Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme

Each fellow receives an annual stipend of 344,400 Hong Kong dollars, about 44,150 US dollars, and an allowance of 14,400 Hong Kong dollars a year, about 1,840 US dollars, for conference and research-related travel. Both run for up to three years. Universities may add support for fellows who need longer to finish.

The fellowship is tied to one university. A fellow must stay registered as a full-time PhD student at the university named in the RGC offer letter, and the fellowship ends if they leave it. Tuition is a separate matter: since 2018/19 the government has waived tuition for local students in UGC-funded research programmes, and the universities apply the waiver automatically.

Fellows study at one of the eight UGC-funded universities: City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Baptist University, Lingnan University, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, The Education University of Hong Kong, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and The University of Hong Kong.

Each university sets the entry requirements for its own PhD programmes, runs its own admission and usually interviews applicants. Questions about programmes, admission and university fees go to the universities, and questions about the fellowship itself go to the RGC.

The scheme is open to anyone seeking admission as a new full-time PhD student at one of the eight universities, whatever their country of origin, work experience or ethnic background. Someone already doing a PhD may apply for a new programme, though the selection panel decides whether their earlier doctoral experience should be discounted to keep the field level.

Applicants from universities that did not teach in English must attach TOEFL or IELTS results to their university applications unless they can show that every course was taught in English; each university sets its own score requirements. Universities may make conditional offers to strong candidates whose final transcripts are not yet available.

Applying takes two steps. First, the applicant makes a single initial application to the RGC through the scheme's electronic system, choosing up to two programmes at one or two universities in order of priority, and receives an HKPFS reference number. Second, the applicant applies to each chosen university in the usual way, quoting that number.

A university that receives an application without the reference number treats it as an ordinary PhD application, and an initial application that is not followed by a full university application is void. The RGC cross-checks the two, so the details must match.