Information for Applicants Information for Current Research Postgraduate (RPG) Students Funding Opportunities for RPG Students

Scholarships

(a) Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS)

With effect from 1 July 2024, applicants for the PhD programme, however, are encouraged to apply through the Online Application System of the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship (HKPF) Scheme to compete for an annual stipend of HK$337,200 (approximately US$43,230) and a conference and research-related travel allowance of HK$14,000 (approximately US$1,790) per year for each awardee for a period up to three years.

Please see the following link for more information. https://cerg1.ugc.edu.hk/hkpfs/index.html

For the 2025/26 exercise, all HKPFS holders will be awarded the HKU Presidential PhD Scholarship. On top of the HKPF package, each awardee will receive:

Cash Award to support research and living expenses:
HK$40,000 in Year 1; HK$20,000 per year in the remaining normative study period
Waiver of composition fees for the whole normative study period (i.e. HK$42,100 per year)
Financial support to selected outstanding students for an additional year of study beyond the normative study period to reward their outstanding research output and progress
A guaranteed hall place in Year 1, with possibility of renewal

Research Areas

The School of English at HKU has an international academic staff and postgraduate student body, working in these areas:

  • Literatures in English
  • Cross-cultural Studies in English
  • English Language and Linguistics
  • Language and Communication

 

For PhDs, we would particularly encourage applications in the following areas:

  • Postcolonial Literary Studies
  • Cross-cultural Writing
  • Law, Language and Literature
  • Psycholinguistics, Phonetics, and Phonology
  • Sociolinguistics, Discourse Analysis and Pragmatics
  • Integrational Linguistics

 

Areas of Research: Literary Studies

 

Literary and cultural research in theoretical and textual studies in the School of English concentrates on work from the 16th century through to the 21st century. We have particular strengths in cross-cultural studies; post-colonial theoretical, literary and cultural studies; Hong Kong and other Asian literatures in English; literature and the law; and travel writing.

MPhil and PhD

Information for Applicants Information for Current Research Postgraduate (RPG) Students Funding Opportunities for RPG Students

Scholarships

(a) Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS)

With effect from 1 July 2024, applicants for the PhD programme, however, are encouraged to apply through the Online Application System of the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship (HKPF) Scheme to compete for an annual stipend of HK$337,200 (approximately US$43,230) and a conference and research-related travel allowance of HK$14,000 (approximately US$1,790) per year for each awardee for a period up to three years.

 

Please see the following link for more information. https://cerg1.ugc.edu.hk/hkpfs/index.html

 

For the 2025/26 exercise, all HKPFS holders will be awarded the HKU Presidential PhD Scholarship. On top of the HKPF package, each awardee will receive:

 

  1. Cash Award to support research and living expenses:
    . HK$40,000 in Year 1; HK$20,000 per year in the remaining normative study period
  2. Waiver of composition fees for the whole normative study period (i.e. HK$44,500, HK$47,000 and HK$49,500 per year for 2025/26, 2026/27 and 2027/28 respectively)
  3. Financial support to selected outstanding students for an additional year of study beyond the normative study period to reward their outstanding research output and progress
  4. A guaranteed hall place in Year 1, with possibility of renewal

 

(b) HKU Presidential PhD Scholar Programme (HKU-PS)

All applicants applying for the full-time PhD programme will be considered for the HKU-PS Programme. In view of the intense competition, applicants applying for the HKU-PS Programme during the Main Round (1 September – 1 December) are strongly encouraged to apply also for the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme.

 

Scholarship Package for 2026/27 Admission

Each HKU Presidential PhD Scholar will receive a package of up to around HK$439,500 (US$56,350) in the first year, and up to around HK$422,000 (US$54,110) in each of the subsequent years during the normative study period. The package includes:

 

  1. Cash Award to support research and living expenses
    . HK$40,000 in Year 1; HK$20,000 per year in the remaining normative study period
  2. Waiver of composition fees for the whole normative study period (i.e. HK$44,500, HK$47,000 and HK$49,500 per year for 2025/26, 2026/27 and 2027/28 respectively)
  3. Postgraduate Scholarship of HK$28,400 per month
  4. Conference and Research-related Travel Allowance of HK$14,200 per year
  5. Financial support to selected outstanding students for an additional year of study beyond the normative study period to reward their outstanding research output and progress
  6. A guaranteed hall place in Year 1, with possibility of renewal

 

Please see HKU Presidential PhD Scholar Programme for more details.

 

(c) HKU’s Postgraduate Scholarship (PGS)

Successful full-time applicants will normally receive a postgraduate scholarship (PGS) of HK$19,135 per month (w.e.f. 1 September 2025). After confirmation of probationary period, the level of PGS received by PhD students will receive a higher PGS rate (HK$19,655, w.e.f. 1 September 2025) in the following calendar month.

 

Summary table

PhD MPhil
HKPFS Yes
HKU-PS Yes
HKU’s PGS Yes Yes

Conference and Travel Support

University Level

For information on (a) the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS) and (b) the HKU Presidential PhD Scholar Programme (HKU-PS) and please visit the respective webpages for the details regarding the application procedures:

 

(a) Conference/Travel Support for Awardees of the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS)
http://www.rss.hku.hk/fund/conference-travel-hkpf

 

(b) Conference/Travel Support for Awardees of the HKU Presidential PhD Scholar Programme (HKU-PS)
http://www.rss.hku.hk/fund/conference-travel-hku-ps

 

Full-time PhD and MPhil students, except awardees of HKPFS and HKU-PS, are eligible to apply for financial support from the University Research Committee for attending conference and international training/research activities.

PhD:　　2 conference trips OR 1 conference trip + 1 study trip

MPhil:     1 conference trip OR 1 study trip

 

For information on the (c) Conference Support for Research Postgraduate Students and (d) Travel Support for Research Postgraduate Students for International Academic Training/ Research Activities, please visit the respective websites for the details regarding the application procedures:

 

(c) Conference Support for Research Postgraduate Students
http://www.rss.hku.hk/fund/conference-students

 

(d) Travel Support for Research Postgraduate Students for International Academic Training/Research Activities
http://www.rss.hku.hk/fund/travel-students

 

Financial support per application is capped at HK$13,500.  For conference support, the applicant must be presenting a paper or a poster that he/she has (co-) authored at the conference, and must be the only person applying to the University Research Committee (whether under these regulations or under the regulations governing teaching staff conference support) for conference support in respect of this presentation.

 

(e) Other financial support and awards

Please click the following link for further information:
https://gradsch.hku.hk/prospective_students/fees_scholarships_and_financial_support/financial_support_and_awards

School Level

If the aforementioned funds are unavailable, students may then seek research funding at School level:
(a) Departmental Research Postgraduate Committee (DRPC) Discretionary Fund; and
(b) Research Mobility Fund for RPG Students in Sociolinguistics (as Sociolinguistics Symposium 23 Fund [SS23 Fund] hereafter).

 

The award of DRPC Discretionary Fund or SS23 Fund should not be used in conjunction with funding from any other internal or external sources.

 

Submission and enquiry of funding at School level:
Ms. Anny Hui of the School Office
Office: Room 735, School Office of English, Run Run Shaw Tower, HKU

Email: annyhsw@hku.hk

Phone: 3917 2749

MPhil and PhD

Information for Applicants Information for Current Research Postgraduate (RPG) Students Funding Opportunities for RPG Students

Online Information Workshop

For Master of Arts in English Studies, MPhil and PhD

Programme Offered

The School of English at the University of Hong Kong offers full- and part-time research postgraduate programmes for the degrees of MPhil and PhD.

Funding Opportunities

Please click here for details.

Research Areas

The School of English at HKU has an international academic staff and postgraduate student body, working in these areas:

  • Literatures in English
  • Cross-cultural Studies in English
  • English Language and Linguistics
  • Language and Communication

 

For PhDs, we would particularly encourage applications in the following areas:

  • Postcolonial Literary Studies
  • Cross-cultural Writing
  • Law, Language and Literature
  • Psycholinguistics, Phonetics, and Phonology
  • Sociolinguistics, Discourse Analysis and Pragmatics
  • Integrational Linguistics

 

Areas of Research: Literary Studies

 

Literary and cultural research in theoretical and textual studies in the School of English concentrates on work from the 16th century through to the 21st century. We have particular strengths in cross-cultural studies; post-colonial theoretical, literary and cultural studies; Hong Kong and other Asian literatures in English; literature and the law; and travel writing.

 

 

Areas of research: language studies

 

Most of the linguistic research going on in the School of English can be situated in the interdisciplinary areas of sociolinguistics and discourse analysis. Linguistic research in the School of English focuses on English language data. Specific areas of expertise include World Englishes, linguistic anthropology, the politics and ideology of language, language in workplace and institutional settings, language and the law, language and gender, cognitive sociolinguistics, second language acquisition, applied linguistics, phonetics and psycholinguistics.

 

 

Individual research specialisms

 

Take a look at the staff profiles to learn more about individual scholars in the School. Staff members have indicated they are particularly interested in research proposals related to the following specific areas and topics of ongoing research:

 

You can click on the staff name to find more details.

 

Professor Anya Adair: Book History; Digital Humanities; Law And Literature; Legal History; Manuscript Studies; Medieval English Literature; Old English; Old Norse.
Professor Ricky Chan: Experimental Phonetics; Forensic phonetics; Prosody; Psycholinguistics; Second language acquisition; Implicit and explicit language learning; English in Hong Kong.
Professor Hanwool Choe: Discourse Analysis; Interactional Sociolinguistics; Digital Discourse; Language and Food; Family Interaction; Life Stories.
Professor Anjuli Gunaratne: Global Anglophone and World Literature; Postcolonial Literature and Theory; Law and Literature; Literary and Critical Theory; Trauma Theory; Ecocriticism; Psychoanalysis.

 

Professor Moonyoung Hong: Modern Drama; Contemporary Theatre and Performance; Irish studies; Irish Literature; 20th and 21st century Anglophone Literature; Cross-Cultural Writing; Space and Place.
Professor Kendall Johnson: American literature, colonial through early-twentieth centuries; Native American literatures; race studies; Law and literature; Anthropology and literature; Visual aesthetics; Postcolonial theory; History of the novel; Transnational dimensions of the China Trade.
Professor Brian King: Discourse analysis; Critical sociolinguistics; Gender; Sexuality; Linguistic landscapes; Health communication (particularly in relation to intersex and differences of sexual development).

 

Professor Tara Lee: 18th and 19th Century British Literature; Romanticism; Gothic; Literature and Technoscientific Cultures; Biopolitics, Posthumanism, and the Body; Print and Visual Culture; Orientalism and Empire; Poetics
Professor Tong King Lee: Intercultural and nonverbal communication; East Asian Englishes; Translanguaging and translation.

 

Professor Janny Leung: Language and the law; legal bilingualism and multilingualism; language politics and language rights; legal and political communication; law, digital governance, and linguistic minorities; translation and interpreting; cognitive approaches to meaning and conceptual organisation; implicit learning of language.
Professor Nicholas Luke: Shakespeare; Early modern literature; Drama; Literary theory; Religion and literature; Law and literature; Aesthetics.
Professor Daniel Weston: Gatekeeping; Linguistics and education; Dialectology; Historical sociolinguistics; World Englishes.
Professor Olga Zayts: Discourse analysis; (Interactional) Pragmatics; Conversation analysis; Intercultural communication; Professional communication (in particular, in healthcare and business contexts); Politeness; Identity; Leadership.
Professor Nan Zhang: 19th and early 20th century British Literature; Global modernism; Cosmopolitan studies; History of political thought; Aesthetics and ethics; Economics

Application Information

1. How do I apply?

There are three application deadlines for MPhil or PhD studies: early December, end April, and end August. Most people apply in the first round, in December, when the majority of places are assigned. The second and third rounds, in April and August, are clearing rounds, and very few places are available at these times.

 

At present, successful applicants for the PhD programme can commence their studies on the first day of any calendar month. Most, however, prefer to start in September, at the start of the academic year. A September starting date also suits the department best, since studentship holders will be assigned their teaching duties at that time.

 

You can apply through the Graduate School website at https://gradsch.hku.hk/prospective_students/application/how_to_apply.

What about funding?
    • Composition fees for full-time MPhil and PhD students, which are subject to revision, are currently HK$44,500 per year. Applicants for full-time study normally apply at the same time for a Postgraduate Studentship (HK$19,135 per month w.e.f. 1 September 2025). Studentship holders will be required to do up to 100 hours per year tutoring work, or research assistantship, in the School.
Where can I find out more?
  • Full details about application and admission procedures, awards and financial assistance, and the amenities and services provided by the University, can be found at the Graduate School website.

General Information

In addition to the coursework programmes MA in English Studies (MAES), the MFA in Creative Writing in English, and the MA in Creative Communications (MACC), the School of English also accepts postgraduate students for research studies leading to the degrees of MPhil and PhD.

 

The MPhil and PhD are research degrees. Their chief component is the production of a scholarly thesis of original work in some area of English studies. Of the two, the PhD is the senior degree, requiring a more substantial thesis of publishable quality.

 

If you are thinking of applying to join our MPhil or PhD programme, you should begin by studying the information given here online. We also give important advice below about the application process, the qualifications needed, and the research proposal you must submit. In planning your research proposal, you should bear in mind the research strengths and interests of potential supervisors, shown below. You can also find out about our teaching staff and undergraduate  teaching programmes.

 

All students in these programmes have to attend and pass certain courses offered by the  Graduate School. They must also take a number of courses in the School, as well as writing their thesis.

 

Research students are assigned a supervisor, or sometimes two, to act as their advisor, help them plan their research project, meet for regular discussion of their work, and oversee and comment on their writing. MPhil students taking courses in the School will have regular contact with the teachers of those courses, and often postgraduates find other teachers (and students) in the School with whom they can discuss aspects of their work. Staff from the Graduate School offer instruction in research methods, thesis writing and other matters.

 

There is a regular School research seminar, at which staff and research students get together to share and discuss their work, and sometimes to hear distinguished visiting scholars. The School also has a Research Postgraduate Advisor who can offer further help and support. However, research degree students have to take responsibility for their own work. In the end, their success in the programme depends on their own resources of hard work, discipline and intellectual creativity.

 

Programme Full-time Part-time
MPhil Programme 24 months 36 months
3-year PhD Programme 36 months 54 months
4-year PhD Programme 48 months 72 months

 

The period of full-time study for MPhil students is 24 months, and for PhD students it is normally 48 months. In exceptional cases the School will accept students who wish to do research studies on a part-time basis.

 

Research students are from Hong Kong, but we also have international research students. In recent years they have come from Belgium, Canada, Iran, Japan, Macau, Mainland China, Malaysia, New Zealand, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, the United Kingdom, and the United States.

FAQs

What qualifications do I need?

Candidates for admission to our research programmes must have a good first degree in a relevant discipline from a reputable university. Normally, candidates are not admitted straight into PhD studies unless they have some research experience in a postgraduate programme. If you have a first degree from a university where the language of teaching and examination is not English, you must have obtained an overall score of 85 or above in the TOEFL (Test of English as Foreign Language – Internet-based test – taken within 2 years) and a score of 25 or above in the Writing section. We also accept the International English Language Testing System (IELTS – Academic Module – taken within 2 years) but you must have at least a score of 7 with no subtest lower than 6. You will be expected to have good academic references. Applicants for both MPhil and PhD studies are required to submit a research proposal (see below), and the School may ask for further information from you, in an interview or in writing.

 

This may not be enough! Entry is competitive and places are limited. Sometimes the School is not able to accept a well-qualified applicant because there are no places, or no appropriate supervision, available at the time.

What is required for the research proposal?

The research proposal for MPhil studies should be 1000-1500 words in length. Your proposal should present your idea for an MPhil research project, including a description of the project, why you think it is important, a literature review, and a bibliography. It should also include a brief account of how your academic background prepares you to complete this project and why you want to undertake your research at HKU. We understand that your proposal at this stage will be provisional, but it should show that you have some knowledge of the field, have started the relevant reading, and have a sense of the project’s methodology and the resources it will require. You should append a preliminary bibliography; the bibliography is not included in the word count.

 

The research proposal for PhD studies should be 1500-2500 words in length. It should outline a clearly considered and defined research topic, with an account of the research questions and methodology proposed, an explanation of the value and originality of the research, a chapter-by-chapter description, and a bibliography. The bibliography is not included in the word count.

Enquiries

If you have questions about research studies in the School of English that are not covered in the information above, you can direct them to the Postgraduate Advisor,  Dr Nan Zhang, by e-mail at nzhang@hku.hk.