MPhil & PhD PROGRAMMES
PROSPECTUS FOR
FROM
LINGNAN
CONTINUING THE FINE TRADITIONS OF
LINGNAN UNIVERSITY
FOUNDED IN
CANTON (GUANGZHOU) IN
1888
Lingnan Logo
Meaning of the
The mountain, river, trees and path illustrated in the University logo each symbolise a profound principle: • The White Cloud Mountain depicts the highest aspiration in life;
• The Pearl River represents the wide dissemination of Lingnan education;
• The lychee trees -- with ripe fruit hanging in clusters -- represent the commitment to realise the precept “For God, for Country, and for Lingnan”;
• The path represents the road to the future by virtue of hard work.
The “vibrant-red” and “iron-grey” colours of the logo symbolise integrity and loyalty.
Contents
02 Vision, Mission and Core Values
04 Principal Officers
of the University
06 Chair
Professors
20 General Information
on Research Postgraduate Studies
20 Introduction
20 Programmes of Studies
21 Period of Study
22 Recognition of Previous Research Work
23 Supervision and Progress
24 Residence Requirements
24 Concurrent Registration
24 Financial Support
24
Fellowships and Studentships
25
Research Postgraduate Student Conference/Field Trip Sponsorships
25
Other Scholarships
26 Terms and Conditions of Postgraduate Studentships (PGSs)
29
Admission to
MPhil / PhD Programmes
29 Admission of Students
30 Additional Admission Requirements
32 Application for Admission
37
Research
at Lingnan
37 Current Research Areas
40 Research Interests of Staff
57 Research Institutes, Centres and Programmes
64 Fees
65
Other
Information
65 The Campus
69 Student Services
Vision, Mission and Core Values
Vision
To excel as an internationally recognised liberal arts university distinguished by outstanding teaching, learning, scholarship and community engagement.
Mission
Lingnan University is committed to:
• providing quality whole-person education informed by the best of Chinese and Western liberal arts traditions;
• nurturing all-round excellence in students, including such attributes as critical thinking, broad vision, versatile skills, socially responsible values, and leadership in a changing world; and
• encouraging faculty and students to contribute to society through original research and knowledge transfer.
Liberal Arts Education at
Lingnan University
At Lingnan University, liberal arts education is achieved through our deliberately small enrolment, broad-based curriculum, close staff-student relationship, rich residential life and extra-curricular activities, active community service and multi-faceted workplace experience, strong alumni and community support, and global learning opportunities.
Motto
Core Values
A collegial community of learning and discovery for students and scholar-teachers
Our University aims to build a community of learning and discovery with collegial students and scholar-teachers who respect each other, keep an open mind, embrace diversity, tolerate different views, uphold academic freedom and freedom of expression, and accept responsibility for their words and deeds.
Whole-person cultivation and all-round development
Our University makes the best effort to help its students achieve whole-person and all-round growth. All students strive for: independent and critical thinking; creativity and innovation; excellent communication skills including a high level of literacy; social responsibility; personal virtue; cultural accomplishment and passion for lifelong learning.
Community engagement and social responsibility
Our University encourages its members to care for others, to be responsible for their own actions, to serve the local community and beyond, and to make a positive impact for the betterment of humanity.
The Lingnan spirit
Thriving since the University’s founding in Canton (Guangzhou) in 1888 as Christian College in China, the Lingnan spirit has served to bond all Lingnanians together, and continues to inspire our University today. The Lingnan spirit is marked by passion, loyalty, perseverance, openness to different ideas and cultures, and a readiness to serve.
Principal Officers
of the University
Chancellor
The Honourable C Y LEUNG,
GBM, GBS, JP
梁振英先生
Chairman of the Council
Mr AUYEUNG Pak-kuen, Rex
歐陽伯權先生
BES (Waterloo Canada)
Deputy Chairman of the Council
Mr IP Shing-hing, Simon,
JP
葉成慶太平紳士
LLB (Hons); MA (DRArb)
Treasurer of the Council
Mrs SHUEN LEUNG Lai-sheung, Loretta
孫梁勵常女士
BSocSc (HKU); Master of Accounting Studies (UNE Australia);
FCPA (Aust); FCPA (HK); CTA (TIHK)
Chairman of the Court
Dr LAW Sai-kit, Frank
羅世傑醫生
BDS (Manchester UK)
Deputy Chairman of the Court
Mrs KOON WOO Kam-oi, Agnes
管胡金愛女士
BSocSc (HKU); ACII (UK); MIHRM (HK)
President
Prof. CHENG Leonard K,
JP
鄭國漢教授太平紳士
BSoSc (CUHK); MA, PhD (UC-Berkeley)
Vice-President
Prof. MOK Ka-ho, Joshua
莫家豪教授
Associate Vice-President (Academic Affairs)
Prof. WONG Yiu-chung
王耀宗教授
BA, MPhil (CUHK); MA (SUNY Binghamton); PhD (Queensland)
Associate Vice-President (Academic Quality
Assurance and Internationalisation)
Prof. SHARMA Shalendra
夏爾馬教授
BA, MA (Simon Fraser); PhD (Toronto)
Associate Vice-President (Student Affairs)
Dr LI Dong-hui
李東輝博士
BA (Peking); MA (Toledo); MA, PhD (Wisconsin-Madison)
Associate Vice-President and Comptroller
Dr SINGH Herdip
夏迪星博士
Dip (Lingnan); MBA (East Asia); PhD (TSU); CMA; MIPA
Dean of the Faculty of Arts
Prof. SUN Yifeng
孫藝風教授
BA (Nanjing); MLitt (Cantab); PhD (Leiden); FRSA
Dean of the Faculty of Business
Prof. LIU Liming
劉黎明教授
BEng, MEng (Huazhong Univ. of Sci. and Tech); PhD (Toronto)
Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences
Prof. WEI Xiangdong
魏向東教授
BSc (Zhongshan); MSocSc, PhD (Birmingham)
Principal Officers
Chair
Professors
Chair Professor of Economics
Professor Leonard K CHENG
BSoSc (CUHK); MA, PhD (UC-Berkeley)
Prof. Cheng became the President and Chair Professor of Economics of Lingnan University in September 2013.
After teaching at the University of Florida for 12 years, Prof. Cheng joined the HKUST Business School in 1992, where he served as Head of Economics, Associate Dean, and Director of PhD and MBA programmes before taking up the deanship from 2009 to 2013. The Financial Times ranked the School’s joint EMBA Programme with the Kellogg School of Management of Northwestern University as the best EMBA programme in the world for four consecutive years from 2009 to 2012, and the School’s own full-time MBA programme among the world’s top ten for four consecutive years from 2010 to 2013. Prof. Cheng has served as an associate editor of the Journal of International Economics and Pacific Economic Review. He has been an adviser to many organisations locally and regionally. Among others, he was a member of the Broadcasting Authority (which later became part of the Communications Authority) and the Provisional Minimum Wage Commission of the HKSAR Government. Currently,
he is a Non-Executive Director of the Securities and Futures Commission (SFC), Chairman of SFC’s Investor Education Centre, member of the Competition Commission, Economic Development Commission of the HKSAR Government, and the Independent Commission on Remuneration for Members of the Executive Council and the Legislature, and Officials under the Political Appointment System of the HKSAR.
Chair Professor of Comparative Policy
Professor MOK Ka-ho, Joshua
BA (CityU); MPhil (CUHK); PhD (LSE, London)
Prof. Mok is the Vice-President and concurrently Chair Professor of Comparative Policy of Lingnan University. Before joining Lingnan, he was the Vice President (Research and Development) and Chair Professor of Comparative Policy of The Hong Kong Institute of Education, and the Associate Dean and Professor of Social Policy, Faculty of Social Sciences of The University of Hong Kong. Prior to this, Prof. Mok was appointed as the Founding Chair Professor in East Asian Studies and established the Centre for East Asian Studies at the University of Bristol, United Kingdom.
Prof. Mok is no narrow disciplinary specialist but has worked creatively across the academic worlds of sociology, political science, and public and social policy while building up his wide knowledge of China and the region. Prof. Mok completed his undergraduate studies in Public and Social Administration at the City University of Hong Kong in 1989, and received an MPhil and PhD in Sociology from The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 1991 and The London School of Economics and Political Science in 1994 respectively.
In addition, Prof. Mok has published extensively in the fields of comparative education policy, comparative development and policy studies, and social development in contemporary China and East Asia. In particular, he has contributed to the field of social change and education policy in a variety of ways, not the least of which has been his leadership and entrepreneurial approach to the organisation of the field. His recent published works have focused on comparative social development and social policy responses in the Greater China region and East Asia. He is also the founding Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Asian Public Policy (London: Routledge) and Asian Education and Development Studies (Emerald) as well as a Book Series Editor for Routledge and Springer.
Chair
Professors
Lee Shau Kee Foundation
Chair Professor of Political Science
Professor Shalendra SHARMA
BA, MA (Simon Fraser); PhD (Toronto)
Prof. Sharma joined Lingnan in August 2013 as its Chair Professor of Political Science and was appointed as the Acting Vice-President from August 2014 to August 2015.
Prof. Sharma received his PhD in Political Science from the University of Toronto in 1992. In 1993, he joined the Department of Politics at the University of San Francisco (USF) where he has taught since. He is the author of five books. These include, Global Financial Contagion: Building a Resilient World Economy after the Great Recession (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2013); China and India in the Age of Globalization (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2009), which was the winner of the 2010 Alpha Sigma Nu Book Award – awarded by the Association of Jesuit Colleges and Universities in the United States, Canada and South Korea and the Alpha Sigma Nu Honour Society; Achieving Economic Development in the Era of Globalization (Routledge, 2007); The Asian Financial Crisis: Meltdown, Reform and Recovery (Manchester University Press, 2003); and Democracy and Development in India (Lynne Rienner Publishers, 1999), which
won the Choice Outstanding Academic Title for 1999. He is also the editor of Asia in the New Millennium: Geopolitics, Security and Foreign Policy (Institute of East Asian Studies, UC Berkeley, 2000). Prof. Sharma was the recipient of USF’s University-wide Distinguished Teaching Award for 1996-97 and the University-wide Distinguished Research Award for 2002-03. During 2006-07, he was a Visiting Professor at Universiteit Leiden, the Netherlands. He has also consulted for the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
Chair Professor of Computing and
Decision Sciences
Professor LIU Liming
BEng, MEng (Huazhong Univ. of Sci. and Tech); PhD (Toronto)
Prof. Liu joined Lingnan as a Chair Professor in Operations Management in July 2011. Prior to joining the Faculty of Business at Lingnan University, he taught in the Department of Logistics and Maritime Studies at The Hong Kong Polytechnic University from 2006 to 2011 and at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology from 1993 to 2006.
Prof. Liu has a wide range of research interests in logistics, supply chain management, stochastic models, and port operations and economics. Starting his academic career in queueing theory and inventory management, he is now an active researcher in supply chain management and logistics with publications in the leading journals in the fields including Management Science, Operations Research, Manufacturing and Service Management, Production and Operations Management, Transportation Research B, Mathematics of Operations Research, European Journal of Operational Research, Queueing Systems, and Naval Research Logistics. Prof. Liu has recently been involved in both theoretical and empirical research projects in port competition and
development policy and shopping economics, with publications in Maritime Policy and Management, and Journal of the Transportation Research Board. Prof. Liu has been successful in securing research funding from the Hong Kong Research Grants Council and he is currently the Principal Investigator/ Project Manager of several regular research grants. He has completed two NSFC-RGC joint research projects with a team from Huazhong University of Science and Technology and a team from Shanghai Jiaotong University, respectively.
Chair
Professors
J K Lee
Chair Professor of Accountancy
Professor CHAN Koon-hung
BCom (CUHK); MAccSc (Illinois); PhD (Penn. State); FCPA (HK)
Prof. Chan received his foundational education at Lingnan Middle School on Stubbs Road, Hong Kong, before completing his bachelor degree in Accountancy at The Chinese University of Hong Kong and his graduate degrees at the University of Illinois and the Pennsylvania State University. He is a Fellow of the Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants. Prof. Chan served on the Editorial Review Board of Contemporary Accounting Research (2010-13) and the Editorial Advisory and Review Board of The Accounting Review (2014 to present). Prof. Chan’s current research and teaching interests are in auditing, taxation and international accounting with a focus on China as a developing economy. He has published widely in reputable international refereed journals, including research articles in Journal of Accounting and Economics, Contemporary Accounting Research, The Accounting Review, Review of Accounting Studies, Econometrica, Journal of the American Taxation Association, Auditing: A Journal of Practice and Theory, Journal of Accounting, Auditing and Finance, Journal of Business Finance and Accounting, Journal of International Accounting Research, Accounting and Business
Research, Abacus, International Journal of Accounting, and Decision Sciences. He has also co-authored four major research monographs, two on international transfer pricing, one on computer planning, and one on A Dream of the Red Chambers and Corporate Governance of Family Business. His recent research topics include international transfer pricing, book-tax tradeoff theory, tax compliance and public policies, audit quality and independence, patterns of audit-detected accounting errors, cultural influences in auditing and conventional wisdoms in management. Prof. Chan served as Academic Dean of the Business Faculty in 2005-10, Head of Accounting and Finance Department in 2000-04 and Head of Accountancy Department in 2004-05 and 2011-15.
Lee Wing Tat
Chair Professor of Chinese Literature
Professor CAI Zong-qi
MA (Zhongshan); MA (UMass Amherst); PhD (Princeton)
Prof. Cai joined Lingnan as a chair professor in 2013. After he received his doctorate from Princeton University, he taught at the State University of New York at Stony Brook and completed his postdoctoral work at University of Michigan at Ann Arbor before moving to the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign in 1993, where he has been teaching ever since.
Prof. Cai’s research and teaching interests are classical Chinese poetry and poetics, literary theory, comparative literature, aesthetics, and philosophy. He is the author of The Matrix of Lyric Transformation: Poetic Modes and Self-Presentation in Early Chinese Pentasyllabic Poetry (Michigan, 1996), Configurations of Comparative Poetics: Three Perspectives on Western and Chinese Literary Criticism (Hawaii, 2002; Chinese edition published by Peking University Press in 2012), and How to Read Chinese Poetry Workbook (co-authored with CUI Jie; Columbia, 2011). He has edited A Chinese Literary Mind: Culture, Creativity, and Rhetoric in Wenxin Dialong (Stanford, 2001), Chinese Aesthetics: The Ordering of Literature, the Arts, and the Universe in the Six Dynasties (Hawaii, 2004), and How to Read Chinese Poetry: A Guided Anthology
(Columbia, 2008). He has also published numerous articles in both English and Chinese on classical Chinese poetry, literary criticism, comparative literature and philosophy (For pdf files of his published works, please visit http://zongqicai.weebly.com). Prof. Cai is the co-founding editor-in-chief of Journal of Chinese Literature and Culture (JCLC), a semi-annual journal co-hosted by Peking University and University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign and published by Duke University Press. This journal, launched in 2014, primarily published research articles and essays on premodern Chinese literature and all aspects of the broader literary culture. It is committed to an international editorial vision and to promoting in-depth exchange and collaboration among scholars working in China, America, and other parts of the world.
Working with his colleagues in the Chinese Department, Prof. Cai has helped to re-launch Lingnan Journal of Chinese Studies, once a renowned serial publication known for its cutting-edge scholarship on Chinese traditional learning.
Chair
Professors
Sydney S W Leong
Chair Professor of Economics
Professor Jesús SEADE
BPhil, DPhil (Oxon); BSc Chem. Eng. (UNAM Mexico)
Prof. Seade joined Lingnan University in January 2007 as its Chair Professor of Economics and served as Vice-President from 2008 until August 2014, when he stepped down to return fully to teaching, research and policy work.
He has been a leading contributor to economic theory and policy-making from a range of senior positions in academia, international economic organisations and government. Prof. Seade held a Chair in Economics at Warwick University before becoming Mexico‘s Chief Negotiator to the Uruguay Round and Ambassador to GATT; (founding) Deputy Director-General of the WTO, and Senior Adviser at the IMF where he headed crisis-management work on Brazil, Argentina and Turkey, oversaw all IMF work on Transparency and led IMF work on debt write-off for 18 highly indebted poor countries in Africa. Since his arrival at Lingnan in 2007, Prof. Seade started a work programme at Lingnan with a group of colleagues on International Financial Centres and the liberalisation of the Chinese economy, area where he and the department remain very active. Prof. Seade is concurrently Distinguished Adjunct Professor at Shenzhen University (PRC), member of the Board
of Overseers of Morningside College (CUHK), Honorary Professor at Warwick University in the UK, Senior Fellow and Honorary Doctor at Asian College of Knowledge Management and has been a member of HKSAR Government’s advisory boards on Financial Services development and on Trade and Industry.
Hong Kong Economic Journal
Chair Professor of Finance
Professor Michael FIRTH
BS (Metro. State); MA, MBS (Colorado); MPhil (Warwick); MSc, PhD (Bradford); FCA; FCPA; CTA; CFA; CIIA; FHKSI
Prof. Firth started his career as an accountant with Poulsom & Co, a firm of chartered accountants. Subsequently he worked as an auditor for Whinney Murray (Ernst and Young) and as an investment analyst at Phillips and Drew (UBS Phillips and Drew). He has professional qualifications in accounting and finance and earned his PhD at Bradford University. Prof. Firth’s first academic post was at the University of Stirling. Subsequent professorial appointments were at Victoria University of Wellington, the University of Colorado, Lingnan University, and The Hong Kong Polytechnic University. He has published seven books and more than 150 journal articles. He rejoined Lingnan University as Chair Professor of Finance in 2007. He has held visiting positions at University of British Columbia, University of California at Los Angeles, Europe Management Institute (Beijing), China-Europe International Business School (Shanghai), Norges Handelshoyskole, Helsinki School of Economics, and Nanyang Technological University. He is currently a director of the Hong Kong Securities and Investment Institute, a professional body established to raise standards of securities and finance practitioners and to provide licensing examinations.
Prof. Firth’s main research areas are empirical investigations of contemporary issues in accounting, auditing, corporate finance, investments, and industrial organisation. With colleagues, he has studied the economic reforms in China and written many papers dealing with changes in accounting policy and the development of corporate governance and capital markets.
Chair
Professors
Chair Professor of History
Professor Richard L DAVIS
BA, MA (SUNY Buffalo); MA, PhD (Princeton)
Prof. Davis is native to Buffalo, New York (USA), where he attended The State University of New York as undergraduate and double-majored in Asian Studies and Political Science. He also received the MA in History from Buffalo before proceeding to Princeton University’s East Asian Studies Department, where he completed the PhD in 1980 under the direction of the late James T C LIU.
A student of Chinese history for the Five Dynasties and Song periods (ca. 900-1300), he is author of three single-authored books related to the period’s social, political, and cultural history. He is best known for Court and Family in Sung China: Bureaucratic Success and Kinship Fortunes for the Shih of Ming-chou (Duke University Press, 1986). His second monograph, Wind Against the Mountain: The Crisis of Politics and Culture in Thirteenth-Century China (Harvard University Press, 1996), was published in Chinese translation, in Beijing, in 2003. His translation of OUYANG Xiu’s Historical Records of the Five Dynasties, published by Columbia University Press in 2004, was released in paperback in 2008. He also authored political narrative for the late Southern Song in the Cambridge History of China, Volume 5: The Sung Dynasty and its Precursors (Cambridge University Press, 2009). His biography of
The Chinese translation of his first book was released in 2014 by Zhonghua Shuju, Beijing. The English version of his biography of Zhuangzong, published previously in Chinese only, is scheduled for release next year by Hong Kong University Press. Prof. Davis has recently completed his sixth book, a biography of Mingzong (r. 926-33), which was published in 2014 by Hong Kong University Press. Prof. Davis was a recipient in 2012-13 of an award under the RGC’s Prestigious Fellowship Scheme. Prof. Davis is President of the Song Studies Group for the Lingnan Region and Foundation Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy of the Humanities. Before joining the faculty at Lingnan in 2006, Prof. Davis taught in the History Department at Brown University for 17 years, during which he also chaired the East Asian Studies Department. He previously taught at Duke University, as Assistant and Associate Professor. Additionally, he has held two-year visiting appointments at Middlebury College in Vermont and National Chung Cheng University in Taiwan. He has spent several years conducting research at the Academia Sinica, in Taipei. He has personally directed student study tours for China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Japan. His teaching interests include late imperial China, comparative cultural history, and comparative
Chair Professor of Philosophy
Professor Paisley Nathan LIVINGSTON
BA (Stanford); PhD (Johns Hopkins)
Prof. Livingston’s main areas of research are the history of aesthetics and the philosophy of art. His publications include Cinema, Philosophy, Bergman (Oxford University Press, 2009), Art and Intention (Oxford University Press, 2005), Models of Desire (Johns Hopkins University Press, 1992), Literature and Rationality (Cambridge University Press, 1992), Literary Knowledge (Cornell University Press, 1988), and Ingmar Bergman and the Rituals of Art (Cornell University Press, 1982); he has co-edited The Creation of Art (Cambridge University Press, 2003) and The Routledge Companion to Philosophy and Film (Routledge, 2009); he has also published over 60 articles in various scholarly journals, anthologies, and reference
works. Prior to joining Lingnan, Prof. Livingston held teaching and research positions at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (USA), McGill University (Canada), the University of Aarhus and the University of Copenhagen (Denmark), Siegen University (Germany), l’Ecole Polytechnique (Paris), and Zinbun (Kyoto).
Chair
Professors
Chair Professor of Social Gerontology
Professor CHAN Cheung-ming, Alfred
BA (East London); MSc (Edinburgh); CertPsy (Lond.); PhD (Surrey); CQSW; RMN; MHKAG; RSW (HK); SBS; JP
Prof. Chan is both an academic in social gerontology and a practitioner in welfare services for the elderly. Starting his career as a nurse and later on as a social worker serving the elderly, Prof. Chan is strongly experienced in health and social care services as well as policy-making in related areas. He is currently the Director of Asia-Pacific Institute of Ageing Studies and Office of Service-Learning, which he founded in 2006 in the promotion of “Liberal Arts Education” to university students through “Serving-to-Learn; Learning-to-Serve.” Prof. Chan has served in many advisory bodies of the HKSAR Government and he is currently the Chairman of the Elderly Commission, Member of Independent Police Complaints Council (IPCC), Member of Statistics Advisory Board, Census and Statistics Department, Member of Hospital Authority (HA) Review Steering Committee of Food and Health Bureau, Member of Minimum Wage Commission, Member of Population Expert Group of Central Policy Unit, and Convener of Healthcare Services Industry Consultative Networks of Employees Retraining Board (ERB). He is also a
member of the Hong Kong World Health Organisation Quality of Life Instruments (Elderly) Study Team, and a consultant on ageing and social development issues for the United Nations Economics and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UNESCAP). He has recently been appointed by Tsao’s Foundation of Singapore and National University of Singapore (NUS) to be the Adviser for their International Longevity Centre (ILC) from June 2011.
In recognition of Prof Chan’s invaluable contributions to the community, he was appointed as Justice of Peace (JP) in 2001, and was awarded the Bronze Bauhinia Star (BBS) and the Silver Bauhinia Star (SBS) by the HKSAR Government in 2006 and 2015 respectively.
Lam Woo & Co Ltd
Chair Professor of Social Policy
Professor David Rosser PHILLIPS
BScEcon, PhD (Wales)
Prof. Phillips has research, teaching and postgraduate supervision interests in global health, health care, social epidemiology, and work-life balance, with a special focus on social gerontology and issues related to demographic ageing. He established Lingnan’s Asia-Pacific Institute of Ageing Studies in 1997 and was founder Co-ordinator of the Asian Ageing Research Network of the Asian Development Research Forum. He has extensive research experience in Asia, Africa and the Caribbean and has worked as an adviser with WHO, UNESCAP and other international organisations. He has held visiting appointments or external examinerships at a number of universities, including The University of Hong Kong, National University of Singapore, The University of the West Indies and The University of Ulster. He is currently an honorary (adjunct) professor at Macquarie University, Sydney, Australia and formerly at The University of Nottingham, UK and McMaster University, Ontario, Canada.
Previously, at the University of Exeter, UK, he was Director of the Institute of Population Studies and its WHO Collaborating
Centre in the Human Reproduction Programme, and Reader in Health Studies. He was thereafter Professor of Human Geography at The University of Nottingham. He is an elected Fellow of the Academia Europaea and an elected Corresponding Member of the Royal Belgian Academy for Overseas Sciences. He has been an advisory editor to Social Science and Medicine, and is currently on the editorial boards of Health and Place, Ageing International and Revista Economia, Sociedad y Territorio, and he is an executive editor of the Asian Journal of Gerontology and Geriatrics. He has published over one hundred papers. His authored or edited/co-edited books since 1990 include Health and Health Care in the Third World (Longman, 1990); Ageing in East and Southeast Asia (Edward Arnold, 1992); Health and Development (Routledge, 1994); Environment and Ageing (CUPEM, The University of Hong Kong, 1999); Ageing in the Asia-Pacific Region (Routledge, 2000); Ageing and Long-term Care: National Policies in the Asia-Pacific (ISEAS, Singapore, 2002); Ageing and Place (Routledge, 2005, 2008) and Global Health (Routledge, 2012).
Chair
Professors
Chair Professor of Social Theory
Professor Peter BAEHR
BSocSc, PhD (Leicester); CertEd (Manchester)
Prof. Baehr is a sociologist with a special interest in social and political theory. Before coming to Hong Kong in 2000, he taught in Britain and Canada. His research investigates the reception of classic texts, the nature of political language, and the lineage of predatory regimes (tyranny, despotism, dictatorship, Caesarism, totalitarianism). Prof. Baehr is an award-winning author whose work has been translated into seven languages. His books are published by Cambridge University Press, Cornell University Press, and Stanford University Press; also by Penguin and Transaction.
Aside from his position at Lingnan University, Prof. Baehr is Raymond Aron Fellow of the Institute for the Advancement of the Social Sciences at Boston University and a past President (now Council member) of the History of Sociology Research Committee for the International Sociological Association (ISA). He has delivered keynote speeches and/or held visiting professorships in Beijing, Bremen, Copenhagen, Kabul, Rome, Osaka, Tehran and Vancouver. He sits as an international editor on eight journals. Prof. Baehr’s articles have appeared
in such venues as the American Sociological Review, The American Sociologist, Archives européennes de sociologie, Harvard International Review, History and Theory, Political Theory, and Sociological Theory.
Chair Professor of Visual Studies
Professor Mette HJORT
BA, MA (McGill); PhD (EHESS, Paris)
Prof. Hjort’s main teaching and research areas at Lingnan are cognitive film studies and environmental aesthetics. She is the author of The Strategy of Letters (Harvard University Press), Small Nation, Global Cinema (University of Minnesota Press), Stanley Kwan’s “Center Stage” (Hong Kong University Press), and Lone Scherfig’s “Italian for Beginners” (University of Washington Press). She is the editor or co-editor of Creativity and Academic Activism: Instituting Cultural Studies (Hong Kong University Press and Duke University Press), Film and Risk (Wayne State University Press), Rules and Conventions (Johns Hopkins University Press), Emotion and the Arts (Oxford University Press), Cinema and Nation (Routledge), Purity and Provocation (BFI), The Postnational Self (University of Minnesota Press), The Cinema of Small Nations (Edinburgh University Press), and Dekalog 01: On The Five Obstructions (Wallflower). Prof. Hjort’s interest in practitioner’s agency is reflected in a series of three co-edited interview books, all published by Intellect: The Danish Directors, The Danish Directors 2: Dialogues on the New Danish Fiction Cinema, and The Danish Directors 3: Dialogues on the New Danish Documentary Cinema. Prof. Hjort has translated two books by French art historian Louis MARIN, Food for Thought (Johns Hopkins University Press) and To Destroy Painting
(University of Chicago Press). She is the Series Editor, with Peter SCHEPELERN, for the Nordic Film Classics Series (University of Washington Press). Prof. Hjort holds an Affiliate Professorship in Scandinavian Studies at the University of Washington, Seattle, and is an Honorary Professor at the Centre for Modern European Studies at the University of Copenhagen. She is a founding fellow of the Hong Kong Academy of the Humanities.
Before coming to Hong Kong, Prof. Hjort held tenured positions at McGill University in Canada and at Aalborg University in Denmark. She has been a visiting professor at University College, London, and a Leverhulme visiting professor of Film Studies at St Andrews University in Scotland. Her research has been funded by the Quebec Research Fund, the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada, the Danish Research Councils, the Leverhulme Trust, and the Hong Kong Research Grants Council.
Prof. Hjort is currently working on projects in the area of environmental aesthetics and on the creative, social, and institutional contributions made by different kinds of film schools and film training programmes.
General Information
on Research Postgraduate Studies
Introduction
Lingnan University, formerly Lingnan College, is the only liberal arts university in the HKSAR, with the longest established tradition among the local institutions of higher education. The University was incorporated on 30 July 1999 following the enactment of the Lingnan University Ordinance. Its history, however, dates back to 1888, when its forerunner, the prestigious Lingnan University in Guangzhou, China, was founded.
The University has developed its research postgraduate programmes in stages. Lingnan accepted its first batch of Master of Philosophy (MPhil) students in Social Sciences and Translation in September 1995. In 1997, MPhil programmes in Chinese and Business were added to the portfolio. In 2000, the University launched its Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programmes taking into account that Lingnan had successfully produced MPhil graduates and strengthened its staff profile. In the same year, as the University had staff expertise in research areas outside the disciplines of the existing programmes, the domain of its postgraduate programmes was expanded.
The degree of MPhil or PhD will be awarded by the University when a candidate has successfully completed an approved programme of supervised research, has presented a written thesis satisfying the requirements specified for that award, has successfully defended the thesis in the presence of the examiners, and has satisfied other requirements as stipulated by the University authorities.
Programmes of Studies
The University invites applications for the following twelve research postgraduate programmes at master’s and doctoral levels:
Arts : Chinese, Cultural Studies, English, History, Philosophy, Translation, and Visual Studies;
Business : Accounting, Decision Sciences, Finance, Information Systems Management, Insurance, International Business, Management, Marketing, and Operations Management; and
Social Sciences : Economics, Political Science, Psychology,and Sociology and/or Social Policy. Both MPhil and PhD programmes lead to in-depth study in specific research areas.
The University recruits mainly full-time students. As the University Grants Committee no longer funds new part-time students, part-time students have to be self-financed.
Period of Study
The University academic year starts at the beginning of September and ends at the end of August in the following calendar year.
Academic Year
The normal duration expected for the completion of an approved programme of research leading to the degree of MPhil or PhD is as follows:
Normal Duration
Degree
Study Mode
Normal Period
MPhil Full-time 2 years Part-time 3 years
PhD Full-time 3 years (with a relevant master’s degree) 4 years (without a relevant master’s degree) Full-time 5 years (with a relevant master’s degree)
6 years (without a relevant master’s degree)
Subject to the discretion of the Postgraduate Studies Committee, the minimum period of research is as follows:
Minimum Duration
Degree
Study Mode
Minimum Period
MPhil Full-time 18 months
Part-time 30 months
PhD Full-time 30 months
General Information
on Research Postgraduate Studies
Exceptionally, the period of registered research may be extended to a maximum period as specified below:
Maximum Duration
Degree
Study Mode
Minimum Period
MPhil Full-time 36 months Part-time 48 months
PhD Full-time 60 months (with a relevant master’s degree) 72 months (without a relevant master’s degree) Part-time 84 months (with a relevant master’s degree)
96 months (without a relevant master’s degree)
Recognition of Previous Research Work
If a candidate has undertaken part of a research programme as a registered candidate for a research degree in a university or such other recognised institution of higher education, he/she may make an application explaining what work has been done and its relevance to the University programme. The maximum credit to be given to such work, in the event such application has been approved, shall not exceed 50% of the normal period of research.
Supervision and Progress
The Postgraduate Studies Committee under the Senate of the University administers and manages all aspects of the progress of all candidatures, with the support of the Registry.
Lingnan University’s faculty includes many world-class scholars and a large number of fine up-and-coming younger academics. The University has 134 faculty from 18 countries with PhD and other advanced degrees from Cambridge, Harvard, MIT, Oxford, Princeton, Stanford, UC-Berkeley, Yale, etc. The diversity of research expertise among staff means that the University can offer expert supervision in many areas, including supervision of interdisciplinary projects.
Upon admission, each MPhil student will be assigned a Supervisor (may be with one or more Co-supervisor(s) where appropriate), while a PhD student will be assigned a Chief Supervisor and at least one Co-supervisor. Supervisors will closely guide their students in the early phases of their research and thereafter will be responsible for helping them to work independently.
The student and his/her supervisor should from the outset of the MPhil/PhD study discuss and agree on a provisional thesis topic and the coursework to be taken if necessary. A student may be required to take some undergraduate/postgraduate course(s) in order to strengthen his/her academic background. In addition to courses offered by the University, students may enrol in courses listed under a collaborative scheme established by the eight universities/institutions in Hong Kong that are offering research postgraduate programmes.
The candidature of an MPhil or a PhD student is regarded as provisional during the initial period of study. Within the initial 6 to 10 months for full-time students and 9 to 15 months for part-time students, a student must prepare an outline paper for presentation at a topic-defence seminar and submit a report on research progress for assessment of confirmation of candidature. Additional requirements may be set as necessary. A student with his/her candidature confirmed can continue his/her research programme. He/She is required to submit annual progress reports and present his/her research findings in a seminar a few months before his/her MPhil/PhD thesis examination. He/She shall submit a thesis meeting the specified requirements and undergo an oral examination of his/her thesis by a Panel of Examiners. He/She may be required to satisfy other requirements as stipulated by the relevant University authorities.
In particular, additional requirements such as passing a candidacy examination and meeting coursework requirements have been specified for the PhD in Business programme. Details are available from the University website.
General Information
on Research Postgraduate Studies
Residence Requirements
The University deems it important for each student to interact with his/her supervisor(s) and with peer students. A student, full-time or part-time, is required to participate in seminars and other academic activities of the University. Supervisors shall encourage and advise students to participate in activities relevant to their studies and report students’ participation to the Postgraduate Studies Committee.
Full-time students are expected to be on campus during term time except for approved field trips or study conducted outside Hong Kong and approved leave of absence.
Part-time students are required to participate in seminars or other academic activities of the University on campus at least once a term.
Concurrent Registration
A full-time student of the University is not allowed to pursue simultaneously any programme at another tertiary institution without the prior permission of the University. A student in breach of this regulation is subject to having his/her studies at the University discontinued.
Financial Support
The University has endeavoured to provide research postgraduate students with financial assistance to enable them to devote full efforts to their studies and to facilitate their research studies and professional development.
Fellowships and Studentships
A full-time PhD student will normally be awarded with either a PhD Fellowship or a Postgraduate Studentship. A full-time MPhil student will normally be awarded a Postgraduate Studentship.
b) Postgraduate Studentships (PGSs)
PGSs are awarded to full-time MPhil/PhD students to support their daily subsistence, tuition fees and other expenses that may incur during the course of their studies. The monthly stipend for 2015-16 is HK$14,940 for an MPhil student; HK$15,150 for a PhD student before confirmation of candidature; and HK$15,460 for a PhD student after confirmation of candidature. The award is renewable on an annual basis.
As part of the training for postgraduate degree studies, fellowship or studentship recipients are required to perform, under supervision, teaching duties and/or research support duties of up to 12 hours per week on average. However, for a PGS/ Fellowship recipient who is in his/her final year of studies, the maximum duty hours is 6 hours per week on average. Please refer to the Terms and Conditions of PGSs section on p.26-28 for details.
Research Postgraduate Student Conference/Field Trip Sponsorships
The Sponsorships aim to provide financial support to students for conference participation and conducting field trips.
The University deems it important to provide support to research postgraduate students in academic activities, mainly conference attendance and conducting field trips, to nurture their academic and/or professional growth. Conference attendance is an important part of their educational experience and professional development. It may also be necessary for them to conduct field trips for their research studies.
The funding limit for supporting conferences, field trips and/or other exceptionally approved academic activities is HK$19,000 for an MPhil student, HK$25,000 for a regular PhD student and HK$30,000 for a Hong Kong PhD Fellowship awardee during his/ her entire period of study at Lingnan.
Other Scholarships
In addition, research postgraduate students are also eligible for a number of scholarships, which are normally awarded based on academic merits and recommendation of the department/programme concerned.
General Information
on Research Postgraduate Studies
1. Purpose of the Award
1.1 Postgraduate awards in the form of studentships are allocated to full-time postgraduate students of the University to provide them with financial assistance for their daily subsistence, tuition fees and other expenses that may incur during the course of their studies. The studentship award is provided to ensure that students need not concern themselves with looking for other sources of income to support themselves. Full-time students should devote full efforts to their studies. 1.2 Awards are based on academic merit and the suitability of
the proposed programme of study, as is the selection of applicants for admission to postgraduate studies.
2. Eligibility
Only full-time postgraduate students of the University are eligible to apply for PGSs. Applicants may simultaneously be recipients of government loans and grants, and these applicants will be treated like all others in the selection process. Holders of other scholarship awards may receive PGS provided that this does not violate the terms and conditions of the other awards.
3. Administration of PGSs
PGSs are awarded by the Postgraduate Studies Committee, upon the recommendation of the Research and Postgraduate Studies Committee of the programme concerned in which the student is registered or intending to register. The Postgraduate Studies Committee will decide on the amount and duration of the studentship award.
Terms and Conditions of Postgraduate Studentships (PGSs)
4. Duration and Amount of Award
4.1 PGSs are normally offered on an annual basis, but further awards may be granted to postgraduate students during their studies at the University, subject to good performance and the availability of funds. The award normally will not exceed the prescribed period of study, i.e. two academic years for MPhil students, three academic years for PhD students with a relevant master’s degree and four academic years for PhD students without a relevant master’s degree.
4.2 A PGS award normally commences on the day the academic year concerned begins. The award should not normally extend beyond the day the academic year concerned ends. Awards for subsequent years will be reviewed and offered before the beginning of the following academic year.
4.3 If a PGS recipient commences studies at a later date, the award will be calculated from the month the student commences studies, and the normal studentship period will be shortened accordingly.
4.4 The annual value of the studentship will be determined by the University from time to time. Payments to studentship recipients will be made monthly in arrears. University fees will not be remitted.
4.5 The amount of the award for a full studentship in 2015-16 is: MPhil students – HK$14,940 per month; PhD students before confirmation of candidature – HK$15,150 per month; PhD students after confirmation of candidature – HK$15,460 per month. A partial studentship which is a fraction of the amount for a full studentship may be awarded.
5. Other Conditions of PGSs
5.1 As part of his/her training for postgraduate degree studies, a PGS recipient who is not in the final year of studies will be required to perform, under supervision, teaching duties and/or research support duties of up to 12 hours per week on average for a full studentship. For a PGS recipient who is in his/her final year of studies, the maximum duty hours is 6 hours per week on average. The required duty hours will be prorated for a partial studentship recipient. For teaching duties, both classroom hours and preparation time are counted in the duty hours. Duties other than invigilation service will be assigned by the Research and Postgraduate Studies Committee of the programme in consultation with the Head of the Department/Supervisor concerned. All PGS recipients are required to provide invigilation service for examinations as assigned by the Registry.
5.2 As the provision of studentship award is to ensure that subsistence living of recipients are basically covered, students should devote full-time efforts to their studies. PGS recipients should not, therefore, engage in employment, full-time or part-time, with the University or any other employer, with the exception specified under the following section.
5.3 A PGS recipient who wishes to engage in part-time employment may submit an application for exemption from this restriction. The application will be considered by the Research and Postgraduate Studies Committee concerned on a case-by-case basis. The student may be allowed to engage in academic work, but the hours for both mandatory teaching/research assistance required for the PGS award as stipulated in section 5.1 above and the optional academic work should be subject to a limit to be determined by the Research and Postgraduate Studies Committee concerned. The Supervisor and Head
monitoring that the limit is not exceeded and that the student is not overburdened with the academic work so that he/she can complete his/her MPhil/PhD programme of study within time limit.
5.4 PGS recipients not performing satisfactorily in their programmes of study, including their assigned duties, may lose their award, but with at least one month’s notice. The University may also terminate the PGS award or suspend the award for a period of time on grounds deemed legitimate as determined by the Postgraduate Studies Committee and approved by the President. 5.5 The award of a PGS will automatically cease immediately
when the recipient has completed his/her programme of study at the University, or has ceased to be a full-time student, or has his/her studies terminated by the University.
5.6 PGS recipients are full-time students and are not staff of the University. However, the recipient may have a maximum of 14 working days of annual leave in an academic year. Those who arrive late will have their annual leave prorated. The recipient has to obtain the approval of both his/her Supervisor and the Head of the Department concerned before taking leave. Approval can be granted only if there is no interference with the teaching duties of the recipient. Therefore, it is desirable for the leave be taken during the summer months. The Department concerned shall keep the leave record of the recipient. All annual leave taken will be counted towards the period of study. In addition, a PGS recipient may apply for leave of absence in writing in accordance with the Academic Regulations Governing Research Postgraduate Studies.
5.7 A PGS recipient may relinquish the studentship with one month’s notice or one month stipend in lieu.
General Information
on Research Postgraduate Studies
N.B. 1. The terms and conditions described above may be changed from time to time by University authorities. In the event that changes have been made, the updated Terms and Conditions shall supersede earlier versions. 2. PGS awards are not income and are therefore not taxable.
Students concerned should observe the Terms and Conditions of the Fellowship issued by the Research Grants Council (RGC). Though HKPFS awardees are not awarded PGSs as other research postgraduate students, the Terms and Conditions stipulated herein are generally applicable to them, inter alia, the teaching duties and/or research support duties, employment restriction and annual leave.
Admission to
MPhil / PhD Programmes
Admission of Students
1. The admission of a student to the University is based on academic suitability and potential for a programme. There should be no discrimination on the grounds of sex, age, race, religion, ethnic origin or physical disability or others. 2. An applicant for admission to candidature for the degree of
MPhil should normally:
a) hold a relevant bachelor’s degree with first or second class honours or at an equivalent standard awarded by a tertiary education institution recognised for this purpose by the University; or
b) have obtained an equivalent qualification; or
c) have provided satisfactory evidence of academic and professional attainment.
3. An applicant for admission to candidature for the degree of PhD should normally:
a) hold a master’s degree awarded by a tertiary education institution recognised for this purpose by the University;
or
b) hold a relevant bachelor’s degree with first or second class honours or at an equivalent standard, and have registered in a programme of study for a master’s degree at a recognised tertiary education institution for at least one year and have evidence of research achievement; or
c) have obtained an equivalent qualification of a) or b) above; or
d) have provided satisfactory evidence of academic and professional attainment.
4. In addition to the above, an applicant whose degree is not from a tertiary institution in Hong Kong or an English-speaking country should obtain a minimum score of 550 (paper-based test) or 213 (computer-based test) or 79 (internet-based test) in the Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL), or a band score of 6.5 or above in the International English Language Testing System (IELTS), or an equivalent score in a recognised test, or an equivalent qualification to prove his/her language proficiency which will be considered on a case-by-case basis. Applicants are required to fulfil additional requirements, if any, set by the programmes to which they apply for admission.
5. For admission to Lingnan PhD programmes via the HKPFS, the RGC stipulated that for an applicant from a non-English speaking university, unless he/she provides proof that English is the language of instruction for all courses for the entrance qualification(s) of his/her proposed PhD programme(s), he/she is required to attach score results of TOEFL or IELTS in the PhD application. This requirement (mandatory submission of TOEFL/IELTS score results) can be exempted for applicants whose proposed PhD studies are specifically in non-English medium, e.g. Chinese. However, the applicants still have to meet the language requirements of the University as stipulated in paragraph 4 above. 6. The language for writing a thesis shall be determined at
the time of admission. A thesis should be written in English except for candidates in the Department of Chinese or those who are otherwise approved to write their theses in Chinese or another language. An applicant who intends to write his/her thesis in a language other than English shall indicate such in the application form for admission for consideration of the relevant department.
Admission to
MPhil / PhD Programmes
Additional Admission Requirements
The following programmes have specified additional requirements:
MPhil/PhD in Cultural Studies
An applicant who proposes to write the thesis in Chinese should seek approval from the Department by providing sound justifications. He/She may be required to demonstrate his/her ability in English and/or Chinese in an interview.
Enquiries: Ms Josephine TSUI
(852) 2616 7489 (852) 2572 5170 [email protected]
MPhil/PhD in History, MPhil/PhD in Philosophy and MPhil/PhD in Visual Studies
In lieu of the TOEFL/IELTS scores, an applicant may obtain Grade C or above in the Cambridge Test of Proficiency in English Language; or Grade C or above in English Language in the overseas General Certificate of Education (GCE).An applicant may be required to demonstrate his/her ability in English and/or Chinese through means of an interview.
History Programme
Enquiries: Ms Ann WONG
(852) 2616 7008 (852) 2467 7478 [email protected]
Philosophy Programme
Enquiries: Ms Vinnie CHEUNG
(852) 2616 7488 (852) 2467 0460 [email protected]
Visual Studies Programme
Enquiries: Mr Kaye WONG
(852) 2616 7456 (852) 2454 2130 [email protected]
MPhil/PhD in Translation
An applicant whose degree is not from a tertiary institution in Hong Kong or an English-speaking country should normally have a TOEFL score of 600 (paper-based test) or 250 (computer-(paper-based test) or 100 (internet-(paper-based test) or a minimum band score of 7 in the IELTS, or an equivalent score in a recognised English language proficiency test, or an equivalent qualification to prove his/her language proficiency which will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Enquiries: Ms Willie CHAN
(852) 2616 7969 (852) 2465 2246 [email protected]
MPhil in Business
An applicant is strongly recommended to provide results of Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT) or Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) taken within the last three years. GMAT or GRE results will be used together with other evidence provided in the application to assess the applicant’s command of English and potential for the programme applied.
PhD in Business
Enquiries: Ms Vanessa CHAN
(852) 2616 8375 (852) 2572 4171 [email protected]
a) An applicant should:
i) hold a relevant master’s degree* from a recognised university with a good GPA; or
ii) hold a relevant bachelor’s degree with first or second class honours or at an equivalent standard, and have registered in a programme of study for a master’s degree at a recognised tertiary education institution for at least one year and have evidence of research achievement; or
iii) hold a relevant bachelor’s degree with first or second class honours or at an equivalent standard, and have obtained a professional qualification that requires
graduate entry and not less than two years (full-time) of professional experience; or
iv) have obtained an equivalent qualification of i) or ii) or iii) above.
b) An applicant should submit official GMAT or GRE result with a satisfactory score within the past three years.
* A relevant master’s degree includes a business master’s degree offered by the Business Faculty of Lingnan University or by the business faculty of an approved institution. A non-business degree can be considered for relevance on a case-by-case basis.
MPhil/PhD in Economics, MPhil/PhD in Political Science,
MPhil/PhD in Psychology and MPhil/PhD in Sociology and/or Social Policy
In lieu of the TOEFL and IELTS scores, an applicant can submit results from the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), GRE, GMAT, Member of Institute of Linguists (MIL), or the College English Test (CET) of the People’s Republic of China, or an equivalent qualification to prove his/her language proficiency which will be considered on a case-by-case basis.
Economics
Programme
Enquiries:
Ms Ada YEUNG
(852) 2616 7191 (852) 2891 7940 [email protected]Political Science
Programme
Enquiries:
Ms Ivy TSANG
(852) 2616 7169 (852) 2465 1429 [email protected]Psychology
Programme
Enquiries:
Ms Kit LAI
(852) 2616 7163 (852) 2456 0737 [email protected]Sociology and/
or Social Policy
Programme
Enquiries:
Ms Grace WONG
(852) 2616 7192 (852) 2456 0737Admission to
MPhil / PhD Programmes
Application for Admission
◆ Applicants who are interested in seeking admission to the MPhil programmes should apply to the University directly.
◆ Applicants may seek admission to the PhD programmes in two ways as follows:
a) Outstanding and brilliant applicants may seek admission via the HKPFS established by the RGC. Successful awardees of the Scheme will be provided with a Fellowship with a monthly stipend of HK$20,000; or
b) Applicants may apply to the University directly. Successful applicants will normally be provided with a PGS with a monthly stipend of HK$15,150 before confirmation of candidature and HK$15,460 after confirmation of candidature (rate subject to review). (US$1 = HK$7.8)
Apply for PhD Programmes via the
HKPFS
Established by the RGC of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR) Government, the HKPFS aims at attracting the best and brightest students in the world to pursue their PhD programmes in Hong Kong’s institutions.
To apply for admission, please login the Admission System of the RGC at www.rgc.edu.hk/hkphd from 1 September to 1 December 2015 (Hong Kong Time 12:00 noon). Each applicant will be allocated a reference number. The applicant is then required to submit a full application directly to Lingnan’s electronic system at www.LN.edu.hk/admissions/applyonline
on or before 2 December 2015 by quoting the reference number assigned to them by the RGC for verification and settle the application fee. No late application will be accepted.
ones for the Hong Kong PhD Fellowships. Those who are nominated but are not finally offered the Fellowship, and those not selected for nomination for the Fellowship, will be given consideration for admission as PhD students at Lingnan taking up places assigned to the University with PGS awards.
Apply for MPhil/PhD Programmes
Directly
Application Period
The University invites applications from 2 November 2015 to 29 January 2016. Applications received by the Registry after the above application period will be regarded as late applications. Late applications will be considered on an individual basis, subject to the availability of places.
Application Methods
Applicants may apply for admission by submitting an application via the Online Application System. The University reserves its rights to nullify applications for the same programme and accordingly forfeit any payments concerned. Online applications will only be accepted upon online payment of the application fee by a Visa or Master credit card.
Programme Choice
An applicant is expected to submit one application indicating one programme choice. An applicant may apply for a maximum of two programmes. This restriction also applies to an applicant submitting applications in both ways, i.e. via the HKPFS and directly to the University. It is however expected that applicants will apply through either one of the two ways. It is permissible for an applicant to apply for two PhD programmes, one via the HKPFS and one via direct admission to the University, as long as the applicant does not apply for the same programme in two ways.
The programme choice(s) cannot be changed after submission. Application for more than two programmes may lead to disqualification of all the applications concerned and any fees paid will be forfeited.
Application Fee
The application fee during the application period is HK$200 per programme, while the late application fee is HK$400 per programme.
The Registry will process applications only upon the settlement of requisite payment concerned.
Procedures for Online Application
1. Access to Online Application System
An applicant may access the University’s Online Application System via the Internet at www.LN.edu.hk/admissions/ applyonline. Only one programme can be applied for in one application. An applicant who wishes to apply for two programmes has to submit two applications.
Application for PGS is optional. An applicant for full-time studies who wishes to apply for the award shall indicate in the application form. Please refer to the Terms and Conditions of PGSs section on p.26-28 for details.
2. Uploading of Research Proposals and
Supporting Documents
An applicant should upload his/her detailed research proposal, one for each application.
The applicant should substantiate the qualifications entered on the application forms by uploading the following documents:
a) a copy of the graduation certificate(s) and transcript(s) with a complete record of courses attended and examination results of his/her undergraduate studies and above; and
b) a copy of the relevant documents, e.g. reports of GMAT/TOEFL results and certificates of professional qualifications.
HKPFS applicants are additionally required to submit the following supporting documents:
a) a brief research plan (to describe the proposed research topic and plan) and past research experience (up to 700 words each);
Admission to
MPhil / PhD Programmes
c) a TOEFL/IELTS test report (for an applicant whose degree is from a non-English speaking tertiary institution. For details, please refer to paragraph 5 of the Admission of Students section on p.29).
If an applicant is selected for admission, he/she will be required to arrange for the relevant institution(s) to send directly to the University a copy of his/her official transcript(s) for the bachelor’s degree(s) and above qualification(s) he/she has obtained. Furthermore, the successful applicant shall show the originals of the documents and identity documents (viz. HKID Card/ Passport/Certificate of Identity) to the Registry for verification.
3. Confidential Reference
Two confidential references are required in support of an application (three confidential references are necessary in support of an application to PhD in Business programme and at least one should be an academic referee). The downloadable report form is attached to the web form where the applicant enters the information on confidential reference. The applicant shall complete Part A of the report forms and send them to his/her referees for completion of Part B. A referee should be a person who is in a position to give evaluation of the capacity of the applicant to carry out the proposed research. The referee should return the completed form of confidential reference directly to the Registry of the University before the deadline for applications.
4. Payment of Application Fee and
Acknowledgement from the University
After completing the forms and uploading supporting documents, an applicant shall settle the application fee via the online payment gateway. An application is valid and accepted only when the payment procedures are
of HK$200 per programme (late application fee: HK$400 per programme). An applicant who wishes to apply for two programmes shall submit two applications and make two payments.
An acknowledgement email with the application number assigned will be sent to the applicant upon each online payment transaction. The applicant should check with the Registry if he/she does not receive the acknowledgement email. If the application is not complete or not in order, the applicant will be requested to provide the information or documents outstanding.
An application once submitted cannot be withdrawn and all submitted documents will not be returned. Any false or misleading information given in the forms will lead to disqualification of the application for admission to or termination of study at the University if admitted. Any fees paid will be forfeited.
5. Priority of Applications
If an applicant submits two applications to apply for two programmes, the programme chosen in the application submitted earlier will be regarded as the first choice and the one chosen in the application submitted later will be regarded as the second choice. The order of programme priority cannot be changed.
6. Plagiarism Checking
Plagiarism is not tolerated with a view to upholding a highly professional and ethical standard amongst our research postgraduate students. The University will conduct plagiarism checking on the research proposal, research plan and vision statement that applicants submitted.