Background

“Targeted Taught Postgraduate Programmes Fellowships Scheme” is a pilot scheme for five cohorts to provide fellowships for local students pursuing designated taught postgraduate programmes in the eight University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded universities. The main objectives of the scheme are to attract more meritorious local students to pursue further studies in priority areas conducive to the development of Hong Kong, and to encourage universities to establish more innovative and multi-disciplinary programmes that are beneficial to society.

Number of fellowship

The MAES programme has been awarded 4 Fellowship places for the academic year 2024-25. Applications are open to both full-time and part-time local students.

Duration and amount of fellowship

The fellowship students are required to pay a minimum tuition fee of at least HK$42,100, which is the prevailing rate of the UGC-funded programmes. The differences will be subsidised by the fellowships subject to a cap of HK$120,000 for each student regardless of the actual study period of the programme; and any remaining cost should still be covered by the students.

Fellowship holders who are unable to complete the MAES programme or fail to attain an expected level of performance may be required to refund the full amount of the fellowship award.

Application procedures

MAES applicants for the Targeted Taught Postgraduate Programmes Fellowships Scheme for 2024-26 are expected to demonstrate their strengths regarding the following areas, if applicable:

• academic achievements;
• professional qualifications;
• relevant working experience and achievements in other areas;
• how they can contribute to the priority areas of Hong Kong after completing the programme (see the priority areas under “List of eligible taught postgraduate programmes” section below).

MAES applicants who would like to apply for the Targeted Taught Postgraduate Programmes Fellowships Scheme shall submit a separate application by completing the application form (see below) and send it back to the School Office (email: maesft@hku.hk) by March 28, 2024.

[Download the application form here: docx ] (Application deadline: 12:00 noon (GMT +8) March 28, 2024)

Criteria for selection of fellowship recipients by universities

The scheme will adopt a merit-based approach in selecting the most outstanding students to pursue designated taught postgraduate programmes. The applicants are required to be admitted to the universities and submit their application to the universities with a proposal expounding on how they can contribute to the priority areas of Hong Kong after completing the programme concerned. Applications for the fellowships will be assessed by the universities based on a rigorous and holistic approach, subject to the following criteria:

1. applications are open to local students of eligible programmes only;
2. students awarded any other government scholarships for pursuing the same programme, including the Continuing Education Fund, will not be considered to avoid “double benefit”. Nevertheless, students provided with financial assistance in the form of loans from the Government (e.g. Extended Non-means-tested Loan Scheme under Student Finance Office) to settle the tuition fees for the TPg programme are still eligible to apply.
3. both full-time and part-time local students of eligible programmes can apply for the fellowships; and
4. the award of the fellowships will be based on merits taking into account the students’ academic achievements, professional qualifications, relevant working experience and achievements in other areas as well as the proposals submitted by the students with special attention to their personal statements on how they can contribute to the priority areas of Hong Kong after completing the programme.

List of eligible taught postgraduate programmes

The eligible taught postgraduate programmes should be directly related to one or more of the following seven priority areas in 2022/23 academic year:

1. "STEM" (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics);
2. Healthy living and caring community;
3. Sustainable city and regional development;
4. Hong Kong's strategic position as a regional and international business centre;
5. Emerging research;
6. Creative industries; and
7. Culture, heritage and humanities [This is the primary priority area of MAES].

For more information on the “Targeted Taught Postgraduate Programmes Fellowships Scheme”, please visit the University Grants Committee’s official website.

Application deadline: 12:00 noon (GMT +8) March 24, 2024