HKUST/CSE Postgraduate Student Recruiting

[Jakob]

The Depafrtment of Computer Science and Engineering (CSE) of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology(HKUST) is recruiting PhD students to start in Fall 2014. We are looking for outstanding undergraduate students as well as graduate students with a Masters degree in Computer Science and related areas.

According to the latest QS World University Rankings, HKUST is ranked top in Asia and the 33rd gloabally, and our CSE department ranked the 12th worldwide in the Subject of Computer Science and Information Systems. Our department has produced pioneering work in several areas, including but not limited to, artificial intelligence, data and knowledge management, networks and distributed systems, software technologies, theoretical computer science and algorithms, and vision and graphics.

Our department consists of over 40 faculty members, about 40 MPhil students, and close to 160 PhD students. The MPhil study takes one to two years, and the PhD study four to five years. Many of our postgraduate alumni work at major IT companies such as Baidu, Facebook, Google, Huawei, IBM, Microsoft, and Tencent, and a significant number of our PhD graduates pursue their careers at research institutes and universities all over the world. If interested, please check out the departmental web page on where our PhD graduates go:http://www.cse.ust.hk/pg/ourgraduates.

Postgraduate students have sufficient scholarship support during their study at HKUST. The amount of scholarship is about HKD160,000 (USD20,000) per person per year. The School of Engineering selects excellent postgraduate students to award additional scholarship to cover the tuition. The annual tuition of a postgraduate student is about HKD40,000 (USD5,000).

Starting in 2010, the Hong Kong government selects incoming PhD students to award the prestigious Hong Kong PHD Fellowship (HKPF) each year. The amount of the HKPF is around HKD20,000 (~USD2,500) per month. Additionally, each awardee has a travel allowance of HKD10,000 (~USD1,250) each year for the first three years. In the past two years, our department was awarded 9 and 12 HKPFs respectively, achieving the highest numbers of awardees among all Computer Science departments in Hong Kong.

Our postgraduate admissions require applicants to have good academic records in their areas of study and to have obtained a Bachelor's degree by the time of their HKUST enrollment. The English language requirement is to provide at least one of the following standardard test scores effective at the time of HKUST enrollment: TOEFL(cbt)>=580, IELTS>=7, or TOEFL(ibt)>=92.

We recruit postgraduate students in two phases. The first phase is early recruiting, targeted at excellent PhD applicants through telephone or onsite interviews. To apply, you can fill out the preliminary application form at the departmental early recruiting web site (http://www.cse.ust.hk/pg/admissions/registration/). We will process these online applications and shortlist candidates to invite for on-site interviews. This year, the early admission interviews will be held on Sept 7 in Beijing and Sept 14 in Shanghai. Applicants will be notified their interview results one to two weeks after their interviews.

After the early recruiting phase, applicants can still send regular application packages to the HKUST Postgraduate Admissions (http://www.ust.hk/admissions/) by mid-March, 2014.

Finally, we encourage exceptional PhD applicants (top 10% in class, average grade higer than 85/100, excellent English) to contact us to inquire about the HKPF 2014/15 applications. Please find relevant information at the HKUST's HKPFS web site (http://www.ust.hk/hkpfs/).

If you have any questions, feel free to contact pgrecruit@cse.ust.hk.

FAQ

Q: I have not taken TOEFL/IELTS now, can I apply in this early recruit session?
A: Yes. You are eligible to apply. However, if you are admitted, you should meet our departments’ English requirements before enrollment.
Q: When is the deadline for the application?
A: There is no hard deadline for early recruit application. You should apply AS SOON AS POSSIBLE as our registration is accepted on a first-come-first-served basis.
Q: I have submitted application form via registration system. I'm not sure whether my information and CV are accepted properly. A: After your submission, our system will display messages ("Your CV has been received" and "Your registration has been recorded") and your application information is well received.