The MPhil/PhD Programme in Sociology (MPhil/PhD) is a research-oriented programme with an MPhil (Master of Philosophy) stream and PhD (Doctor of Philosophy) stream. In addition to course work, students need to complete and successfully defend a research thesis. Candidates in both programmes receive solid training in sociological theories and research methods. We encourage diversity in methodological approaches and the subfields of the discipline, as well as teacher-student collaboration in research. Full-time students receive financial support and serve as teaching or research assistants, which enhances their teaching and research experience.

The majority of our PhD students find employment in prestigious universities in mainland China, Hong Kong and Asia after graduation. The overseas universities/academic institutions at which our PhD graduates have secured employment include the National University of Singapore, Peking University, Fudan University, Sun Yat-sen University, Nankai University, Zhejiang University, Shandong University, Shenzhen University, Xiamen University, The Chinese Academy of Social Sciences and Nanjing University. The local universities at which they have secured tenure-track Assistant Professorships include The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Baptist University, Lingnan University and the Hong Kong Institute of Education. Our postgraduate students have also won a variety of prestigious scholarships over the years, including RGC-Fulbright Dissertation Research Fellowships to the University of California, Berkeley, Yale, and Harvard, Sir Edward Youde Memorial Fellowship for Overseas Studies at Cambridge University, and PhD JingE Fellowship for supporting the research work in Mainland China.

Our department is committed to training top-notch postgraduate students who will contribute to the discipline, and we are very proud of the excellent progress our graduates have made over the years. We continue to recruit the most aspiring young sociologists in the world to our graduate programme.