PolyU's General University Requirements (GUR) Explained, and the Vehicles for Interdisciplinary Study: BDSIS, CURI and CUS

Module: 01 Academics · Sub-file: GUR Explained and Interdisciplinary Education Every PolyU undergraduate, in addition to their major, must complete a set of General University Requirements (GUR) — the institutional backbone of PolyU's four-year general education. This article first explains what the GUR consists of and why it is designed this way, then looks at how, in the absence of a college system, PolyU delivers interdisciplinary education through three vehicles: the GUR, the Bachelor's Degree Scheme in Interdisciplinary Studies (BDSIS) and a virtual college called CURI. For an overview of the programme structure see programs.md; for faculties see faculties-and-schools.md. The material draws mainly on the PolyU College of Undergraduate Studies (CUS), the Graduate School's official pages and the GUR guidelines.

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# 1. GUR at a Glance: The 30-Credit "Whole-Person" Backbone

According to the PolyU Office of Undergraduate Studies: GUR page^※, four-year undergraduates must complete 30 credits of GUR subjects, of which 12 credits must come from the Cluster-Area Requirement (CAR).

The GUR has seven components; per the GUR guidelines, these are commonly:

Source strength: The 30-credit GUR, 12-credit CAR and seven components (including GUR-AIDA and GUR-IE) are from PolyU's official Office of Undergraduate Studies pages and the GUR guidelines.

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# 2. Cluster-Area Requirement (CAR): A Cross-Disciplinary Lens

The Cluster-Area Requirement (CAR) is the core of the GUR. According to the CAR official page^※, CAR aims to expand students' intellectual abilities beyond their own disciplines, enabling them to address professional and global issues from multiple disciplinary perspectives.

CAR spans four cluster areas: Human Nature, Relations and Development (A); Community, Organisation and Globalisation (B); History, Culture and World Views (C); and Science, Technology and Environment (D). Some CAR subjects also embed two types of language attributes:

• English Reading/Writing (ER/EW): further develops English proficiency;
• Chinese Reading/Writing (CR/CW): further develops Chinese proficiency.

CAR embeds three types of requirements: the China Studies Requirement (CSR) — at least 3 credits of CAR subjects "related to China" — plus the aforementioned Chinese and English reading/writing requirements. Four-year students admitted in 2021/22 or earlier must take at least one 3-credit subject from each of the four cluster areas; according to official sources, for students admitted from 2025/26 this coverage requirement changes to taking one subject from any three of the four clusters.

Source strength: The CAR goals, four cluster areas and ER/EW and CR/CW attributes are from the CAR official page; the difference in cluster coverage between the two frameworks is from the PolyU College of Undergraduate Studies GUR page.

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# 3. Service-Learning: Taking the Classroom into the Community

PolyU was one of the first universities in Hong Kong to make service-learning a graduation requirement. According to the Service-Learning official page^※, students must complete one 3-credit service-learning subject: some service-learning subjects are embedded within major programmes, while most students choose a stand-alone service-learning subject. Service-learning combines academic knowledge with real community service — students apply what they have learnt in the field and reflect on social issues.

Source strength: Service-learning as a 3-credit requirement, and the embedded/elective options, are from the Service-Learning official page.

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# 4. Keeping Pace with the Times: GUR-AIDA and GUR-IE

The GUR is not static. In recent years PolyU has added two components that reflect the demands of the age. The AI and Data Analytics Requirement (GUR-AIDA) ensures that all undergraduates — regardless of major — have basic literacy in artificial intelligence and data analytics: at a time when AI is penetrating every industry, this ensures PolyU graduates, whatever their discipline, have the foundational ability to work with AI. The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Requirement (GUR-IE) aims to equip Year 1 students with an entrepreneurial mindset, complementing PolyU's start-up incubation ecosystem (InnoHub; see 04 Research · InnoHK and Knowledge Transfer).

In addition, "Leadership and Intra-Personal Development (LIPD)" has been renamed under the new framework as "Leadership Education and Development (LED)".

Source strength: GUR-AIDA, GUR-IE and the LIPD→LED renaming are from the PolyU GUR guidelines.

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# 5. How GUR Credits Vary by Year of Admission

PolyU's total undergraduate credit requirement and the GUR's share of it vary by year of admission. According to the Curriculum Framework page^※:

So for students admitted from 2025/26, the minimum GUR credit load drops from 30 to 27, but the overall framework (CAR, service-learning, language requirements, AIDA/IE and other components) remains unchanged — the reduction mainly reflects fine-tuning of the curriculum rather than a retreat from the general education philosophy.

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# 6. Where the GUR Sits in a PolyU Education

A PolyU undergraduate's studies can be understood as a dual-track of "major + GUR":

Put simply: the GUR is PolyU's institutional guarantee for turning "professionally competent people into well-rounded people". PolyU is known for professional education, but the GUR shows it does not train mere "cogs in the machine" — it aims for graduates who combine expertise + perspective + responsibility.

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# 7. No College System — How Does Interdisciplinary Education "Land"?

HKU, CUHK, HKBU and others all have college systems to varying degrees: colleges provide residential affiliation, general education courses, co-curricular activities and a sense of identity. PolyU explicitly has no such system — undergraduates do not belong to any college, and accommodation is administered centrally by the Student Affairs Office (SAO).

PolyU replaces the general education function of a college system with a two-tier structure. Tier one is the compulsory GUR, administered by CUS for all undergraduates: a curricular mechanism that guarantees every student encounters cross-disciplinary perspectives beyond their major. Tier two consists of optional pathways for students with research ambitions or deep interdisciplinary interests — the BDSIS scheme and the CURI virtual college. These are not compulsory for all; they are "upgrade options" for interested students. Together, the two tiers allow PolyU to achieve a shared educational effect at the curriculum level without residential college affiliation — though it does lack the residential identity and heritage transmission that a college system provides.

# How Many Kinds of "College" Does PolyU Actually Have?

PolyU's official faculties and departments structure page, the list of faculties and schools^※, lists 7 Faculties, 3 Schools, and only a single academic unit bearing the name College — the College of Undergraduate Studies (CUS). CPCE does not appear on this list because it is an independently operating self-financed body. This means that in PolyU's formal academic organisation, the word "College" corresponds only to CUS, a single undergraduate-level academic college; all other units whose names include "College" (CPCE, HKCC, etc.) fall within the self-financed continuing education remit and do not carry out mainstream undergraduate interdisciplinary education.

# When Was CUS Established?

The College of Undergraduate Studies (CUS)^※ was formally elevated to its current status on 1 July 2025^※, evolving from the former Office of Undergraduate Studies (OUS). The elevation to a "College" was not merely a change of name but an expansion of scope: while inheriting OUS's foundational duties of overseeing the university-wide general education requirements (GUR) and undergraduate programme regulations, CUS has taken on new tasks of developing and delivering innovative interdisciplinary programmes (such as BDSIS) and promoting undergraduate research.

The current Dean is Prof. Daniel T.L. Shek^※, who also serves as Vice President (Undergraduate Education) and is Chair Professor of Applied Social Sciences. His welcome message defines CUS's mission as "nurturing well-rounded graduates with the ability to thrive in a rapidly changing world". By institutional nature, CUS is a government-funded (UGC) academic unit within the University, fundamentally different from CPCE's self-financed status.

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# 8. What Is the Bachelor's Degree Scheme in Interdisciplinary Studies (BDSIS/JS3000)?

The Bachelor's Degree Scheme in Interdisciplinary Studies (BDSIS) is the flagship interdisciplinary undergraduate programme launched by PolyU's CUS^※, with the JUPAS programme code JS3000^※. The first cohort will enter in the 2026/27 academic year (September 2026), with roughly 30 students^※ admitted per year (JUPAS and non-JUPAS combined, UGC-funded places).

BDSIS offers high-achieving students the opportunity to "break traditional disciplinary boundaries and address complex global challenges from an interdisciplinary perspective". Unlike the other six degree schemes, which are organised by faculty, BDSIS spans multiple faculties, with students composing their own major direction.

The programme requires a minimum of 120 credits^※ (the graduation threshold; up to 150 credits), made up of four components:

The choice of pathway must be confirmed in consultation with the programme leader or a personal academic advisor. JUPAS applicants need a DSE Best 5 score of 34.5 or above^※, making it one of PolyU's most demanding programmes in terms of admission threshold.

# How Do the Seven Degree Schemes Differ from BDSIS?

From the 2025/26 academic year, PolyU offers 7 bachelor's degree schemes^※:

The other six schemes let students explore within a single faculty before deciding on a major; BDSIS is the only interdisciplinary undergraduate programme that spans faculties across the whole university, with students designing their own combination of majors, under the purview of CUS.

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# 9. Is CURI a "College" or a "Virtual Community"?

The College of Undergraduate Researchers and Innovators (CURI) was established in 2021^※ by PolyU's Graduate School. It is a virtual college — the official description explicitly uses the term "pioneering virtual college". It has no physical campus, no degree-awarding power and admits no students; rather, it functions as a research community that brings together high-calibre undergraduates from across the university and across disciplines.

The main route into CURI is the Undergraduate Research and Innovation Scheme (URIS)^※. URIS offers roughly 100 places^※ per year, of which 50 go to holders of PolyU entrance scholarships (Year 1 new students) and 50 to current students. Anyone admitted to URIS automatically becomes a member of CURI. URIS provides scholarships of up to HK$20,000^※ and project funding of up to HK$30,000^※, encouraging cross-departmental, cross-disciplinary research projects; from 2023/24, outstanding performers can also apply for overseas research experience funding of up to HK$65,000^※.

CURI can be understood as PolyU's functional equivalent of an "Honors College" — it awards no separate degree, but it provides an interdisciplinary academic community and research funding for undergraduates with research aspirations. It sits under the Graduate School, not CUS, and focuses on the research dimension of interdisciplinarity. CURI also operates a residential community of the same name at the Ho Man Tin Student Halls; this is a themed residential arrangement and does not change CURI's status as a virtual college.

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# 10. Why Is CPCE Unrelated to All of the Above?

The College of Professional and Continuing Education (CPCE), established in 2002^※, is PolyU's self-financed continuing education arm, overseeing the Hong Kong Community College (HKCC; associate degrees and higher diplomas) and the School of Professional Education and Executive Development (SPEED; self-financed degrees and continuing education). It sits outside PolyU's formal academic faculty structure, is not under CUS, does not administer the GUR, and is not a target of BDSIS or CURI.

CPCE's name includes "College", following the naming convention common in Hong Kong's continuing education sector, but it is neither a residential college nor an academic interdisciplinary college in the CUS sense. The key differences are: CUS is a government-funded (UGC) academic unit within the University, elevated from OUS on 1 July 2025, serving all undergraduates; CPCE is a self-financed body, established in 2002, serving HKCC associate degree students and SPEED self-financed degree/continuing education students, and does not appear on PolyU's formal faculty structure page. The two differ in funding source, target students and interdisciplinary function, and should not be confused.

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# 11. PolyU's Interdisciplinary Architecture — How the Three Vehicles Divide the Work

Undergraduate interdisciplinary education at PolyU is delivered through three tiers of vehicles, covering different widths and depths of the student population:

The three tiers run from broad to narrow, from general to elite: the GUR ensures every student gets an interdisciplinary curricular experience; BDSIS offers the most thorough interdisciplinary undergraduate education to the very best students; and CURI builds a funded, community-based research-oriented interdisciplinary network for the research-minded. CPCE sits outside all three tiers, serving the self-financed continuing education pathway.

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# 12. Why GUR, BDSIS and CURI Are Often Confused

All three names carry the word "interdisciplinary", so outsiders often mistake them for different ways of saying the same thing. Clarifying the distinctions is helpful for an accurate understanding of PolyU's general/interdisciplinary education system:

• The GUR is a "compulsory package of courses" aimed at all students; administratively it is a curriculum requirement. It confers no additional identity or community membership — once completed, the graduation requirement is met; it involves no "joining" of any organisation;
• BDSIS is "a degree programme": students formally enrol as students of the scheme, hold a fixed student status and a named programme on their degree certificate. It is a formal JUPAS admissions option, competing for applicants in parallel with the other six schemes;
• CURI is "a status/community": it is not a degree programme. Students' formal enrolment remains in their original department and programme; CURI membership is simply a research community status layered on top of existing enrolment, obtained via URIS and compatible with any programme in any faculty.

In short: the GUR is "what you must do", BDSIS is "a degree you can choose", and CURI is "a circle you can join" — they address the interdisciplinary needs of the same students on different dimensions, rather than being mutually exclusive alternatives.

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# 13. Not Applicable / Clarifications

• College system (in the CUHK sense): PolyU has no such system; CUS, CURI and BDSIS as described here are not "college affiliations" in the residential collegiate sense.
• Does CUS provide residential affiliation for all undergraduates?: No. Accommodation is administered by the SAO; CUS handles only curriculum and interdisciplinary platforms.
• Do CPCE/HKCC students take the GUR?: No. They do not take the GUR administered by CUS. Programmes under CPCE have their own curriculum structure and are not part of the UGC-funded undergraduate GUR framework.
• Does BDSIS have graduates yet?: The first cohort enters in September 2026; no graduates yet.

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