Faculty Strategic Initiative

This fellowship is an integral part of the interdisciplinary CSS initiative of the Faculty of Social Science, supported by its CSS Lab and the popular CSS Webinar Series that has attracted thousands of participants in recent live streamed talks.

Affiliated Degree Programs

The PhD degree granted to a CSS Fellow will depend on the departmental affiliation of the supervisor(s) of a student within the Faculty of Social Science. CSS fellows may affiliate with any participating academic unit within the Faculty of Social Science, including:

• Architecture;
• Geography and Resource Management
• Journalism and Communication;
• Psychology
• Social Work; and
• Sociology.

Funding Level and Period

Each fellowship award pays a monthly stipend equal to the amount of a regular PhD studentship at CUHK, lasting for four years of full time study regardless of the duration of the normative period of an awardee.

Dual Academic Identity

Every fellow will have two institutional homes – the CSS Lab and the hosting department. This is a strategic feature of the PFS to ensure that all CSS Fellows will acquire a dual scholarly identity – an expert in CSS and a disciplinary expert – so that they will be optimally positioned for the job market.

Selection Criteria

The CSSPFS Selection Panel will select awardees based on the following factors:

• Research ability and / or potential for innovation in CSS
• Preferably having background in both social science and computational science
• Quality of match with the proposed PhD programme
• Inter/multi/cross-disciplinary orientation

Application Procedures (2025 Entry)

Interested candidates should submit an application for the PhD Programme concerned via the CUHK Graduate School Online Application System for Postgraduate Programmes by 1 December 2024 (Sunday) with the following:

1. Filling in “CSSPFS” in the “Field of Study” section in the Online Application Form;
2. Uploading the following supporting documents to the Online Application System:

• 1. Documents Required by the Graduate School:
     • Copies of certificates of academic / professional qualifications
     • Copies of official transcripts and grading schemes of all tertiary level studies
     • Proof of English language proficiency
     • A photocopy of Hong Kong Identity Card or other identity document
     • Two confidential letters of recommendation
  2. Documents Required for CSSPFS Application:
     • Personal statement, specific to the CSS fellowship and indicating intended supervisor(s) and departmental affiliation
     • Research proposal
     • CV with accessible hyperlinks of publications
     • Electronic copies of representative publications

For details of the general requirements of admission for all awardees of the CSS fellowship, please refer to the website of the Graduate School.

Application for the Computational Social Science (CSS) Concentration

Other than the CSS PhD Fellowship Scheme, incoming PhD students who have been officially admitted by the Graduate School and aspire to take the Computational Social Science (CSS) Concentration of their affiliated academic units may apply for admissions into the CSS Concentration without a CSS Fellowship, before commencing their studies at CUHK. The selection criteria will be the same as the CSSPFS. Applications will be called and results will be announced usually in June and by early July respectively.

Enquiry
Please contact the participating academic unit concerned for details.