CityU is committed to creating an international environment for professional education and actively conducts research that benefits society. The faculty's excellence in Teaching & Research Integration has been repeatedly recognized, establishing a distinguished reputation in professional education and research both in Hong Kong and globally. To promote interdisciplinary research, CityU has established the Hong Kong Institute for Advanced Study, twenty-three research institutes/centers (including two university-level research institutes: Hong Kong Institute for Data Science (HKIDS) and Hong Kong Institute for Clean Energy (HKICE)), ten Applied Strategic Development Centers covering various strategically important areas, and three mainland research institutes (Shenzhen Research Institute, Futian Research Institute, and Chengdu Research Institute). Additionally, with approval from the Ministry of Science and Technology of China, CityU has established two State Key Laboratories (State Key Laboratory of Terahertz and Millimeter Waves (City University of Hong Kong) (SKLTMW) and State Key Laboratory of Marine Pollution (City University of Hong Kong) (SKLMP)), as well as one Chinese National Engineering Research Center (Hong Kong Branch of National Precious Metals Material Engineering Research Center (NPMM)). These research platforms encompass multiple areas of strategic significance and aim to strengthen academic collaboration, facilitate technology transfer, and expand cooperative initiatives to the mainland market.

Researchers from CityU(DG) have published multiple papers in top-tier academic journals both domestically and internationally, including Nature and Nature Materials.