Faculty and PhD student mobility schemes: Three tips to prepare a successful application

As part of the University's internationalisation effort, a wide range of mobility schemes are in place to help faculty members and PhD students strengthen their international engagements and research network. Each year, funding of about HK$3 million is offered to support research visits of faculty members and PhD students to/from overseas universities. A total of 39 faculty members and 52 PhD students were awarded under the Internationalisation Faculty Mobility Schemes and PhD Student Mobility Schemes, respectively during the first application call for 2016-17.

A second application call for the schemes is now open with a closing date of 15 November 2016 for visits to be taken place between 1 January and 31 July 2017.

Here are three tips in preparing a successful application:

1. Describe the planned activities and research collaboration in non-technical terms. The selection committee is composed of multi-disciplinary researchers, and it is therefore recommended to keep your application simple by using layman language.

2. Outline the objective and potential impact of the proposed visit by highlighting a few key points. It is important to show how your visit will facilitate the development of academic exchange and research collaboration.

3. Demonstrate sustainability of your project. The selection committee is interested to learn how your project will be developed after your trip. Make sure that the application conveys your plan to pursue an ongoing connection with the host unit(s).

To learn more about the mobility schemes, please visit the websites for the Internationalisation Faculty Mobility Schemes and PhD Student Exchange Programme.