SCM's physical flagship is the Run Run Shaw Creative Media Centre — a nine-storey building designed by internationally renowned architect Daniel Libeskind and opened in 2011^※. According to publicly available information, the centre spans approximately 263,000 square feet and houses two photography studios, five screening rooms, a multi-purpose theatre, a television studio, recording studios, a virtual-reality immersive research laboratory, and numerous computer labs and classrooms (per published building data). The building itself has become the physical symbol of creative-media research and teaching at CityU (architectural details are covered in the campus module).

Among notable SCM alumni, director Wong Chun won Best New Director at the 53rd Golden Horse Awards for Mad World (2016) — his trajectory offers a concrete footnote to this "art × science × humanities" training pathway (for more, see 06-people/notable-alumni.md). For a fuller picture of CityU alumni in culture and media, also see 06-people/alumni-in-culture-and-media.md, which documents not only SCM-trained new-media artists but also pop-culture figures from the business and social-science faculties — demonstrating that SCM's talent pipeline into Hong Kong's creative industries is not an isolated case, but part of an institutionalised supply chain.

It is worth noting the boldness of SCM's original positioning in 1998: at that time, "creative media" did not exist as a disciplinary category within Hong Kong's higher education system. Most institutions still housed film, design, and computer science in separate faculties. By bringing these previously disconnected domains under one roof, SCM was in effect betting that interdisciplinarity would become the norm in the future creative industries — a judgement that, more than two decades later, with the rise of AR/VR and generative media art, looks remarkably prescient.

# 2. School of Data Science (SDSC) and Operations/Decision Sciences

The School of Data Science (SDSC) is CityU's strategic anchor for engaging with the data-driven economy.

• Establishment: SDSC was founded in July 2018^※, as part of CityU's strategic response to the rise of data science and AI. Departmental structures have since been adjusted (the Department of Data Science evolved from SDSC).
• Focus: Data science and AI, with courses and research covering core areas such as machine learning. CityU also has depth in quantitative fields including operations research, management science, decision science, and business analytics (distributed across data science, the business school, and relevant departments in the engineering faculty).

# 3. Hong Kong Institute of AI for Science (HKAI-Sci): AI for Science

In recent years, CityU has elevated artificial intelligence to a university-wide flagship. The Hong Kong Institute of AI for Science (HKAI-Sci) was established on 21 October 2024^※, jointly founded by CityU and academic and industry partners. It is positioned as an international hub for AI-driven scientific discovery (AI for Science) (per the CityUHK press release (2024-10-22)^※).

The creation of HKAI-Sci brings CityU's cross-disciplinary "AI + X" research (in materials, chemistry, life sciences, etc.) under a single outward-facing platform. Together with SCM's "software art / machine learning" and SDSC's "data science", it forms the third pillar of AI research within the University. This platform's launch also synchronises with the intensive knowledge-transfer and commercialisation push under the tenure of fifth Vice-Chancellor Freddy Boey (see 06-people/fifth-president-freddy-boey.md).

Examining SCM, SDSC, and HKAI-Sci side by side reveals a clear timeline for CityU's work along the "computation + creativity" axis: in 1998, SCM staked out the emerging discipline of "creative media"; in 2018, SDSC was created in response to the data-driven economic wave; and in 2024, HKAI-Sci elevated AI to an enabling infrastructure serving the whole University. These three moments correspond to three successive technological waves in Hong Kong higher education — digital media, big data, and generative AI — and CityU has been present in almost every one. That consistency is itself a concrete expression, within the computing and creative fields, of the University's institutional strategy: compact and nimble, moving fast to claim new disciplinary ground.