Established in 2009 by the Research Grants Council (RGC), the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS) aims to attract the world’s best and brightest minds to pursue their PhD programmes in Hong Kong universities.

400 PhD Fellowships will be granted in the 2025/26 academic year¹. Awardees will each be entitled to an annual stipend of HK$337,200 (approximately US$43,230) and annual conference and research-related travel allowances of HK$14,000 (approximately US$1,790) for a period of up to three years. Awardees requiring more than three years to complete their PhD degree, additional support may be provided by the chosen universities.

Applicants from all over, seeking admission as a new full-time PhD student in a Hong Kong university, are eligible and invited to apply. Applicants must be able to demonstrate outstanding academic performance, exceptional research ability/potential, acute communication and interpersonal skills, and excellent leadership abilities.

Shortlisted applicants, depending on their areas of studies, are subject to assessment by either one of the two HKPFS selection panels: (i) Sciences, Medicine, Engineering, and Technology; or (ii) Humanities, Social Sciences, and Business Studies.

Academic excellence is the prime consideration but the Selection Panels will also take into account:

1. academic excellence;
2. research ability and potential;
3. communication and interpersonal skills; and
4. leadership abilities.

Applicants may choose a maximum of two programmes within one or two universities for PhD study. Applications for PhD admission must be submitted to relevant university(ies) directly for the selected programme(s). Applicants are obliged to fully comply with the admission requirements of their selected universities and programmes. The HKPFS 2025/26 calls for applications from 1 September 2024 to 1 December 2024 (12:00 noon, Hong Kong Time). Details on application procedures will be available at http://www.rgc.edu.hk/hkphd.

For information and admission requirements of individual universities, please visit https://cerg1.ugc.edu.hk/hkpfs/institutions.html.

Individual universities will conduct interviews with applicants as part of the assessment for selection. Candidates not selected for the HKPFS award may be accepted by the universities concerned for regular PhD admission and offered postgraduate studentship by universities. For enquiries, please contact respective universities.