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University of Hong Kong

The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is a public research university in Pok Fu Lam, Hong Kong Island, Hong Kong.

Founded in 1887 as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, it is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. Today, HKU has ten academic faculties and English is the main medium of instruction and assessment.

The University of Hong Kong was also the first team in the world to successfully isolate the coronavirus SARS-CoV, the causative agent of SARS.

Founding

The origins of the University of Hong Kong can be traced back to the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, founded in 1887 by Ho Kai (later known as Sir Kai Ho Kai). It was renamed the Hong Kong College of Medicine in 1907. The college was later incoporated as HKU's medical school in 1911.

The University of Hong Kong was founded in 1911. The colony's governor, Sir Frederick Lugard, had proposed to establish a university in Hong Kong to compete with the other Great Powers opening universities in China, most notably Prussia, which had just opened the Tongji German Medical School in Shanghai. Sir Hormusjee Naorojee Mody, an Indian Parsi businessman in Hong Kong, learned of Lugard's plan and pledged to donate HK$150000 towards the construction and HK$30000 towards other costs. The Hong Kong Government and the business sector in southern China, which were both equally eager to learn "secrets of the West's success" (referring to technological advances made since the Industrial Revolution), also gave their support. The Government contributed a site at West Point. Swire Group contributed GB£40000 to endow a chair in Engineering, in addition to thousands of dollars in equipment (its aim was partly to bolster its corporate image following the death of a passenger on board one of its ships, SS Fatshan, and the subsequent unrest stirred by the Self-Government Society). Along with donations from other donors including the British government and companies such as HSBC, Lugard finally had enough to fund the building of the university.

Charles Eliot was appointed HKU's first Vice-Chancellor. As Governor of Hong Kong, Lugard laid the foundation stone of the Main Building on 16 March 1910. The university was incorporated in Hong Kong as a self-governing body of scholars on 30 March 1911 and had its official opening ceremony on 11 March 1912. It was founded as an all-male institution; women students were admitted for the first time ten years later.

As Lugard felt that the Chinese society at the time was not suited to ideals such as communism, the university originally emulated the University of Manchester in emphasising the sciences over the humanities. It opened with three founding faculties: Arts, Engineering, and Medicine. The Faculty of Medicine was previously founded as the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese by the London Missionary Society in 1887. Of the College's early alumni, the most renowned was Sun Yat-sen, who led the Chinese Revolution of 1911 which changed China from an empire (Qing dynasty) to a republic (Republic of China). In December 1916, the university held its first convocation, with 23 graduates and five honorary graduates.

Move towards Chinese cultural education, and WW2
After the Canton–Hong Kong strikes of 1925 and 1926, the government moved towards greater integration of Eastern culture, increasing the number of Chinese courses. In 1927, a degree in Chinese was created. Donations from wealthy businessmen Tang Chi Ngong and Fung Ping Shan – after whom two campus buildings are named – triggered an emphasis on Chinese cultural education. In 1937, the Queen Mary Hospital opened. It has served as the university's teaching hospital ever since. In 1941, the Japanese invasion of Hong Kong caused damage to university buildings, and the university closed until 1945; during this period, the university's medical school moved to Chengdu.

1945 to 2001
After the end of the Second World War, the university reopened and investment in law and the social sciences increased as post-war reconstruction efforts began in earnest. The Faculty of Social Sciences was established in 1967 and the Department of Law in 1969. The student population in 1961 was 2,000, quadrupled from 1941, and in 1980 the number of students exceeded 5,500.

In 1958, the librarian of University of Hong Kong, Mrs. Dorothea Scott, organized a meeting of over 40 library practitioners at the Fung Ping Shan Library on 3 April to determine and establish a library association for Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Library Association.

In 1982, the Faculty of Dentistry, based at the Prince Philip Dental Hospital, was established. To this day, it remains Hong Kong's only faculty training dental professionals. In 1984, both the School of Architecture and School of Education became fully-fledged faculties and in the same year the Faculty of Law was created. The Faculty of Business and Economics was established in 2001 as the university's tenth and youngest faculty.

After 1989, the Hong Kong government began to emphasise local tertiary education in order to retain local students who would otherwise have studied abroad in the United Kingdom. Student places and course variety were greatly increased in preparation for the handover of Hong Kong. By 2001, the number of students had grown to 14,300 and the number of degree courses to over a hundred.

2001 to present
In 2002, Growing with Hong Kong: HKU and its Graduates – The First 90 Years was published by the Hong Kong University Press as a study of the impact of HKU's graduates on Hong Kong.

In January 2006, despite protest from a portion of students and alumni, the Faculty of Medicine was renamed as the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine "to recognize the generosity of Mr Li and his Foundation as well as the wish of the donors to support, in addition to the general development of the University, research and academic activities in medicine."

On 16 August 2011, Li Keqiang, Vice Premier of the People's Republic of China, began a three-day visit to promote development between Hong Kong and mainland China. The university was locked down. The mishandling by the police force caused the Hong Kong 818 incident. In a statement to the HKU community, the university vice-chancellor Professor Lap-Chee Tsui admitted that the security arrangements could have been better planned and organised, and apologised to students and alumni for not having been able to prevent the incident. He assured them that "the University campus belongs to students and teachers, and that it will always remain a place for freedom of expression". On 30 August 2011, the university council resolved to set up a panel to review issues arising from the vice premier's visit, to improve arrangements and to set up policies for future university events that are consistent with its commitment to freedom of expression.

From 2010 to 2012, the university celebrated its 100th anniversary and the opening of the Centennial Campus at the western end of the university site in Pokfulam. The University of Hong Kong–Shenzhen Hospital, one of the two teaching hospitals of the university, also opened in 2011.

On 10 April 2015, HKU declared itself as the first university in the world to join HeForShe, a UN Women initiative urging men to achieve more female rights. The university promised that it would triple the number of female dean-level members by 2020, so that more than 1 out of 5 deans would be women.

On 15 December 2017, the university's governing council appointed University of California, Berkeley nanoscience professor Xiang Zhang to the posts of President and Vice-Chancellor with effect from January 2018. Zhang was the first vice-chancellor of the university born in mainland China and educated to undergraduate degree level there.

On 4 September 2023, the university announced the appointment of Professor Sir Fraser Stoddart, a distinguished chemist and Nobel Laureate, as a Chair Professor. Stoddart has been a Board of Trustees Professor of Chemistry at Northwestern University, IL, USA for the past 16 years. Stoddart's ground-breaking research has garnered numerous accolades and awards, including the prestigious 2007 King Faisal International Prize in Science. In 2016, he shared the Nobel Prize in Chemistry with Bernard L. Feringa and Jean-Pierre Sauvage for their work on the design and synthesis of molecular machines.

2015 political interference
The HKU Council made headlines in 2015 for alleged political interference behind the selection process for a new pro-vice chancellor. A selection committee unanimously recommended the council appoint Johannes Chan to the post, which involved the responsibility for staffing and resources, and which had been left vacant for five years. Chan, the former dean of the Faculty of Law, was a distinguished scholar in constitutional law and human rights and "a vocal critic on Hong Kong's political reform issues". Owing to his liberal political stance, Chan was roundly criticised by Communist Party-controlled media including Wen Wei Po, Ta Kung Pao, and Global Times, which together published at least 350 articles attacking him.

Customarily the HKU Council accepts the recommendations of search committees for senior posts, with no prior recommendation having been rejected by the council. The council was criticised when it delayed the decision to appoint Chan, stating that it should wait until a new provost was in place. Finally, in September 2015, the council rejected Chan's appointment (12 votes to eight) through an anonymous vote in a closed meeting, providing no reason for the decision. Political interference was widely suspected and the opacity of the council criticised.

The decision is seen widely viewed as a pro-government act of retaliation against "pro-democracy leaders and participants" and a blow to academic freedom. Six members of the council are directly appointed by the Chief Executive of Hong Kong, who acts as chancellor of all publicly funded tertiary institutions in the territory. Five members are delegates to the National People's Congress in Beijing and, as such, are obliged to toe the Communist Party line or risk expulsion. In overall Council makeup, university students and staff are outnumbered by members from outside the university.

The decision was decried by student groups including the Hong Kong University Students' Union and Hong Kong Federation of Students, faculty members, leading international law scholars, and legislators. They noted that the decision would serve as a warning to other academics not to engage in pro-democratic politics and would severely tarnish Hong Kong's reputation for academic freedom and education excellence. The law faculty also refuted the allegations against Chan. Billy Fung, student union president, revealed details of the discussion to the public and was subsequently expelled from the council.

Campuses

The university's main campus covers 177000 sqm of land on Pokfulam Road and Bonham Road in Pokfulam of Central and Western District, Hong Kong Island. The university also has a few buildings in Sandy Bay Gap. HKU buildings are some of the few remaining examples of British Colonial architecture in Hong Kong. The university lends its name to HKU station, the main public transport access to the campus opened on 28 December 2014.

The Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine is situated 4.5 km southwest of the main campus, in the Southern District near Sandy Bay and Pokfulam. The medical campus includes Queen Mary Hospital, the William M.W. Mong Building and research facilities. The Faculty of Dentistry is situated in the Prince Philip Dental Hospital, Sai Ying Pun.

The university also operates the Kadoorie Agricultural Research Centre, which occupies 95000 sqm of land in the New Territories, and the Swire Institute of Marine Science at the southern tip of the d'Aguilar Peninsula on Hong Kong Island.

Main building
Constructed between 1910 and 1912, the Main Building is the university's oldest structure and was sponsored by Sir Hormusjee Naorojee Mody and designed by Architect Messrs Leigh & Orange. It is built in the post-renaissance style with red brick and granite and has two courtyards. The main elevation is articulated by four turrets with a central clock tower (a gift from Sir Paul Chater in 1930). The two courtyards were added in the south in 1952 and one floor in the end block in 1958. The building was originally used as classrooms and laboratories for the Faculty of Medicine and Engineering and was later the home of departments within the Faculty of Arts. The central Great Hall (Loke Yew Hall) is named after Loke Yew, a Malayan benefactor of the university in its early years. It became a declared monument in 1984.

Swire building
In around 1980, the Swire Group sponsored the building of a new residential hall in the eastern end of the campus. Because of the sponsorship, the new student residence was named Swire Building. The building was officially opened by Mr. John Anthony Swire on 11 November 1980. In 1983, the colour orange was chosen to be the hall colour in the second Annual General Meeting since the colour was used as the background colour during the first open day of Swire Hall and no other halls were using orange as their hall colour.

In 1983, Mrs. J. Lau (Director of Centre Media Resources) provided a design for the hall logo. The Swire Hall Students' Association, HKUSU, then made some amendments to that design. The logo shows the words 'S' and 'H'. The design of the word 'S' looks like two hands holding each other, signifying that all hall-mates should co-operate with each other, and promoting the hall motto 'Unity and Sincerity'.

Hung Hing Ying Building
Financed by Sir Paul Chater, Professor G. P. Jordan and others, it was opened in 1919 by the Governor of Hong Kong Sir Reginald Stubbs and housed the students' union. After World War II, the building was used temporarily for administrative purposes. The East Wing was added in 1960. The building was converted into the Senior Common Room in 1974. It was named in honour of Mr Hung Hing-Ying in 1986 for his family's donations to the university. The building was subsequently used again for administrative purposes, and housed Department of Music and the Music Library until early 2013. It is currently used by the Development & Alumni Affairs Office. The two-storey Edwardian style structure is characterised by a central dome and the use of red brick to emulate the Main Building opposite. The building became a declared monument in 1995.

Tang Chi Ngong Building
The idea to establish a school of Chinese was proposed in the inter-war period. Construction of the premises began in 1929 following a donation from Tang Chi-ngong, father of the philanthropist Sir Tang Shiu-kin, after whom the building was named. It was opened by Sir William Peel, Governor of Hong Kong, in 1931 and since then further donations have been received for the endowment of teaching Chinese language and literature. The building has been used for other purposes since the 1970s but the name remained unchanged. At present, it houses the Centre of Asian Studies. This three-storey flat-roofed structure is surfaced with Shanghai plaster and became a declared monument in 1995.

Centennial campus
To provide additional space for students under the new four-year undergraduate curriculum the Centennial Campus was built at the western end of the main campus, which was previously occupied by the Water Supplies Department. The construction of the campus started in late 2009, and was completed in 2012, the first year of the introduction of the new academic structure in Hong Kong. In 2012, the Faculty of Arts, the Faculty of Law and the Faculty of Social Sciences moved to the Centennial Campus.

Admission
Admission to HKU is highly competitive. In 2016, the university received around 40,000 applications for undergraduate studies, over 16,000 of which were from outside the Hong Kong schools' system. For Mainland China applicants, the enrollment rate was 1 student for every 21 applications. According to a survey done by the Education18.com (The Hong Kong Education Net), HKU enrolled students with the best performance in HKDSE examination in 2012. Internationally, applicants with more than 5 A*s in their GCE A-Levels, 75/75 in the Taiwan GSAT, 45/45 in IB, and 16 5** Zhuangyuan (狀元) (the top Gaokao scoring students in their province or city in mainland China) are amongst those matriculated into the University. The latest Global Admissions Profile, with information and data about last year's admission and current international opportunities for those admitted, and the International Admissions Brochure, with information about applications for admission, are available on the HKU website.

Undergraduate candidates are selected according to their relative merit in the local public examination (HKDSEE) and apply online via JUPAS. Other applicants, including overseas students or ones taking other examinations, are classified as non-JUPAS applicants who are required to apply via the official website, where postgraduate applications may also be made.

Teaching and learning
Most undergraduate courses are 4-year degrees while the medical and nursing programmes require two and one more year(s) of studies respectively. English is the main medium of instruction, and the University's Senate has endorsed English as the campus lingua franca. Starting from 2012, local students are required to take Academic English courses and Chinese language enhancement courses; however, students who are native-speakers of languages other than Chinese, and students who have not studied Chinese language in their secondary curriculum can be exempted from the Chinese course requirement. Cantonese credit-courses for Mainland Chinese and Taiwan students, and ab initio Mandarin Chinese and Cantonese credit-courses for international and exchange students are offered by the Chinese Language Centre, School of Chinese.

Research
The university is a founding member of Universitas 21, an international consortium of research-led universities, and a member of the Association for Pacific Rim Universities, the Association of Commonwealth Universities, Washington University in St. Louis's McDonnell International Scholars Academy, and many others. HKU benefits from a large operating budget supplied by high levels of government funding compared to many Western countries. In 2018/19, the Research Grants Council (RGC) granted HKU a total research funding of HK$12,127 million (41.3% of overall RGC funding), which was the highest among all universities in Hong Kong. HKU professors were among the highest paid in the world as well, having salaries far exceeding those of their US counterparts in private universities. However, with the reduction of salaries in recent years, this is no longer the case.

HKU research output, researchers, projects, patents and theses are profiled and made publicly available in the HKU Scholars Hub. 100 members of academic staff (>10% of professoriate staff) from HKU are ranked among the world's top 1% of scientists by the Thomson Reuters' Essential Science Indicators, by means of the citations recorded on their publications. The university has the largest number of research postgraduate students in Hong Kong, making up approximately 10% of the total student population. All ten faculties and departments provide teaching and supervision for research (MPhil and PhD) students with administration undertaken by the Graduate School.

The University Grants Committee delivered the idea of “knowledge transfer” among the community and universities. From the academic year 2009/10, a yearly recurrent funding for universities to invest in knowledge transfer has been approved by the Legislative Council. Therefore, HKU has established the Knowledge Exchange Office in 2010.

Libraries and museums

HKU Libraries (HKUL) was established in 1912, being the oldest academic library in Hong Kong with over 2.3 million current holdings. It comprises the Main Library and six specialist branch libraries: the Dental, Education, Fung Ping Shan (East Asian Language), Yu Chun Keung Medical, Lui Che Woo Law, and Music libraries. They are located in buildings around the campus with varying opening hours. A web-based library catalogue, DRAGON, allows one to search HKUL's books, journals and other resources.

The HKUL Digital Initiatives, through its digitisation projects, has opened up online access to local collections originally in print format. The first HKUL Digital Initiative, ExamBase, was launched in 1996 and other projects of scholarly interests were introduced. More digital projects are being developed to provide continuous access to digital content and services. It provides open access to Chinese and English academic and medical periodicals published in Hong Kong.

The three-storey Fung Ping Shan Building was erected in 1932 originally as a library for Chinese books. Named after its donor, the building consists of masonry on the ground level surmounted by a two-storey red-brick structure with ornamental columns topped by a pediment over its entrance. Since 1962, the Chinese books collection, now known as the Fung Ping Shan Library, was transferred to the university's Main Library and the whole building was converted into a museum for Chinese art and archaeology. Among its collections are ceramics, pottery and bronze sculptures. In 1996, the lowest three floors of the new Tsui Building were added to the old building to form the University Museum and Art Gallery.

Overall ranking
HKU was ranked #17 worldwide in QS 2024, #35 worldwide in THE 2024, #88 worldwide in ARWU 2023, and #44 worldwide in U.S. News 2024.

The Aggregate Ranking of Top Universities (ARTU), which sorts universities based on their aggregate performance across THE, QS, and ARWU, found that HKU was the 42nd best-ranked university worldwide in 2023.

HKU was ranked 61-70th in the THE World Reputation Rankings 2023.

HKU is ranked as the most international university in the world in 2023 by Times Higher Education.

QS subject rankings
In the QS World University Rankings by broad subject area 2023:

THE subject rankings
In the Times Higher Education World University Rankings by subject (2023)

Graduate Employability Ranking
HKU graduates ranked 47th worldwide in the Times Higher Education's Global University Employability Ranking 2022, and 10th worldwide in the QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2022.

Student life
Student welfare is served by several units, including the Centre of Development and Resources for Students (CEDARS), which provides guidance for most areas of student life including career counselling, and the University Health Service, which provides health care, referrals and preventive services.

Demographics
According to the latest profile indicators, the student population of the university was 21,652 in 2008–2009, comprising 11,962 undergraduates, 7,326 taught postgraduates and 2,364 research postgraduates. In recent years, it has become a popular choice for international students, with 6,814 non-local students on campus (including exchange students) from 83 countries in 2012.

Halls and colleges
There are 20 residential halls and colleges for undergraduates, postgraduates and visitors.

The residential halls include:
 * Main Campus – Swire Hall and Simon K. Y. Lee Hall, mainly for undergraduates. Graduate House and Robert Black College, primarily for postgraduates and visitors respectively.
 * Sassoon Road Campus – Lee Hysan Hall, Richard Charles Lee Hall, Wei Lun Hall and Madam S. H. Ho Hall Residence for Medical Students.
 * Jockey Club Student Village I (founded in 2001) – Lady Ho Tung Hall and Starr Hall.
 * Jockey Club Student Village II (founded in 2005) – Morrison Hall, Lee Shau Kee Hall and Suen Chi Sun Hall.
 * Jockey Club Student Village III (founded in 2012) – made up of four residential colleges, Shun Hing College, Chi Sun College, Lap-Chee College and New College. They provide a total of 1,800 beds for students of whom 67% are non-local students.
 * Other historical student residences include St. John's College, Ricci Hall and University Hall.

Moreover, there are three non-residential halls:
 * Hornell Hall (male only)
 * Lee Chi Hung Hall (co-educational)

Student organisations
Two officially recognised student bodies, the Hong Kong University Students' Union (HKUSU) and the Postgraduate Students Association (PGSA), give opportunities for students to participate in extracurricular activities. HKUSU existed in one form or another since 1912 and represents both undergraduate and postgraduate students, while its membership mainly consists of undergraduates. PGSA focuses on postgraduate students. HKUSU ceased to be officially recognised by the university.

HKUSU offers more than a hundred clubs and associations for students. This organisation is renowned amongst student activists, having been the main driving force behind evicting a chancellor in recent years. There was controversy when the head of the union, Ayo Chan, said that some of the protesters involved in the Tiananmen Square massacre had acted irrationally. Many students thought his remarks were offensive and he was ousted by a vote in under one week. The Postgraduate Students Association represents the university's postgraduate students.

Study abroad programme
Through the Exchange Buddy Program, students from abroad can choose to be matched with local students whom they can correspond with before they arrive in Hong Kong. These local students greet the visiting students upon arrival at the airport, help them to settle into student residence and offer advice and support during their stay.

Every year, over 1,000 undergraduates participate in exchange programmes. As part of their HKU degree, they study at universities spanning 40 countries around the world with the support of the University Grants Committee, University of Hong Kong Foundation for Educational Development and Research, Hongkong Bank Foundation, UBC Alumni Association (Hong Kong), Dr. Lee Shiu Scholarships for Hong Kong and South-East Asia Academic Exchange, Shell (Hong Kong) Limited, C. V. Starr Scholarship Fund, and others. The university welcomes a similar number of students from those 340 partner universities onto the HKU campus to study each year. HKU is also a member of the Laidlaw Scholars programme which provides funding for undergraduates to conduct research abroad, either independently or at another university in the network such as the University of St Andrews and UCL.

Governance
Prior to Hong Kong's handover, the colony's Governor was the de jure chancellor of the University. That role was assumed by the city's Chief Executive following the handover.

The Chief Executive's role as the university's Chancellor is enshrined in the University of Hong Kong Ordinance.

For a list of pre and post-handover university chancellors, refer to the articles for the Governor of Hong Kong and the Chief Executive of Hong Kong.

The Court
The Court is a large overseeing and legislative body comprising University and lay members. The purpose of the Court is to represent the wider interests of the communities served by the University. It has the power to make, repeal and amend statutes.

The Senate
The Senate is the principal academic authority of the University. It is responsible for all academic matters and welfare of students. Its 50 members are mainly academic staff while there are also student representatives.

The Council
The Council is the body which governs the university. It is responsible for the management of financial and human resources of the university and for the university's future developments. The council comprises university members (both staff and students) and lay members (i.e. neither staff nor students of the university), with a ratio of lay to university members of 2:1 members are serving on the council as trustees in their personal capacity. (Membership)

The Chief Executive of Hong Kong has the power to appoint the chairman and six other members of the 24-person council. The vice-chancellor is in turn appointed by the council, although two seats are vacant.

The university has ten faculties, namely the Faculties of Architecture, Arts, Business & Economics, Dentistry, Education, Engineering, Law, Science, Social Sciences, and the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine, alongside a graduate school and a number of non-faculty academic units, which provide various study programmes and courses for students. The medium of instruction in most classes is English.

Additionally, HKU operates two associate institutions:
 * HKU SPACE (School of Professional and Continuing Education), which was first established as the Department of Extramural Studies in 1956, and later renamed in 1992. It solely awards 2-year associate degrees, 2-year Diplomas, Advanced or Higher Diploma Programmes (2-years to 3-years), 1-year Certificates, and individual courses. It also partners with overseas post-secondary institutions, colleges and universities.
 * Centennial College, a liberal arts college established in 2012. It has provided self-financed 4-year bachelor's degree programmes for HKALE, HKDSE and other graduates from September 2012.

Shield, motto and coat of arms
The design of the university's shield of arms was proposed to the College of Arms by the university in October 1912. On 14 May 1913, the shield, along with two mottoes (one in Latin, one in Chinese) was granted by the College of Arms. The field resembles the lions on the coat of arms of England, whereas the book on the shield is a common reference to university's role in learning and knowledge.

The Latin motto Sapientia et Virtus is translated into English as "Wisdom and Virtue". The Chinese motto on the pages of the opened book, written from top to bottom, right to left in accordance with traditional Chinese writing direction, contains two phrases: 明德 (ming tak) and 格物 (kak mat), meaning "illustrious virtue" and "the investigation of things" respectively. The first phrase ming tak makes homage to the opening sentence of classic Confucian Classical Chinese literature the Great Learning, in which the author discusses the three great duties of a ruler: illustrious virtue, the renewal of the people, and repose in the highest good. The second phrase kak mat is a reference to the writing of Confucian scholar Zhu Xi 致知在格物 (lit. exhausting by examination the principles of things and affairs). The phrase occurs in discussion regarding how wise rulers set about cultivating wisdom and virtue. If one desires to rectify their heart, they must first sought to be sincere in their thoughts. Wishing to be sincere in their thoughts, they must first extended to the utmost their knowledge. Such extension of knowledge lay in the investigation of things.

In 1981, the year of the university's 70th anniversary, an application was made to the College of Arms for a full achievement of arms, which was granted in 1984, comprising the original shield and mottoes with the addition of a crest, supporters, a helmet and compartment. The supporters of the coat of arms are a Chinese dragon and a lion representing Britain, indicating the university's aspiration to blend East and West cultures, from the foundation by British people in Hong Kong and the later development of the university's research and studies in both west and east culture and technology, whereas the compartment is an allusion to Hong Kong Island, where the university is located.

University anthem
The recording of the reconstructed University Anthem was recorded by the Hong Kong Sinfonietta, the Diocesan Choral Society and HKU Students' Union Choir, conducted by the Sinfonietta's musical director, Yip Wing-sie, with new orchestration by Dr Chan Hing-yan, Chairperson of the Department of Music.

Controversies and incidents

 * In 2014, a big ship crashed into the Hong Kong University playground. No one was killed but there was some structural damage.
 * 10 February 2018 – Maxim's restaurant at HKU was the site of an anti shark finning protest.
 * 15 February 2018 – HKU robotics professor Xi Ning was charged with submitting fraudulent requests for travel reimbursement to his previous employer, Michigan State University, and IEEE.  After a trial resulted in a hung jury, the federal government dropped the charges.
 * 3 December 2020 – HKU mechanical engineering associate professor Cheung Kie-Chung was convicted for murdering his wife.
 * 23 December 2021 – HKU removed the Pillar of Shame, a memorial to the 1989 Tiananmen Square protests and massacre. This act is widely regarded by the public as a violation of Hong Kong as the last land under the rule of the CCP where people can discuss and commemorate the protests and massacre, and an injury to freedom, democracy and human rights.

Notable alumni
The University of Hong Kong has educated many notable alumni in many varied fields. Among them is Dr Sun Yat-sen, the founder of Republic of China, who was a graduate of the Hong Kong College of Medicine for Chinese, the predecessor of HKU. Over 40 principal officials, permanent secretaries, Executive Council and Legislative Council members of the Hong Kong SAR Government are HKU graduates. HKU graduates also form the senior management teams of many large organizations in the private sector.

In recent years Professor Guan Yi became a notable figure when his research and work on SARS led to the successful identification of the SARS-Coronavirus and its infectious source from live animal markets and helped the Chinese Government successfully avert the second SARS outbreak in early 2004.

title: University of Hong Kong


text:
AOR

AOR may refer to:

Entertainment

 * Adult-oriented rock (disambiguation)
 * Arena rock, a style of commercially oriented rock music
 * Album-oriented rock, an American FM radio format
 * AOR – Spirit of The Alarm, band
 * Arab on Radar, an American noise rock band
 * AOR (performance), a 1971 performance by Jean-Michel Jarre at the Paris Opera

Companies and organizations

 * Advocates for Opioid Recovery
 * Aliquippa & Ohio River Railroad, in Aliquippa, Pennsylvania, United States
 * AOR (company) (Authority on Radio Communications, Ltd.), a Japanese manufacturer of radio equipment
 * Auckland One Rail, in Auckland, New Zealand

Other uses

 * Agent of record, an insurance term
 * Architect of Record, the architecture firm that prepares the construction documents for a new building project
 * Agency of record, an advertising term
 * Aor, a pen name of R. A. Schwaller de Lubicz (1887–1961)
 * A US Navy hull classification symbol: Fleet replenishment oiler (AOR)
 * AOR, the IATA airport code for Sultan Abdul Halim Airport, Malaysia
 * Aorist, a grammatical aspect of some Indo-European languages, abbreviated "aor."
 * App-o-rama, a strategy of completing multiple financial account applications in a short period of time
 * Area of responsibility, a United States military acronym referring to the geographic region assigned to a strategic military command
 * Atlantic Ocean Region, a part of the Tracking and Data Relay Satellite System
 * Sperata aor, a catfish of family Bagridae
 * Aur Island in Malaysia, also spelled "Aor"
 * Adjusted Odds Ratio, an odds ratio that controls for multiple predictor variables in a statistical model

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: AOR


text:
Hong Kong Polytechnic University

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU or HKPU) is a public research university in Hung Hom, Kowloon, Hong Kong. The university is one of the eight government-funded degree-granting tertiary institutions in Hong Kong. Founded in 1937 as the first Government Trade School, it is the first institution to provide technical education in Hong Kong. In 1994, the Legislative Council of Hong Kong passed a bill which granted the former Hong Kong Polytechnic official university status.

PolyU consists of 8 faculties and schools, offering programmes covering applied science, business, construction, environment, engineering, social science, health, humanities, design, hotel and tourism management. The university offers over 160 taught programmes for more than 25,800 students every year.

Government Trade School (1937–1947)
In 1937, the Government Trade School was founded at Wood Road, Wan Chai. The school was the first publicly funded, post-secondary technical institution in Hong Kong. Under George White, the then principal, it ran classes in marine wireless operating, mechanical engineering and building construction. The campus was a three-storey high Victorian architecture, and commonly referred to the “Red Brick House” by the locals.

Hong Kong Technical College (1947–1972)
After World War II, the Government Trade School became the Hong Kong Technical College in 1947, offering both full-time and part-time courses. In 1957, the new campus of the college located in Hung Hom was constructed. It was opened by Sir Alexander Grantham, the then Governor of Hong Kong.

Hong Kong Polytechnic (1972–1994)
In 1965, Sir Chung Sze-yuen (S.Y. Chung) suggested establishing a polytechnic in Hong Kong to provide post-secondary technical education. Dr Tang Ping-yuen was appointed by the government as the chair of the Polytechnic Planning Committee in May 1969. On 24 March 1972, the Legislative Council passed the Hong Kong Polytechnic Ordinance and the institute was established. Sir Chung assumed the first chair of the Polytechnic Board of Directors (later renamed Polytechnic Council in 1978). The Polytechnic's mandate was to provide professional-oriented education to meet the need for qualified workers. The institution launched its first five degree programmes in 1983, and introduced its first MPhil and PhD programmes in 1986 and 1989 respectively.

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (1994–Present)
In 1994, the university gained approval from the University and Polytechnic Grants Committee (UPGC; now UGC) for self-accreditation of degree programmes, without the restrictions from the Post Secondary Colleges Ordinance. With that, the Institution assumed full university status on 25 November 1994, changing its name to “The Hong Kong Polytechnic University”.

Main campus
PolyU's main campus, in Hung Hom, Kowloon, was designed by a team led by James Kinoshita from P&T Group in 1972. It has over 20 buildings with red-brick walls, many of which are inter-connected and raised one floor above the podium, creating sheltered open-air spaces for multi-purposes such as logistics and parking. Apart from buildings named after donors, the rotundas which connects the buildings are identified in English letters (from cores and blocks A to Z, without K, O and I). It is one of the largest and densest educational campus in the world.

Block Z is the eighth phase of the campus expansion project. It is situated across the northwestern side of the main campus, separated by Chatham Road. It can be accessed through a pedestrian tunnel or a 80-meter-long footbridge, which was proposed in 2016 and built in 2019.

In addition to classrooms, laboratories and other academic facilities, the university provides a multi-purpose auditorium, recreational and catering facilities, medical facilities, as well as a bookstore and banks. The Jockey Club Auditorium began operation in 2000, its balcony and main floor seating accommodate up to 1,084 persons. It is specially designed as a multi-purpose venue for the hosting of conferences, seminars, ceremonies, corporate meetings, as well as the increasing number of cultural activities and performances, operas, chamber music, dramas, dances, film shows, variety shows, mini concerts etc.

There are multiple sports facilities, including two swimming pools (Block X and Michael Clinton Swimming Pool), 2 indoor sports grounds (Shaw Sports Complex and Kwong On Jubilee Sports Centre), an outdoor sports ground (Keith Legg Sports Field) with basketball and soccer fields and jogging track, 2 outdoor tennis courts, and a joint-sports centre.

Pao Yue-kong Library
The PolyU Library was established on 1 August 1972. Two centres operated in Hung Hom and Quarry Bay until 1976, when they eventually merged into the present building. It was named after shipping entrepreneur and philanthropist Yue-Kong Pao in 1995.

In 2014, there were over 2.77 million of library holdings in total, with nearly 600,000 electronic resources. The six-storey library provides 3,900 study spaces and is equipped with a 24-hour study centre and audio-visual information areas. In 2017, the 3/F and 4/F of the library was transformed into the "i-space" which contains services such as VR Experience Zone, Internet of Things (IoT), Laser Cutting / Engraving, 3D Scanning, Book Scanning, Large Format Printing, Vinyl Cutting and 3D Printing. Video production facilities such as the One button studio and Digital Studio are also available on the 3/F.

Innovation Tower
The Innovation Tower, designed by Zaha Hadid, is located on the northwestern side of the university's main campus. This 15-story building provides 15,000 square meters of net floor area. It houses facilities for the School of Design, including exhibition areas, multi-functional classrooms and lecture theatres, design studios and workshops, as well as a communal lounge. The School of Design has been ranked among the best design schools worldwide.

Teaching and research hotel
The Hotel Icon was officially opened on 21 September 2011. The hotel is wholly owned by the university as a teaching and research hotel of the School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM). SHTM has consistently been ranked among the top hotel and tourism management schools in the world.

Hung Hom Bay and West Kowloon Campus
The Hung Hom Bay Campus and West Kowloon Campus are the two satellite campuses which house the College of Professional and Continuing Education which is formed by two subsidiaries: the Hong Kong Community College (HKCC) and School of Professional Education and Executive Development (SPEED).

Established in 2001 under the auspices of PolyU, HKCC is a self-financed post-secondary institution which offers associate degree and higher diploma programmes spanning the domains of arts, science, social sciences, business, health care and design for senior secondary school leavers. HKCC classes are conducted at the Hung Hom Bay and West Kowloon.

Organisation
As of 2020, the university had 915 sub-degree students, 14,961 undergraduate students, and 10,369 postgraduate students.

Over 150 programmes (including Higher diploma, Bachelor's degrees with honours, and postgraduate programmes) are offered through 8 faculties and schools, including Faculty of Applied Science and Textiles, Faculty of Business, Faculty of Construction and Environment, Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Health and Social Sciences, Faculty of Humanities, School of Design, and School of Hotel and Tourism Management.

PolyU Graduate School, established in September 2020, oversees the administration of research postgraduate education of the university, though the academic supervision of students is still managed by the respective faculties, schools or department.

The College of Professional and Continuing Education (CPEC), founded in 2002, is a subsidiary of the university. As of 2019, the college had 13,032 students. It is formed by Hong Kong Community College (HKCC) and School of Professional Education and Executive Development (SPEED), both of which offer self-financed degree programmes and sub-degrees programmes in the name of the college.

Notable academics
As of 2020, PolyU employed 1,182 academic faculty members and 1,504 research staff, with additional staff at the CPEC. The faculty includes scholars such as Swedish systemic functional linguist C.M.I.M. Matthiessen, electrical and electronic engineer Philip Chan, mechanical engineer Timothy W. Tong. Some politicians in Hong Kong serve as faculty in PolyU, including current or former member of the Legislative Council Fernando Cheung, Lau Siu-lai, Helena Wong and Cheng Chung-tai.

Research
PolyU's research focus areas include: aerospace, aviation, big data and AI, food safety, health science, infrastructure monitoring, intelligent construction, sustainability and smart city. To facilitate the implementation of cross-disciplinary research through collaborations among faculties and schools and other local and overseas institutions and partners, PolyU established a wide variety of research laboratories, institutes and centres, for instance, the Aviation Services Research Centre with Boeing.

The Hong Kong Research Institute of Textiles and Apparel established by PolyU in 2006 acts as a focal point to enhance technological innovation in textiles and apparel industry for the development of highly competitive industrial clusters in Hong Kong.

Overall Rankings
Globally, PolyU is #57 in the QS World University Rankings 2025, #87 in the Times Higher Education (THE) World University Rankings 2024, #67 in the US News Best Global Universities Rankings 2024–2025, and #151–200 in ARWU 2023.

PolyU was #94 worldwide in terms of aggregate performance across THE, QS, and, ARWU in 2022.

PolyU was named the 6th most international university in the world in 2023 by THE.

Young University Rankings
PolyU was ranked #6 worldwide (#3 in Hong Kong) in the QS "Top 50 Under 50" list of the world's top young universities (2021) and #4 worldwide (#2 in Hong Kong) in the Times Higher Education's Young University Rankings 2023.

QS Subject Rankings
In the QS World University Rankings by Subject 2022: In the QS World University Rankings by Broad Subject Area 2022:

THE Subject Rankings
In the Times Higher Education World University Rankings by Subjects (2023):

GRAS (ARWU Subject Rankings)
2022 Global Ranking of Academic Subjects (GRAS) by ShanghaiRanking:

Other subject rankings
The Faculty of Business is ranked 1st in shipping research in the world, based on 2016 to 2018 data from Thomson Reuters' ISI Web of Science. 55th in the Top 100 World Rankings of Business Schools by University of Texas at Dallas, based on research contributions to 24 leading business journals from 2012 to 2016.

The School of Design is among top 3 design schools in Greater China, according to Business Week (Oct 2009 issue) and top 25 design schools in the world and is the only selected design school in Asia, according to Business Insider magazine (Dec 2012 issue).

The School of Hotel and Tourism Management (SHTM) is ranked 1st in the category of commerce, management, tourism and services, University Ranking by Academic Performance (URAP) 2019/20, and 2nd in research and scholarly activities among institutions specializing in hospitality and tourism, according to the World Ranking of Top 100 Hospitality and Tourism Programs by Journal of Hospitality & Tourism Research (Nov 2009 issue).

Graduate Employability Rankings
PolyU graduates ranked #71 worldwide in the QS Graduate Employability Rankings 2022 and #133 worldwide in the Times Higher Education's Global University Employability Ranking 2022. According to the "Opinion Survey on the Public Ranking of Universities in Hong Kong" conducted by HKUPOP (now HKPORI), PolyU graduates were the 4th (in 2015 and in 2014), 2nd (in 2016), and 3rd (in 2017) most preferred university graduates by employers in Hong Kong.

Governance
The governing body of the PolyU is the Council, established in accordance with the PolyU Ordinance. The President and the Deputy President are ex officio members. There are also 17 external members from the business and professional sectors, three elected staff members, one alumni member and two elected student members. The highest advisory body of the Council is the University Court, which is responsible for providing opinions on the direction of the university to promote the development of the university.

Presidents
List of presidents of PolyU and their predecessors (known as the director of the Hong Kong Polytechnic before 1994):

 * Keith Legg (1972–1985)
 * John Clark (1985–1991)
 * Poon Chung-kwong (25 November 1991 – 31 December 2008)
 * Timothy W. Tong (1 January 2009 – 31 December 2018)
 * Philip C. H. Chan (1 January 2019 – 30 June 2019)
 * Teng Jin-guang (1 July 2019 – present)

Cooperation
PolyU has established cooperative relations with more than 280 universities or institutions in 39 countries and regions around the world, and signed about 445 agreements in the areas of student exchange arrangements to joint research cooperation.

Student organization

The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Students’ Union (HKPUSU) is a student-run organization that is autonomous from the university administration for promoting the interests and welfare of full-time undergraduates (excluding postgraduate and College of Professional and Continuing Education students).

Sports teams

 * Athletics
 * Badminton
 * Basketball
 * Fencing
 * Handball
 * Karate-do
 * Rowing
 * Rugby
 * Soccer
 * Squash
 * Swimming
 * Table Tennis
 * Taekwondo
 * Tennis
 * Volleyball
 * Woodball

Student halls
There are two student halls of residence buildings provided by the university, in Hung Hom Bay and Ho Man Tin. The residential halls include:

 * Hung Hom Bay – Research postgraduate: Boyan Hall (19,20/F). Undergraduates: Kaiyuan Hall (17,18/F), Wuhua Hall (15,16/F), Chengde Hall (13,14/F), Wuxian Hall (11,12/F), Lizhi Hall (9,10/F), Lisheng Hall (5,6/F), Minyin Hall (3,4/F). Female residents: Xuemin Hall (7,8/F).
 * Ho Man Tin – Co-ed halls for all students: 3-7/F (purple), 5-9/F (blue), 10-14/F (green), 12-16/F (yellow), 17-21/F (orange), 19-23/F (red); 24-25/F is warden's floor.

The university also provides three off-campus housing sites, located in Sham Shui Po, Mong Kok, and Tsim Sha Tsui. It offers around 250 residential places at urban areas, as an accommodation option for non-local students.

Democracy wall controversy
The university's faculty-led Student Discipline Committee, with the support of the university council chairman Lam Tai-fai, expelled one student and suspended another for one year in response to an October 2018 incident arising from a dispute over postings by students on the "Democracy Wall" bulletin board then managed by the students' union. The students had posted messages in commemoration of the fourth anniversary of the "Umbrella Movement" democracy occupation protests of 2014 and calling for Hong Kong independence from the CCP-ruled People's Republic of China. Another two students were ordered to serve terms of community service. The students had been ordered by management to take them down.

The evidence called at the disciplinary committee hearing, at which the students were denied legal representation, included video footage in which the students were observed shouting and knocking on doors. It was alleged that they had made defamatory comments, assaulted a staff member and damaged property, all of which accusations were denied by the students. The university described their behaviour as "unruly". Among them were a former student union leader, an elected member of the school's governing council and a former external vice-president of the student union. No avenue for appeal from a decision of the committee is available.

Numerous pro-democracy groups, including more than a dozen legislators and 19 student organisations, protested the decision of the committee. The 90,000-strong Hong Kong Professional Teachers' Union described the punishments as excessive.

2019 campus siege
In November 2019, the university was occupied by protesters as part of the 2019–20 Hong Kong protests; confrontation with the Hong Kong Police Force occurred from 17 November to 19 November. On 16 November, police attempted to enter the campus, but failed as protestors barricaded the entrance and used petrol bombs to attack them. The police then blocked all exits of the university campus and requested all protesters inside to surrender. On 18 November, the police attempted to enter the campus again using tear gas, rubber bullets, bean bags, and sponge grenades. Protestors responded by throwing petrol bombs at police. The university has been described as being a battleground during the conflict. The university was later sealed off by police, only several protesters managed to escape. This resulted in a 3-days long standoff. More than 280 protesters were injured while more than 1,000 persons were arrested.

Notable alumni
Notable alumni of PolyU include Chinese Premier Li Qiang, former Chief Executive of Hong Kong Leung Chun-ying, former Hong Kong Legislator Lam Tai-fai and Chan Kam-lam, explorer Rebecca Lee, film director Wong Kar-wai and Raman Hui, musician Paul Wong, singer Gigi Leung, fashion designer Vivienne Tam and software engineer Lui Kim-man.

title: Hong Kong Polytechnic University


text:
Armónico

The armónico, also known as trilina, is a guitar-like instrument from Cuba. It is a hybrid between the Spanish guitar and the Cuban tres. The armónico has seven strings: five single strings, plus one pair of strings tuned in unison. The armónico was invented by Cuban trova musician Compay Segundo, who loved the instrument as it allowed him to exploit the possibilities of both the guitar and the tres.

Counting from the lowest-pitched, the first three strings, E, A and D, are tuned an octave higher than the equivalent strings on a guitar with standard tuning. The fourth string, G, is doubled as well as also being an octave higher than on a guitar. The remaining two, B and E, are at the same pitch as a standard guitar. Therefore, the bottom E string is only one octave lower than the top E string on the armónico, instead of two octaves lower on the guitar.

title: Armónico


text:
Flag of Bulgaria

The flag of Bulgaria (знаме на България) is a tricolour consisting of three equal-sized horizontal bands of (from top to bottom) white, green, and red. The flag was first adopted after the 1877–1878 Russo-Turkish War, when Bulgaria gained de facto independence. The national flag at times had as a supplement the state emblem, especially during the communist era. The current flag was re-established with the 1991 Constitution of Bulgaria and was confirmed in a 1998 law.

First Bulgarian Empire
In 866, Pope Nicholas I advised Prince Boris who had recently Christianised his people to switch from the practice of using a horse tail as a banner to adopting the Holy Cross.

Later illuminated versions of the chronicles of John Skylitzes and Constantine Manasses depict the army of Khan Krum carrying flags either in monotone red, or red with a black border. The army of Simeon the Great is also depicted carrying red banners of varying shape. The Radziwiłł Chronicle also depicts Tzar Simeon I's army under a red flag in the 921-922 campaign against Byzantium, but the depiction of the Hungarian invasion of 894 featured the Bulgarian fortress of Drastar under a white flag with a crescent and a six-pointed star. Any pictorial representations of flags in the manuscripts mentioned above, regardless of the faction or time depicted, conform strongly to the overall illustration style used in each manuscript. In addition, none of those manuscripts dates to the time of the First Bulgarian Empire. The historicity of those flags is thus impossible to verify.

Second Bulgarian Empire
Depictions of Bulgarian flags can be seen on various portolan maps from the 14th and 15th centuries. On those maps, the flags commonly have a white or golden background and depict either the insignia of the ruling House of Shishman, or unknown symbols  in red. Those drawings are markedly more diverse than the flags of the neighbouring countries such as the Eastern Roman Empire, the Golden Horde or the Serbian Empire, which in the same maps are largely consistent.

Third Bulgarian state
After the liberation of Bulgaria following the Russo-Turkish War in 1878, the flag was described in the Tarnovo Constitution of 1879 as follows:

Art. 23. The Bulgarian people's flag is three-coloured and consists of white, green and red colours, placed horizontally.

After the establishment of the People's Republic of Bulgaria in 1946, the new Dimitrov Constitution of 1947 changed the flag: the colors and their order remained the same, but the new national emblem was placed on the left side of the white stripe. The new emblem contained a lion within a wreath of wheat ears below a red star and above a ribbon bearing the date 9.IХ.1944 (9 September 1944), the day of the coup d'état of 1944 which had ended the monarchy. In 1971, the emblem (and thus the flag) was slightly modified - the ribbon was parted in two, bearing the years 681 and 1944, the former being the year of the establishment of the First Bulgarian Empire.

After the fall of Communism in 1990, the then-enforced Zhivkov Constitution was amended so the flag could be reverted to the pre-Communist era. The new Constitution of Bulgaria, adopted in 1991, describes the Bulgarian flag as follows:

Art. 166. The flag of the Republic of Bulgaria shall be a tricolour: white, green and red from top, placed horizontally.

A popular version of the flag, which has no official status, is also commonly known. It has the full coat of arms on the left of the flag, placed across the white and green fields only.

Flag law
According to the Law for the State Seal and National Flag of the Republic of Bulgaria, promulgated on 24 April 1998:

Art. 15. (1) The national flag of the Republic of Bulgaria is a national symbol which expresses the independence and sovereignty of the Bulgarian state.

(2) The national flag of the Republic of Bulgaria is tricolour: white, green and red fields, placed horizontally from the top downwards. On fixing the national flag in a vertical situation of the carrying body the colours shall be arranged from left to right - white, green, red.

(3) The national flag is of a rectangular shape. The fields of the individual colours shall be equal in size and shall be situated along the horizontal of the rectangular.

Colours
Appendix 2 to the Law for the State Seal and National Flag of the Republic of Bulgaria specifies colours when the flag is sewn from textiles or printed on paper.

The law does not specify what colour values should be used in digital renderings of the flag. The website of the Bulgarian civil service recommends approximate colours (note that the decimal RGB values are inconsistent with the hexadecimal "web-safe" values).

title: Flag of Bulgaria


text:
Organizational structure of Jehovah's Witnesses

Jehovah's Witnesses are organized hierarchically, and are led by the Governing Body of Jehovah's Witnesses from the Watch Tower Society's headquarters in Warwick, New York. The Governing Body, along with other "helpers", are organized into six committees responsible for various administrative functions within the global Witness community, including publication, assembly programs and evangelizing activity.

The Governing Body and its committees supervise operations of nearly one hundred branch offices worldwide. Each branch office oversees the activities of Jehovah's Witnesses in a particular country or region, and may include facilities for the publication and distribution of Watch Tower Society literature. Directly appointed by the Governing Body, branch committees supervise administrative functions for congregations in their jurisdiction. Congregations are further organized into circuits of about twenty congregations each. The Governing Body directly appoints circuit overseers as its representatives to supervise activities within circuits. Headquarters representatives visit groups of branch offices to provide instruction and report the branch's activities to the Governing Body.

Each congregation is served by a group of locally recommended male elders and ministerial servants, appointed by the circuit overseer. Elders take responsibility for congregational governance, pastoral work, setting meeting times, selecting speakers, conducting meetings, directing the public preaching work, and forming judicial committees to investigate and decide disciplinary action in cases where members are believed to have committed serious sins. Ministerial servants fulfil clerical and attendant duties, but may also teach and conduct meetings.

Governing Body
The organization is directed by the Governing Body—an all-male group that varies in size, but since February 2023 has had nine members, —based in the Watchtower Society's Warwick, New York headquarters. Each of the Governing Body members claims to be of the "anointed class" with a hope of heavenly life (whereas most Jehovah's Witnesses hope to be resurrected in an earthly paradise). There are no elections for membership; new members are selected by the existing body. Each of its members serves as chairman, with the position rotating among members alphabetically each year.

Until late 2012, the Governing Body described itself as the representative and "spokesman" of God's "faithful and discreet slave class" (approximately 11,000 Jehovah's Witnesses who in 2010 professed to be "anointed"), providing "spiritual food" for Witnesses worldwide on behalf of the "faithful and discreet slave class". In practice it sought neither advice nor approval from other "anointed" Witnesses when formulating policies and doctrines, or when producing material for publications and conventions. At the 2012 Annual Meeting of the Watch Tower Society, the "faithful and discreet slave" was re-defined as referring to the Governing Body only.

From 1944, Watch Tower publications had made occasional references to a governing body, identifying it with the board of directors of the Watch Tower Bible and Tract Society of Pennsylvania. In October 1971, four additional men joined the seven members of the society's board of directors on what became known as a separate, expanded Governing Body. The Governing Body was then for the first time formally defined, indicating that it provided Jehovah's Witnesses with direction, guidance and regulation. All doctrinal and publishing decisions continued to be made by, or were subject to, the approval of the society's president. Organizational changes at the highest levels of the Watchtower Society in 1976 significantly increased the powers and authority of the Governing Body and reduced those of the Watch Tower Society president.

The Governing Body directs six committees comprising its members along with its "helpers". The six committees are responsible for various administrative functions including personnel, publishing, evangelizing activity, school and assembly programs, writing, and coordination. The Governing Body directly appoints all headquarters representatives, circuit overseers, collectively referred to as "traveling overseers", and also appoints branch office committee members. Only branch committee members and traveling overseers are referred to as "representatives of the Governing Body".

In the last decade, the Governing Body has reiterated its overall oversight role but has delegated other Witnesses, typically branch committee members, to serve as corporate executives and directors of Watch Tower and other incorporated entities.

Branch offices
Jehovah's Witnesses operate 87 branch offices worldwide, under the oversight of headquarters representatives who visit each of their assigned branches every few years, auditing operations, counseling branch committee members, department heads and missionaries, and reporting back to the Governing Body. Each branch office is referred to as Bethel. The United States branch office, spread across three New York State locations with a staff of more than 5000, also serves as the international headquarters.

Branch offices, operated by Witness volunteers known as Bethel families, produce and distribute Bible-based literature and communicate with congregations within their jurisdiction. Full-time staff at branch offices take a vow of poverty and are members of a religious order. Each branch is overseen by a committee of three or more elders, which is appointed by the Governing Body. A Service Department in each branch corresponds with congregations and supervises the work of traveling overseers. Branch offices may also have departments responsible for printing, translation and legal representation.

Each branch office appoints various committees in its jurisdiction's communities, with local elders as members. Committees may include:
 * Hospital Liaison Committee
 * Patient Visitation Group
 * Regional Building Committee
 * Assembly Hall Committee
 * District Convention Committee
 * Disaster Relief Committee

Traveling overseers
Jehovah's Witnesses use the term traveling overseer to refer to headquarters representatives and circuit overseers, all of whom are elders. All traveling overseers are directly appointed by the Governing Body. A branch may appoint qualified local elders as "substitute" circuit overseers. Additional training is provided at their School for Traveling Overseers, and ongoing pastoral care and instruction is provided to them by senior branch office representatives. In 1995, Witnesses reported that 4374 traveling overseers cared for 78,620 congregations, an average of about 18 congregations each.

The majority of traveling overseers are circuit overseers; they oversee circuits of about twenty congregations, performing twice-yearly week-long visits with each. During his visit, the circuit overseer delivers talks to the congregation and meets with the elders, ministerial servants and pioneers. He is responsible for appointing new elders and ministerial servants, based on recommendations by elders. He typically works with various members of the congregation in the house-to-house preaching work, and may also conduct personal Bible studies and pastoral calls.

Jehovah's Witnesses are instructed to "participate in a joyful interchange of encouragement" with traveling overseers, and to render them "double honor", a biblical term they believe includes cooperation and hospitality. Traveling overseers are generally members of a religious order who have taken a vow of poverty; they are provided with vehicles, healthcare, and lodging, and their basic expenses are reimbursed by the congregations they visit.

Congregations
Congregations are usually based on geographical area or language spoken, and may have as few as ten or as many as two hundred members. Congregations meet for religious services at Kingdom Halls, which may be shared by two or more congregations. If a small group of Witnesses is isolated by geography or language, it may have some or all of its meetings at a different time and place to the rest of the congregation, under the supervision of that congregation's body of elders. If a group intends to become a new congregation, the area's circuit overseer submits an application to the branch office.

Each congregation is assigned a territory; members are requested to attend the congregation of the territory in which they reside. Members also meet in smaller "field service groups", often at private homes, prior to engaging in organized door-to-door preaching. Each field service group has an appointed "group overseer" (an elder) or "group servant" (a ministerial servant). Witnesses are instructed to devote as much time as possible to preaching activities ("witnessing" or "field service"), and to provide a monthly report to their congregation summarizing their preaching activity. Jehovah's Witnesses consider all baptized Witnesses to be ministers. Participants in organized preaching activity are referred to as publishers. Only individuals who are approved and active as publishers are officially counted as members.

Congregations are governed by local elders, who are assisted by ministerial servants. Elders and ministerial servants are appointed in each congregation for handling various religious and administrative duties. Only male members may serve in the capacity of elder or ministerial servant. In smaller congregations, one man may handle multiple positions until another qualified candidate is available. Baptized female members may perform some of their duties only if a baptized male is unavailable; female Witnesses leading in prayer or teaching are required to wear a head covering.

Elders
Each congregation has a body of elders, who are responsible for congregational governance, pastoral work, selecting speakers and conducting meetings, directing the public preaching work and creating "judicial committees" to investigate and decide disciplinary action for cases that are seen to breach scriptural laws.

There are no secular educational requirements for elders; however, training programs are offered for elders within the organization. Elders are considered "overseers" based on the biblical Greek term, ἐπίσκοπος (episkopos, typically translated "bishop"). Prospective elders are recommended from among ministerial servants and former elders by the local elder body for appointment by the circuit overseer.

Particular roles within the body of elders include:

 * Congregation Secretary: maintains congregation records, reports congregation activity to the branch office, advises the congregation about conventions and assemblies, and oversees those handling accounts.
 * Coordinator of the Body of Elders: chairs elders' meetings, assigns duties and speakers for most congregation meetings, and cares for certain financial matters.
 * Group Overseers: oversees groups for public preaching and pastoral care.
 * Life and Ministry Meeting Overseer: ensures that the Life and Ministry Meeting is handled according to the instructions set by the Watch Tower Society and schedules student assignments.
 * Watchtower Study Conductor: leads the weekly study of The Watchtower.
 * Operating Committee Members: responsible for the care of the building and property of Kingdom Halls that are shared by two or more congregations.
 * Public Talk Coordinator: schedules speakers and talks for public meetings and co-ordinates traveling speakers from his congregation.
 * Service Overseer: organizes matters related to public preaching, and oversees those handling Witness literature and territories.

Ministerial servants
Ministerial servants, equivalent to deacons, are appointed to assist the elders with routine work, including the supply of literature to the congregation, accounts, maintaining the Kingdom Hall, and operating audiovisual equipment. They also present various parts at the meetings. Ministerial servants are appointed in a similar manner to elders.

The following roles are normally filled by ministerial servants:

 * Accounts Servant: collects donations from contribution boxes after each meeting, deposits moneys, pays bills.
 * Audio/Video Servant: coordinates and schedules others to run microphones, handle the stage and podium and operate audio/video equipment; in large congregations, a separate Platform Servant may also be assigned.
 * Literature Servant: distributes literature in stock, takes requests for special items, or yearly items for use by congregation members. May place special request orders for publishers in their own Kingdom Hall.
 * Literature Coordinator: orders and receives stock and bulk literature for multiple congregations meeting at a single Kingdom Hall.
 * Magazine Servant: arranges orders of study, simplified, foreign language, and non-print editions of The Watchtower and Awake! magazines.
 * Magazine Coordinator: orders and receives all magazines for congregations meeting at a single Kingdom Hall, and stocks them in a designated magazine pickup area.
 * Territory Servant: distributes territory maps for preaching and keeps records of all territories within the local congregation's area.
 * Attendant Servant: greets visitors, seats latecomers, takes attendance count, and is responsible for climate control of the Kingdom Hall and parking lot security.
 * Group Servant: assumes role of Group Overseer when a sufficient number of elders is not available, under supervision of the body of elders.

Baptized publishers
Baptized publishers are members who have been publicly baptized following conversion to the faith. Jehovah's Witnesses do not practice infant baptism, and previous baptisms performed by other denominations are not considered valid. Prior to baptism, they are required to respond to a series of questions to assess their suitability, and to make a personal dedication to serve God. Baptisms are typically performed at assemblies and conventions. From the moment of baptism, the organization officially considers the person to be a member of Jehovah's Witnesses, and an ordained minister.

Regular publishers do not have a specific quota of hours for preaching each month, but publishers are requested to "set goals such as reaching [the] national average of hours for publishers". Publishers are typically required to report at least one hour per month to be counted as a 'regular publisher'. Generally, only whole hours are reported and partial hours are carried over to the next month, though publishers limited by advanced age or serious health conditions may be allowed to report fifteen-minute increments.

Publishers who fail to report for one month are termed "irregular" and those who do not report for six consecutive months are called "inactive". The terms irregular and inactive are used to identify members in need of 'spiritual assistance' from congregation elders; those who are habitually 'irregular' or 'inactive' are usually restricted from serving in any special capacity. Yearly reports of congregation activity are compiled and published by the Watch Tower Society.

Baptized publishers considered to be exemplary may serve in various special preaching capacities:

 * : make a commitment of 15 or 30 hours of preaching activities for a given month. This can be performed on a per month or ongoing basis.
 * : make a commitment of 50 hours of preaching activity each month, totaling 600 hours for the year. For congregation elders to recommend appointment of a regular pioneer, a publisher must be baptized for at least six months and be considered an exemplary member of the congregation. Members who have been reproved or reinstated in the last year may not serve as regular pioneers.
 * : assigned by a branch to perform special activity, such as preaching in remote areas, which may require at least 130 hours per month. Special pioneers receive a stipend for basic living expenses.
 * : sent to foreign countries to preach. They spend at least 130 hours per month in preaching. Before assignment to a location, missionaries may receive training at Gilead School. Missionaries receive a stipend for basic living expenses.

Children
When accompanied by adults, children of baptized Witnesses may participate in organized preaching without formally qualifying. However, only those recognized as publishers are counted in the denomination's official membership statistics. Children of Witness parents may be asked to participate in demonstrations at congregation meetings and assemblies, or as models and actors in materials published by the Watch Tower Society.

Unbaptized publishers
Unbaptized publishers are persons who are not yet baptized, but who have requested and been granted approval to join in the congregation's formal ministry. They must demonstrate a basic knowledge of Jehovah's Witnesses' doctrines to the elders, state their desire to be a Jehovah's Witness, and conform to the organization's moral standards. To qualify as an unbaptized publisher, an individual must already be "an active associate of Jehovah's Witnesses", regularly attending congregation meetings.

Prior to 1988, unbaptized publishers were referred to as "approved associates", "unbaptized associates" or "regularly associating". The terms were discontinued on the basis that meeting attendance on its own does not constitute approval of or commitment to the faith.

Students
The term Bible student, sometimes informally referred to as a "Bible study", is generally used by Witnesses to refer to an individual who takes part in their religious study program. The purpose of the Bible study program is for the student to become baptized as a Jehovah's Witness.

Students usually have their study with the same Witness for the duration of the study program, often being the member who first encounters them while preaching. Interested individuals initially contacted by a member of the opposite sex are typically assigned a study conductor of their own gender. A student typically meets with his or her study conductor once each week at the student's home or other suitable location, or via videoconferencing. The study program involves consideration of a Bible-based publication that addresses Jehovah's Witnesses' core beliefs.

Each paragraph is read aloud by the conductor or student, and the student answers pre-printed questions from the material in the paragraph. Students are encouraged to look up cited scriptures in the Bible and include them in their responses. Each Bible study is typically conducted with an individual or family, though in some cases many people may take part. Students are invited to attend and even comment at congregation meetings. Students may also attend reading-improvement or literacy classes in congregations where these additional courses are held.

Associates
Individuals who attend meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses but are not involved in preaching are occasionally referred to in Watch Tower Society publications as "associates" or as being "associated with the congregation". Attendance figures for Witness events include "Jehovah's Witnesses and associates"; such statistics may be cited for comparison of Witness numbers with membership figures of other denominations,   but only those sharing in their ministry are counted by Jehovah's Witnesses when reporting their official statistics.

Unbaptized individuals who attend meetings of Jehovah's Witnesses are not subject to congregation discipline, though elders may privately warn members of the congregation about individuals considered to constitute "an unusual threat to the flock."


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User:Paul Franz

Professional Civil and Mechanical Engineer with interests in Engineering Software, Internet Served Software and Software Development for Linux.

title: User:Paul Franz


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Talk:Flag of Bulgaria

Untitled
I am afraid I cannot find a PNG of the Bulgarian flag :( Please excuse me for this.

webkid 13:00 15 Jul 2003 (UTC)

Section about former flag with coat of arms is describing a flag with communistic coat of arms, but we can see picture with different crest. Could someone send the picture of the communistic flag as well -- Obradović Goran ( t al k  00:59, 18 July 2005 (UTC)

Green replacing Blue
According to an old edition of Phillip's Flags of the world, the purpose for Bulgaria adopting Green in place of Blue was that the white/blue/red vertical sequence was already in use as regional flags for Slovenes and Slovaks (although the two were yet to become independent states). Is there any truth in this? Evlekis 22 June 2006

The version I have heard is that the colors of the Italian flag were chosen, reflecting participation of Bulgarian revolutionaries in Garibaldi's troops. —141.150.24.236 (talk) 01:55, 5 October 2009 (UTC)

Bulgarian flags 1878 and 1946
The pictures Image:Flag of Bulgaria (1878-1944).svg and Image:Flag of Bulgaria (1946-1967).svg are incorrect. The first one is Bulgarian WAR flag. The secong is nonsense there isn't such bulgarian coat. After liberation in 1878 of Bulgaria until 1946 the flag was like current (without coat). In first bulgarian constitution is writed clearly "Българското народно знаме е трицвѣтно и състои отъ бѣлъ, зеленъ и червенъ цвѣтове, поставени хоризонтално" - "Bulgarian national flag is a tricolour and is consisted by white, green and red colours, laid horizontal". --Scroch 23:53, 16 August 2007 (UTC)

The so called Samara flag
wasn't created and consecrated as "Bulgarian national flag", it was a kind of war flag of the Bulgarian volunteer corps during the Liberation war 1877-1878. It wasn't perceived and defined as "national flag" by the Bulgarians in this period. (By the way, it was only one of the types of the war flags of the Bulgarian volunteers.) I have to assert that the present passage in the article, which claims that the Samara flag was direct predecessor of the later Bulgarian national white-green-red tricolour, is totally wrong in one more aspect. In the article it is written:

 * Some early versions of the flag (such as the Samara flag) used the Pan-Slavic colours, which were derived from the Pan-Slavism of 19th-century Europe. The central band was blue, and so the flag was similar to the flag of Russia. However after the liberational Russo-Turkish War (1877–1878), the central band was replaced with green...

In fact the central band of the Samara flag wasn't blue! Actually the Samara flag was red-white-blue:

Moreover, its composition, colours and elements (central cross-shaped icon for example) weren't inspiration for the creation of the Bulgarian national flag such as it appeared according to the Tarnovo Constitution. I have to say also that in the period around the Liberation war the official Russian imperial flag wasn't white-blue-red tricolour, so it wasn't prototype of the Bulgarian national flag. The flag of the Russian Empire between 1858 and 1883 actually was:

The white-blue-red tricolour during this period was used as popular Russian people's flag only unoficially. It was restored as Russian imperial flag five years after the Liberation war and four years after the Tarnovo Consitution. (See article Flag of Russia and especially its version in the Russian Wikipedia.)

There isn't relevant information that the pattern of the Samara flag was reproduced as Bulgarian national flag after the Liberation war, so I can't accept that the Samara flag could be defined as "Bulgarian national flag" or as direct predecessor of the Bulgarian national flag at all.

Therefore, dear Laveol, be more kind toward my editings when I'm trying to erase obviously wrong information. Greetings from Jackanapes/Dimitar Navorski, Vulgarian 11:22, 1 October 2007 (UTC)

1946-1967 Flag
This flag (Image:Flag of Bulgaria (1946-1967).svg) is absurd with East German style coat. Please don't make such nonsenses in Wikipedia --Scroch (talk) 21:13, 30 December 2007 (UTC)

Meaning of flag
What is the meaning of colors in the flags?????? --Adikhebat (talk) 15:36, 14 August 2010 (UTC)

1946 & 1948
Some of the image files are clearly wrong. Please see here for discussion. Thanks! BigSteve (talk) 13:53, 6 October 2012 (UTC)

1944-1946 Homeland Front flag
There is no section in the article which covers the 1944-1946 Homeland Front flag. Should it be added for completion? --Nytsuga (talk) 01:48, 3 February 2017 (UTC)

External links modified
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title: Talk:Flag of Bulgaria