Graduate School of the University of Hong Kong

General Information

The University of Hong Kong, founded in 1911 to take over from the Hong Kong College of Medicine (established in 1887), is the oldest tertiary institution in Hong Kong. The main estate is situated on the north-western slopes of Hong Kong Island and enjoys the privilege of overlooking Victoria Harbour.

In the year 2001-2002, the University has a student population of over 14,300, including 9,100 undergraduate students and 5,200 postgraduates students (of which 1,600 are MPhil and PhD students). From the modest beginnings of only two faculties, the University has grown to embrace almost all the major areas of teaching and research and it can confidently claim to be one of the best and most well-established universities in the region. There are now ten Faculties - Architecture, Arts, Business & Economics, Dentistry, Education, Engineering, Law, Medicine, Science and Social Sciences, offering more than 550 first degree programmes and 20 Master’s degree curricula. In addition, all Faculties and their departments provide teaching and supervision for research (MPhil and PhD) students.

The university is a self-governing corporation, which draws its income from endowments, grants from the Hong Kong SAR Government, and fees.

Research Postgraduate Studies &

Research at The University of Hong Kong

Research postgraduate students are an important and valued part of the University. They currently make up 11.2% of the total student population of 14,300. The University also values the important role of non-Hong Kong graduate students (31.9% of the total research postgraduate student population of 1,600 coming from 38 countries in providing intellectual stimulation and making contribution to the social and cultural life of the University. International graduates are attracted to HKU mainly because of its high international reputation as a world class research university and also because of its use of the English language as the medium of instruction.

The University recognizes that quality teaching, particularly from a strong research base, is often the stimulus for graduates to embark upon research studies. As the leading comprehensive research University in Hong Kong and the region, we aim to maintain high quality research and postgraduate activities across a broad spectrum of disciplines, and to encourage work of a multi-disciplinary nature. In this connection, the University has identified and provided support to various areas of Excellence as well as proposals that will make leading-edge contributions to the academic community. Many of these areas have developed extensive international networks and strong inter-institutional collaboration work.

Graduates of the University are employed in high level positions in universities, government, business and industry in Hong Kong and around the world. According to a recent survey, many of our research graduates were holding senior academic positions in local tertiary institutions and others were senior academics and/or active researchers in overseas universities/institutions. Some of them were working in prominent universities such as University of Cambridge, University of Oxford, Yale University, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, etc.

The University offers MPhil, 3-year PhD (for those who already have a research Master's degree) and 4-year PhD (for those who have a Bachelor and/or a taught Master's degree) programmes. In addition to the long-established one-to-one mentorship system of supervision, a coursework component has been introduced that aims to provide research training to assist the MPhil and 4-year PhD students to complete their studies within their study period.

The University has excellent infrastructure, services and facilities to support postgraduate studies. Postgraduate studentships, scholarships, research grants and conference/travel grants are provided to high calibre research students. All full-time local research students may be eligible to apply for financial assistance made available by the government. The world class library and computer facilities ensure that students can have access to the best learning and research environment. The Graduate House and graduate student hostels provide accommodation for postgraduate students as well as amenity facilities and a focal point for postgraduate activities. Postgraduate students can have access to student and medical services and sporting and leisure facilities. They will also have opportunities to join the social life of the University through various activities organized by the University and student associations.

There is strong emphasis on the advancement in communication technologies and multi-media teaching within the university in the past years, the university has endeavoured to create a digital campus to encourage teachers and students a wider use of information technology as well as to benefit from efficient electronic information exchange.

The University has currently over 1,100 teaching and research staff supported by government block grant who are recruited internationally and who are highly visible in cutting-edge research and international publications. They form a strong team in the provision of high quality postgraduate programmes. The University is committed to fulfilling its mission to offer the highest standards of teaching, research and scholarship by continuing to recruit high quality staff internationally.

Medium of Instruction and Examination

The medium of instruction of the University is English except in the Department of Chinese for which it is either Cantonese or Putonghua (Mandarin). All applicants for admission are expected to be fluent in English. Applicants for admission to higher degree studies in Chinese must also be fluent in both written and spoken Chinese. Applicants for admission may be required to sit for English language tests or examinations conducted either by the University or by a public examination authority.

The Graduate School's major roles are:

Faculty of Architecture
- Department of Architecture
- Department of Real Estate & Construction

Faculty of Arts
- Department of Chinese
- Department of Comparative Literature
- Department of English
- Department of Fine Arts
- Department of Geography
- Department of History
- Department of Japanese Studies
- Department of Linguistics
- Department of Music
- Department of Philosophy

Faculty of Business & Economics
- School of Business
- School of Economics & Finance

Faculty of Dentistry

Faculty of Education

Faculty of Engineering
- Department of Civil Engineering
- Department of Computer Science & Information Systems
- Department of Electrical & Electronic Engineering
- Department of Industrial & Manufacturing Systems Engineering
- Department of Mechanical Engineering

Faculty of Law
- Department of Law and Department of Professional Legal Education

Faculty of Medicine
- Department of Anaesthesiology
- Department of Anatomy
- Department of Biochemistry
- Department of Clinical Oncology
- Department of Community Medicine
- Department of Diagnostic Radiology
- Department of Medicine
- Department of Microbiology
- Department of Nursing Studies
- Department of Obstetrics and Gynaecology
- Department of Paediatrics and Adolescent Medicine
- Department of Pathology
- Department of Pharmacology
- Department of Physiology
- Department of Psychiatry
- Department of Surgery

Faculty of Science
- Department of Botany
- Department of Chemistry
- Department of Earth Sciences
- Department of Ecology & Biodiversity
- Department of Mathematics
- Department of Physics
- Department of Zoology 

Faculty of Social Sciences
- Department of Politics and Public Administration
- Department of Psychology
- Department of Social Work and Social Administration
- Department of Sociology
- Department of Statistics and Actuarial Science

Teaching Centres and Institutes
- Centre of Asian Studies
- Centre of Buddhist Studies
- English Centre
- Institute of Human Performance
- Journalism and Media Studies Centre
- Kadoorie Agricultural Research Centre
- Institute of Molecular Biology
- Social Sciences Research Centre
- The Swire Institute of Marine Science
- Centre of Urban Planning and Environmental Management

Graduate School
P403, Graduate House
The University of Hong Kong,
Pokfulam Road,
Hong Kong
Tel: (+852) 2857-3470
Fax: (+852) 2857-3543

gradsch@hkucc.hku.hk

www.hku.hk/gradsch