PolyU General Education (GUR) Explained and the Vehicles for Interdisciplinarity: BDSIS, CURI, and CUS

Module: 01 Academics · Sub-file: GUR General Education & Interdisciplinary Education In addition to their major, every PolyU undergraduate must complete a set of General University Requirements (GUR) — the institutional backbone of PolyU’s four-year general education. This article first breaks down what the GUR consists of and why it is designed that way, then explains how, in the absence of a collegiate system, PolyU delivers interdisciplinary education through a three-tier framework: the GUR, the Bachelor’s Degree Scheme in Interdisciplinary Studies (BDSIS), and the virtual college CURI. For an overview of the programme structure, see programs.md; for faculties and schools, see faculties-and-schools.md. Sources are primarily the official pages of the College of Undergraduate Studies (CUS), the Graduate School, and the GUR guidelines.

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# 1. GUR at a Glance: A 30-Credit ‘Whole-Person’ Skeleton

According to PolyU CUS: GUR page^※, undergraduates on the four-year curriculum must complete 30 credits of GUR subjects, with 12 credits necessarily coming from the Cluster-Area Requirement (CAR).

The GUR contains seven components. Per the GUR guidelines, they typically include:

Source strength: The 30-credit GUR, 12-credit CAR, and seven components (including GUR-AIDA, GUR-IE) are listed on the official CUS page and GUR guidelines.

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# 2. The Cluster-Area Requirement (CAR): Cross-Disciplinary Perspectives

The Cluster-Area Requirement (CAR) is the core of the GUR. According to the CAR official page^※, the aim of the CAR is to broaden students’ intellectual capacity beyond their own discipline, enabling them to tackle professional and global issues from multidisciplinary perspectives.

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

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

Three types of requirement are embedded within the CAR: the China Studies Requirement (CSR) — students must complete at least 3 credits of a ‘China-related’ CAR subject; and the aforementioned Chinese and English reading/writing requirements. Four-year students admitted in or before 2021/22 must complete at least one 3-credit subject from each of the four cluster areas. According to official sources, the coverage requirement for students admitted from 2025/26 onwards has been changed to completing one subject from three out of the four clusters.

Source strength: The CAR’s aim, the four cluster areas, and the ER/EW & CR/CW attributes are found on the CAR official page; the differences in cluster coverage under the two frameworks are on the CUS GUR page.

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

PolyU was among 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 need to select a Service-Learning subject themselves. Service-Learning integrates academic knowledge with real community service — students apply what they have learned during the service and reflect on social issues.

Source strength: Service-Learning as a 3-credit compulsory requirement, and the embedded/self-selected options, are on the Service-Learning official page.

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

The GUR is not set in stone. In recent years, PolyU has added two components reflecting contemporary needs. The AI and Data Analytics Requirement (GUR-AIDA) mandates that all undergraduates, regardless of major, possess basic AI and data analytics literacy — ensuring that, in an era where AI is deeply permeating every industry, all PolyU graduates are equipped with a foundational ability to collaborate with AI. The Innovation and Entrepreneurship Requirement (GUR-IE) aims to equip first-year students with an entrepreneurial mindset, echoing PolyU’s startup incubation ecosystem (InnoHub, see 04 Research · InnoHK & Knowledge Transfer).

Additionally, ‘Leadership and Intra-Personal Development (LIPD)’ has been renamed ‘Leadership Education and Development (LED)’ under the new framework.

Source strength: GUR-AIDA, GUR-IE, and the LIPD to LED renaming are documented in PolyU’s GUR guidelines.

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# 5. How GUR Credit Requirements Have Changed by Intake Year

The total credits for a PolyU undergraduate degree and the proportion taken up by the GUR have been adjusted over different intake cohorts. According to the Curriculum Framework page^※:

The minimum GUR credits for those admitted from 2025/26 has dropped from 30 to 27, but the overall framework structure (CAR, Service-Learning, language requirements, AIDA/IE components, etc.) remains intact — the decrease mainly reflects curriculum fine-tuning rather than a contraction of the general education philosophy.

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# 6. The GUR’s Place in a PolyU Education

A PolyU undergraduate’s learning can be understood as a dual track of ‘Major + GUR’:

In a sentence: the GUR is the institutional guarantee that PolyU ‘helps specialists become well-rounded human beings’. PolyU is known for professional education, but the GUR demonstrates that it is not merely producing narrowly specialised technicians; it aims for graduates who combine professionalism + perspective + responsibility.

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# 7. Without a Collegiate System, How Does Interdisciplinary Education ‘Land’?

HKU, CUHK, and HKBU all practice collegiate systems to varying degrees, where colleges provide residential affiliation, general education courses, extracurricular activities, and a sense of identity. PolyU explicitly has no such system — undergraduates do not belong to a college, and housing is centrally managed by the Student Affairs Office (SAO).

PolyU has substituted the general education function of colleges with a two-tier structure. The first tier is the compulsory GUR, coordinated by CUS and applying to all undergraduates, using a course-based mechanism to ensure every student encounters cross-disciplinary perspectives beyond their major. The second tier consists of optional pathways for students with research ambitions or deeper interdisciplinary interests — the BDSIS programme and the CURI virtual college — which are not mandatory for all, but rather an ‘upgrade option’ for willing students. Together, these two tiers enable PolyU, despite lacking college affiliation, to achieve the effect of a common educational experience at the curricular level, though it admittedly lacks the residential identity and motto-based tradition that a collegiate system provides.

# Just How Many ‘Colleges’ Are There at PolyU?

PolyU’s official academic structure page ‘List of Faculties, Schools and Departments’^※ lists 7 Faculties, 3 Schools, and only one academic unit that bears the name College — the College of Undergraduate Studies (CUS). CPCE is not listed here because it is an independent, self-financing entity. This means that within PolyU’s formal academic grouping, the word ‘College’ corresponds only to CUS, a single academic college at the undergraduate level. All other units containing the word ‘College’ (CPCE, HKCC, etc.) belong to the self-financing continuing education sector and do not perform mainstream undergraduate interdisciplinary education functions.

# When Was the College of Undergraduate Studies (CUS) Established?

The College of Undergraduate Studies (CUS)^※ was formally established and upgraded on 1 July 2025^※ , emerging from the former Office of Undergraduate Studies (OUS). The upgrade to a ‘College’ signified more than a nominal change; it was an expansion of responsibilities. While inheriting OUS’s foundational duties of overseeing university-wide compulsory general education (GUR) and undergraduate academic regulations, CUS has been given a new mandate to develop and implement innovative interdisciplinary programmes (such as BDSIS) and to promote undergraduate research.

The current Dean is Prof. Daniel T.L. Shek^※, who also serves as Vice President (Undergraduate Programme) and holds the title of Chair Professor of Applied Social Sciences. His welcome message defines CUS’s mission as nurturing ‘well-rounded graduates with the ability to flourish in a rapidly changing world’. By institutional nature, CUS is a UGC-funded internal academic unit of the university, completely distinct from CPCE’s self-financing status.

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# 8. What Is the BDSIS (JS3000) Bachelor’s Degree Scheme?

The Bachelor’s Degree Scheme in Interdisciplinary Studies (BDSIS) is CUS’s flagship interdisciplinary undergraduate programme^※, listed under JUPAS code JS3000^※. The first cohort will enter in the 2026/27 academic year (i.e., September 2026), with an annual intake of approximately 30 students^※ (JUPAS and non-JUPAS combined, on UGC-funded places).

The BDSIS offers high-achieving students an opportunity to ‘break down traditional disciplinary boundaries and tackle complex global challenges from an interdisciplinary perspective’. Unlike the other six departmentally-organised schemes, the BDSIS spans multiple faculties, and students assemble their own major direction.

The programme requires a minimum of 120 credits^※ (graduation threshold; maximum 150 credits), composed of four blocks:

The choice among the three pathways must be discussed and confirmed with the Programme Leader or Personal Academic Tutor. For JUPAS applicants, the DSE Best 5 score must be 34.5 or above^※, making it one of the highest-threshold programmes at PolyU.

# How Are the Seven ‘Bachelor’s Degree Schemes’ Different from BDSIS?

From the 2025/26 academic year, PolyU has rolled out a total of 7 Bachelor’s Degree Schemes^※:

The other six schemes allow students to explore within a single faculty before settling on a major; the BDSIS is the only interdisciplinary undergraduate programme that spans all faculties across the university and lets students self-determine their major combination, coordinated by 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 the PolyU Graduate School. It is a virtual college — the official definition explicitly uses the term ‘pioneering virtual college’. It has no independent campus, no degree-awarding power, and does not admit students directly. Instead, it functions as a research community bringing together high-calibre interdisciplinary undergraduates from across the university.

The main gateway into CURI is the Undergraduate Research and Innovation Scheme (URIS)^※. URIS admits approximately 100 students^※ each year, 50 places reserved for PolyU entry scholarship holders (incoming first-years) and 50 for current students. Any student admitted to URIS automatically becomes a member of CURI. URIS provides a scholarship of up to HK$20,000^※ and project funding of up to HK$30,000^※, encouraging cross-departmental and interdisciplinary research projects. From 2023/24, high performers can also apply for up to HK$65,000^※ in funding for overseas research experience.

CURI can be understood as PolyU’s functional substitute for an ‘Honors College’ — it awards no independent degree, but provides research-oriented undergraduates with an interdisciplinary academic community and research funding. It is under the Graduate School rather than CUS, and focuses on interdisciplinary work specifically in the research dimension. CURI also has a namesake Residential College at the Homantin student residence; this is a residential themed community arrangement and does not alter CURI’s core identity as a virtual college.

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# 10. Why Is CPCE Completely Unrelated to This Structure?

The College of Professional and Continuing Education (CPCE) was established in 2002^※. It is a self-financed continuing education arm of PolyU, overseeing the Hong Kong Community College (HKCC, for associate degrees and higher diplomas) and the School of Professional Education and Executive Development (SPEED, for self-financed bachelor’s degrees and continuing education). It falls outside PolyU’s formal academic departmental structure, is not under the jurisdiction of CUS, does not execute GUR responsibilities, and does not target BDSIS or CURI students.

CPCE’s use of the name ‘College’ follows common practice in the Hong Kong continuing education sector. It is neither a residential college nor an academic interdisciplinary college in the sense of CUS. The key difference is: CUS is a UGC-funded internal academic unit of the university, upgraded from OUS on 1 July 2025, and serving all undergraduates; CPCE is a self-financed entity, established in 2002, serving HKCC associate degree students and SPEED’s self-financed degree/continuing education students, and not listed on the formal academic structure page. Their funding sources, target students, and interdisciplinary functions are all different, and they should not be confused.

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# 11. The Full Picture: How the Three Vehicles Divide the Work

PolyU’s undergraduate interdisciplinary education is composed of three tiers of vehicles, covering students in different breadths and depths:

The three tiers range from broad to narrow, from general education to elite: the GUR guarantees every student a cross-disciplinary curricular experience; the BDSIS provides a thorough interdisciplinary undergraduate education for the most capable students; and CURI builds a funded, community-based interdisciplinary research environment for those with a research bent. CPCE sits outside these three tiers, serving the self-financed continuing education pathway.

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

All three vehicles carry the label ‘interdisciplinary’, and outsiders can easily mistake them for different names for the same thing. Clarifying their distinctions helps in accurately understanding PolyU’s general/interdisciplinary education system:

• GUR is a ‘compulsory subject package’. It targets all students and is administratively a course requirement; completing it confers no extra status or community affiliation — it is a graduation requirement, not an ‘organisation’ one joins.
• BDSIS is a ‘degree programme’. Students formally enrol in it, possess fixed registration, and the programme name appears on their graduation certificate. It is a formal JUPAS admissions option, competing for students in parallel with the other six schemes.
• CURI is a ‘status/community’. It is not a degree programme. A student’s formal academic registration remains with their original department and programme. CURI is merely a research community membership layered on top of that registration, obtained through URIS, and can coexist with any programme in any faculty.

In short: the GUR is ‘what you must do’, the BDSIS is ‘a degree you can choose’, and CURI is ‘a circle you can join’ — the three address the interdisciplinary needs of the same body of students across different dimensions, rather than competing as alternatives to one another.

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# 13. ‘Not Found’ / Not Applicable

• Collegiate system (CUHK-style): PolyU does not have such a system. The CUS, CURI, and BDSIS described in this article are not forms of residential collegiate ‘affiliation’.
• Does CUS provide a residential affiliation for all undergraduates? No. Housing is centrally managed by SAO; CUS deals only with the curriculum and interdisciplinary platforms.
• Do CPCE / HKCC students take the GUR? No, they do not take the CUS-administered GUR. Programmes under CPCE follow their own curriculum structures and are not covered by the GUR framework for UGC-funded undergraduate programmes.
• Does the BDSIS have graduates yet? The first cohort enters in September 2026; no graduates yet.

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