(1) Coursework Requirement

(a) Lecture Courses

A minimum of 12 units is required as below:

SOCI 6001, 6002, 6003 and 6004

(b) Thesis Research / Monitoring Courses

Students are required to take the thesis research course each term as follows:
Full-time students: SOCI 8006 (6 units)
Continuing students: SOCI 8003 (3 units)

(2) Other Requirements

(a) Students are required to submit a research thesis and pass an oral examination for graduation.

(b) Students are required to acquire a grade C- or above in courses SOCI8003 or SOCI8006. Failure to do so, students will be put on academic probation. Students are also required to acquire a grade C- or above in all lecture courses including SOCI6001, 6002, 6003 and 6004. Failure to do so, students are allowed to retake the course(s) once. If the student still fails to achieve the minimum grade in the retake, he/she will be required to discontinue the studies.

(c) Students are expected to complete the lecture course requirement within first two semesters.

(d) A student who obtains a cumulative grade point average (GPA) below 2.0 in the preceding term or receives a failure grade in thesis monitoring courses (for Research Postgraduate Programmes) will be put on academic probation. 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/.

(e) Complete an Improving Postgraduate Learning (IPL) course “Observing Intellectual Property and Copyright Law during Research”. This will be an online module and relevant information can be accessed from the web site:
http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/clear/.

(f) Gender Studies Programme
Students admitted to the Gender Studies (SOC) programme will be exempted from SOCI 6001 and 6002. These students are required to complete at least two required courses: SOCI 6003 and 6004 (6 units).

(g) Students admitted in 2017-18 and thereafter are required to 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/.

(3) Thesis Proposal

Before the end of December of the first academic year, each student is normally required to have found a thesis supervisor and have submitted a thesis title to the thesis supervisor for endorsement. By the end of the following April, the student should have formed a thesis committee and have submitted a thesis proposal for review by the thesis committee.  Students are expected to start collecting data for their research in the following summer.

(4) Switching from MPhil to PhD Stream

(a) Students must declare their intention of switching to the PhD stream before the Christmas holidays that follow right after the 1st term of their study.

(b) In addition to the two required theory/method courses, applicants may consider to take SOCI6010 in their 1st term of study.

(c) Approval of the switch depends on the 1st term academic performance.

(d) 1st year MPhil students approved of their switching to the PhD stream are required to take the 1st candidacy examination by the end of the 2nd term, i.e. follow the same schedule as the PhD students.

(5) Remarks

(a) Students without adequate sociological training background will be required to take additional undergraduate sociology courses as deemed necessary.

(b) All postgraduate students are expected to attend seminars organized by the Department.

(c) Students admitted in 2011-12 and before should consult the Division for programme requirements.

The “candidacy requirement” composes of three major parts, namely, coursework requirement, candidacy examination, and thesis proposal (and oral defence).  Students must complete and fulfill all three parts within the “maximum period for fulfilling candidacy requirements”.  Details of the requirement are listed below:

1. Coursework Requirement

(a) Lecture Courses
A minimum of 18 units is required as below:

SOCI6001, 6002, 6003, 6004, 6010 and 6020

(b) Thesis Research / Monitoring Courses
Students are required to take the thesis research course each term as follows:
Full-time students: SOCI 8006 (6 units)

2. Other Requirements

(a) Students are required to acquire a grade B- or above in SOCI8006. Failure to do so, students will be put on academic probation.

(b) Students are expected to complete the lecture course requirement within first two or three semesters.

(c) PhD students are required to acquire a grade B+ or above in SOCI6001 and 6002 and B- or above in other courses including SOCI6003, 6004, 6010 and 6020.  Failure to do so, students are allowed to retake the course(s) once. If the student still fails to achieve the minimum grade in the retake, he/she will be required to discontinue the studies.

(d) A student who obtains a cumulative grade point average (GPA) below 2.0 in the preceding term or receives a failure grade in thesis monitoring courses (for Research Postgraduate Programmes) will be put on academic probation. 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/.

(e) Complete an Improving Postgraduate Learning (IPL) course “Observing Intellectual Property and Copyright Law during Research”. This will be an online module and relevant information can be accessed from the web site:
http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/clear/.

(f) Students admitted in 2017-18 and thereafter are required to 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/.

3. Candidacy Examination (CE)

All CEs are centralized on a specific date to guard students’ process in the programme:

(a) Year 1 students are required to take the 1st CE by the end of the 2nd term, and Year 2 students are required to take the 2nd CE by the end of the 3rd term.  For the 1st CE, students should start preparing the examination in the 1st term, while for the 2nd CE, students should start preparing for the examination in the first summer.

(b) One CE will be based on the field selected by the Thesis Supervisor and the content delivered in SOCI6010, and if applicable, SOCI6020 as well.  The field should be different from the area of the dissertation project.

(c) Another CE will be based on the area of the dissertation project.

(d) Two CEs are individualized examinations in the areas selected.  Students need to propose a reading list for each examination latest in January for the 1st CE scheduled in the 2nd term, and in September for the 2nd CE scheduled in the 3rd term.  The reading lists are subject to the Thesis Supervisor’s approval.

(e) Those who failed any CE would have to retake the examination in two months.

4. Thesis Proposal and Oral Defense

One CE should be closely related to the dissertation project. Students should complete thesis proposals by the end of the 4th term (April), and defend their proposals within a month of the submission^{^}. The proposal format should be similar to an RGC proposal.

^{^}Students should allow at least one month to arrange an oral defense of the proposal. In case of late submission with less than one month before the maximum period to fulfill candidacy requirements (i.e. 24 months from admission), students bear the risk of failing to fulfill the candidacy requirements in time, resulting in either discontinuation of their studies (applicable to those with normative study period of 36 months) or suspension of PGS (applicable to those with normative study period of 48 months). For instance, if July 31 is the deadline, the latest submission date will be June 30 (the end of the 23rd month).

5. Remarks

(a) Students without adequate sociological training background will be required to take additional undergraduate sociology courses as deemed necessary.
(b) All postgraduate students are expected to attend seminars organized by the Department.
(c) Students admitted in 2011-12 and before should consult the Division for programme requirements.

(1) Coursework Requirement

There is not any other lecture course requirement. Students are required to take the Thesis Research Course each term as follows:
Full-time students: SOCI 8012 (12 units)
Continuing students: SOCI 8003 (3 units)
Students are required to acquire a grade of B- or above in SOCI8003 or 8012. Failure to do so, students will be put on academic probation. 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.

(2) Other Requirements

Students are required to submit a research thesis and pass an oral examination for graduation.

(3) Remarks

(a) All postgraduate students are expected to attend seminars organized by the Department.
(b) Students admitted in 2011-12 and before should consult the Division for programme requirements.

PhD students: 2 or 3 semesters to complete coursework

MPhil students: 2 semesters to complete coursework

Note: With Thesis Supervisors’ approval, PhD students may opt to defer taking SOCI6010 in the 2nd term, and to take SOCI6020 in the 3rd term.

(1) Coursework, candidacy examinations and proposal defense should be completed in 24 months, i.e. by July 31 of the 2nd year.

(2) 3-year PhD Programme (with research masters)

(a) Students are required to quit the programme if failed to fulfill candidacy requirements by July 31 of the 2nd year; there is no extension.

(3) 4-year PhD Programme (without research masters)

(a) PGS will be suspended if failed to fulfill candidacy requirements by July 31 of the 2nd year, and PGS will not extend beyond the 4th year.

(b) Students are required to quit the programme if failed to fulfill candidacy requirements by July 31 of the 3rd year; there is no extension.