Early Recruitment Scheme for Graduate Studies, HKU School of Computing & Data Science

Date of Admission: 1st September, 2026

Introduction:

The early recruitment scheme for graduate studies at HKU School of Computing and Data Science (HKU CDS) now invites applications from outstanding undergraduate students and master students studying in premier universities in both Mainland China and the rest of the world. The faculty members of HKU CDS include many internationally renowned scholars in diverse fields of Computer and Data Science, such as Statistics and Actuarial Science, Machine Learning and AI, Algorithms, Bioinformatics, Computer Forensic, Information Security, Computer Vision and Graphics, Human-Computer Interaction, Database and Data Mining, Network, Programming Languages, Quantum Information and Computation, and Systems. The offcial web page is at https://www.cds.hku.hk/.

Details:

1. Your application should include a CV in English, an optional research statement, and other supporting documents, such as transcripts, class ranking, proof of English proficiency, and certificates of academic achievements, all preferably in English. The official TOEFL or IELTS score is not needed at this stage. Please indicate THREE research areas of interest in a prioritized order in your application.

Note 1: Because the selection process is highly competitive, only applicants with excellent academic records will be invited for interview. For example, it is expected that an undergraduate applicant from Mainland China should be ranked in top 10% in a related field from a top 20 university in China. A master student intending to apply for the Ph.D. program is expected to demonstrate strong research ability or research record, e.g. in terms of research publications.

Note 2: The research statement is used to assess your research ability. It should contain your research ideas and plans pertaining to some specific problems, and a survey of some research papers. You are encouraged to indicate three areas of interest, and contact a professor in HKU CDS in your area of interest for assistance in preparing this document. For example, you can ask the professor’s advice about which papers to read. You should complete the research statement independently without copying sentences from existing papers.

2. The application period (1st round) will be between 15th March 2025 – 1st May 2025:

• deadline: 11:59pm, 1st May, 2025 (Interview on mid-May, 2025)

3. Selection criteria are mainly based on academic merits, research ability and potential, communication skills, and English proficiency. Offers will be made to successful applicants soon after the interview. We expect the applicants to confirm their acceptance of our offer as soon as possible. However, we’ll consider allowing some applicants to extend their deadline for acceptance on a case-by-case basis.

4. Postgraduate Scholarships (PGS) of HK$18,760 per month during the period of study (4 years for Ph.D. study and 2 years for M.Phil. study) are available for applicants. Furthermore, there are annual conference and research-related travel allowance up to HK$13,500. PhD Applicants are also encouraged to apply for the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship (HKPF) scheme and the HKU Presidential PhD Scholarship.

5. DEADLINE: Complete your application at https://gradappl.cs.hku.hk/InterviewSystem/login before 1st May, 2025.

6. Inquiries about the application procedure should be directed by email to gradappl@cs.hku.hk.

7. Applicants who are unsuccessful in this early recruitment scheme may still apply through the main round of application for HKU research postgraduate admission (http://www.gradsch.hku.hk/gradsch/programmes).

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