Friday, August 31, 2012

Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme:135 Grants Available


Do you want to study in an Asian city that is Hong Kong? Why not?

Background
Established in 2009 by the Research Grants Council (RGC), the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS) aims at attracting the best and brightest students in the world to pursue their PhD programmes in Hong Kong's institutions.

Eligibility
Those who are seeking admission as new full time PhD students in Hong Kong institutions funded by the University Grants Committee (UGC), irrespective of their country of origin, prior work experience, and ethnic background, should be eligible to apply. Applicants should demonstrate outstanding qualities of academic performance, research ability / potential, communication and interpersonal skills, and leadership abilities.

The Fellowship
The Fellowship provides a monthly stipend of HK$20,000 (approximately US$2,600) and a conference and research related travel allowance of HK$10,000 (approximately US$1,300) per year for each awardee for a period of three years. About 135 PhD Fellowships will be awarded each academic year1. For awardees who need more than three years to complete the PhD degree, additional support may be provided by the chosen institutions. For details, please contact the institutions concerned directly.
1Institutions in Hong Kong normally start their academic year in September.

Selection Panels
Shortlisted applications, subject to their areas of studies, will be reviewed by one of the two HKPFS Selection Panels with experts in the relevant broad areas -- one for science, medicine, engineering and technology and another one for humanities, social sciences and business studies.

Selection Criteria
While academic excellence is of prime consideration, the Selection Panels will take into account, but not limited to, the four yardsticks below for the selection of candidates:
  1. Academic excellence;
  2. Research ability and potential;
  3. Communication, and interpersonal skills; and
  4. Leadership abilities.
Application Process
Applicants may choose up to two programmes in one or two institutions for PhD study in their HKPFS applications. They are also required to submit application(s) for PhD admission to the relevant institution(s) directly for their selected programme(s). Applicants are therefore required to fully comply with the admission requirements of their selected institutions and programmes. The HKPFS 2013/14 calls for applications on 3 September 2012. Details on the application procedure are available at http://www.rgc.edu.hk/hkphd.
For information and admission requirements of individual institutions, please visit the websites below:
City University of Hong Kong
(http://www.cityu.edu.hk/sgs/hkphd)
Hong Kong Baptist University
(http://gs.hkbu.edu.hk)
Lingnan University
(http://www.ln.edu.hk/reg/info/pgrad/criteria.php/)
The Chinese University of Hong Kong
(http://www2.cuhk.edu.hk/gss/hkphd/)
The Hong Kong Institute of Education
(http://www.ied.edu.hk/gradsch/)
The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
(http://www.polyu.edu.hk/ro/hkphd-fellowship/)
The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
(http://www.ust.hk/hkpfs)
The University of Hong Kong
(http://www.hku.hk/gradsch/web/apply)

Individual institutions will conduct interviews with applicants as part of the assessment for selection. Candidates not selected for the HKPFS award may be accepted by the institutions concerned for PhD admission and offered with postgraduate studentship by the institutions.

Postgraduate Studies in Hong Kong
For more information on postgraduate studies in Hong Kong, please visit http://www.grad.edu.hk/grad/ and the website of Immigration Department athttp://www.immd.gov.hk/ehtml/faq_ipoe.htm for details concerning the immigration policy on study in Hong Kong.

Enquiries
For enquiries about the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme, please address your questions to HKPF@ugc.edu.hk

On how to apply, click here.