Study Scheme

1. Students are required to take ENGE8100 each term in preparation for Part I of the qualifying examination.
2. Upon passing Part I of the qualifying examination, students are required to take ENGE8200 each term in preparation for the thesis and Part II of the examination.
3. Thesis monitoring courses are listed below:
   ENGE8100 and ENGE8200

Advancement to Ph.D. candidature is conditional upon the successful completion of the following:

1. Part I: A written comprehensive examination based on a general reading list approved by the Graduate Panel. The examination will take place at the end of the second term for full-time students or at the end of the third term for part-time students.
   
   Part II: An oral examination which students are expected to pass no later than the end of the fourth term for full-time students or the end of the sixth term for part-time students. The areas covered in the examination will be based on the following works submitted by the student:
   1. A paper (5,000-7,500 words) consisting of a comprehensive review of literature in the student’s area of research;
   2. A research paper (4,000-5,000 words) focused on some issues related to the thesis. This paper should be publishable or acceptable for presentation at an academic conference;
   3. A formal thesis proposal.
2. Students are allowed no more than two attempts at passing the qualifying examinations or parts thereof. Any second attempt must come within six months of the first one.
3. Applicable to students admitted on 1 August 2010 and thereafter: the maximum periods for students to pass the qualifying examinations are –

1. Students must fulfill the Term Assessment Requirement of the Graduate School. For details, please refer to Clause 13.0 “Unsatisfactory Performance and Discontinuation of Studies” of the General Regulations Governing Postgraduate Studies which can be accessed from the Graduate School Homepage: http://www.gs.cuhk.edu.hk.
2. A student must achieve a cumulative grade point average (GPA) of at least 2.0 in order to fulfill the graduation requirement, unless special approval is granted by the Graduate Council.
3. Students are required to submit a research thesis and pass an oral examination for graduation.
4. If a Ph.D. student’s research involves the collection of data from a language other than Chinese or English, the study of a third language will be required. The level of proficiency needed in the third language will be decided by the Graduate Panel at the recommendation of the thesis committee.
5. Students found to be deficient in essential background knowledge may be required to take supplementary undergraduate or postgraduate courses concurrently.
   
   Students are required to complete the following Improving Postgraduate Learning (IPL) in their first year of study for partial fulfillment of candidacy requirements:
6. Students are required to complete and pass an IPL module on “Basics of Research Data Management” in their first year of study, with effect from the 2022-23 intake. This is an online module and relevant information can be accessed from the website: https://www.cuhk.edu.hk/clear/download/IPL-Researchskills.pdf.
7. Students are required to submit a Data Management Plan (DMP), with effect from the 2025-26 intake.
   
   In addition to completing the IPL modules stipulated for partial fulfillment of candidacy requirements, students are also required to complete the following IPL modules for graduation:
8. Complete an IPL module on “Observing Intellectual Property and Copyright Law during Research”.  This is an online module and relevant information can be accessed from the website: https://www.cuhk.edu.hk/clear/prodev/ipl.html.
9. Complete an online Research Ethics Training (RET) module on “Publication Ethics” offered by the Office of Research and Knowledge Transfer Services (ORKTS) and obtain a valid Publication Ethics Certificate for graduation.  Relevant information can be accessed from the RET website at https://www.research-ethics.cuhk.edu.hk/web/
10. The final DMP should have been shared to the CUHK community on DMPTool or the relevant platform that CUHK provides when submitting the final version of the thesis/portfolio to the Graduate School. Students are required to have published the data on the CUHK Research Data Repository or an open data repository with a valid Digital Object Identifier (DOI) or other forms of permanent identifier when submitting the final version of the thesis/portfolio. Upon thesis supervisor’s endorsement, students can decide on how much data from the research project is to be published.