Research Postgraduate Studies

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The Department is a popular choice for students who want to pursue application-driven research in the areas of computing and IT. Currently the Department has more than 60 research students, studying towards either an MPhil or PhD research degree.

What are the Department's research areas?

How long will the programmes be?
To complete a PhD programme, a full-time student would normally take 36 months (or 48 months for students admitted with Bachelor's degree with first class honours.) For a part-time student, it would normally be 72 months (or 96 months for students admitted with a Bachelor's degree)
An MPhil programme would normally take a full-time student 24 months. It would normally be 48 months for a part-time student.

How many taught subjects will I need to take?
PhD students are expected to take 5 taught subjects (an equivalence of 15 credits) and MPhil students 3 taught subjects (an equivalence of 9 credits).

When does an academic year start and end?
The academic year for research programmes runs from 1 September to 30 June, with subject examinations at the end of two teaching semesters (normally around December and May).

What are the normal admission requirements?
MPhil study normally requires a first or second class honours degree or recognised equivalent relevant to the proposed programme of study, or appropriate research or professional experience.

PhD study normally requires a recognised master degree or equivalent relevant to the proposed programme of study, or appropriate research or professional experience which resulted in published work, written reports or other appropriate evidence of accomplishment. Many MPhil students transfer to PhD after about two years of study or confirmation of registration.

Are there requirements for English language proficiency?
All research students are required to fulfill certain requirements in the English language. They would be requested on admission to sit for the Research Language Skills Assessment and might be recommended to take an English enhancement programme, depending on the outcome of the Assessment.

Tuition Fees
All research postgraduate students, part time or full time, are required to pay tuition fees up to the end of their normal period of study or thesis submission date, whichever is earlier.

Fee for new students are subject to confirmation. The fees for our research programmes in the 2008-09 academic year are:

Annual Registration Fee			Extension/Examination Fees
Full-time studies	HK$42,100/annum		Extension of registration for six months	HK$10,525
Part-time studies	HK$21,050/annum		Examination fee	HK$1,900 (for PhD) HK$1,500 (for MPhil)

Please refer to website of the Research Office for the latest update and further information on caution money, other fees, general expense and financial assistance.

Research studentships
Full-time PhD or MPhil research students might be offered Research Studentships, which are intended to be a means of financial support to allow full-time research students to fully focus on their studies. Part-time students are not eligible for Research Studentships.

Effective 1 July 2011, the Studentship carries a stipend of HK$13,800 per month.

Studentship recipients spend up to six hours of training each week within their Department. The training involves assisting teaching and scholarly activities and is relevant to your formal programme of study.

For full details, please refer to the Research Office website.

Scholarships Offered by PolyU
Local students with outstanding academic records may be awarded a tuition scholarship on admission. There are a number of other scholarships available for students, including The Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University International Postgraduate Scholarship for PhD studies.

Who should I approach for further details?
Check out the website of PolyU's Research Office, or
Contact Ms. Katie Cheung, Departmental Research Committee Secretary
Telephone: (852) 2766-7303
Facsimile: (852) 2774-0842
Email: cskatie@comp.polyu.edu.hk

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