S65/712
THE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG Application for admission to the
Master of Philosophy (MPhil) and Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) programmes
in the Faculty of Science Format for Research Proposal
Notes:
1. All MPhil and PhD applicants are required to submit a research proposal providing a
clear indication of their intended research. This document will be used to assess the merit of your application.
2. It is recommended that you discuss the proposed research topic with your prospective
supervisor(s) and obtain a clear indication of support from them: applications without support from named supervisors are unlikely to be successful. E-mail addresses of academic staff are available from the relevant departmental web page.
3. There is no prescribed length for the proposal, although it should be sufficiently
detailed to demonstrate your familiarity with the topics being addressed. A PhD proposal would normally be expected to include relatively more information on the background, importance and methodology of the research.
4. Adoption of the following template is recommended, although you can add or omit
sections as appropriate: not all sections are relevant to all research fields.
1. Applicant’s name 2. Title of proposed research project 3. Summary of research
Maximum 250 words, understandable by a non-specialist.
4. Introduction
Provide the relevant background information and explain the motivation for your study.
5. Objectives and hypotheses to be tested
List (using bullet points) the aims/objectives of the study and, where relevant, specify the hypotheses to be tested.
6. Literature review
Discuss the key publications in the proposed research area.
7. Materials and methods
Explain how you intend to undertake the research. There is no need to describe
experimental apparatus or analyses in great detail: an indication of the approach to be adopted (with citation of sources) is adequate in most cases.
8. Anticipated outcome and value of the research
Explain the likely significance of your research and how it will impact the research field.
9. Literature cited
Provide bibliographic details of all references cited, adopting a standardised format.
香港大学researchproposal
