PG Update, Issue 23 (Spring 2011-12)

Abstract

PG Update Issue 23 Spring 2011-12

Dear PG students,

Welcome to our new-look newsletter for Spring 2011. We hope the fresh new design features appeals to you!

The purpose of this newsletter is to keep you updated with what is happening around the campus with regard to postgraduate studies. It is our goal to provide you with information useful in helping you progress in your postgraduate studies.

PG UPDATE is a bi-annual publication. Please check it out from time to time for news, announcements, and to learn about the resources available for you.

We wish you a fruitful Spring Term with us and we would certainly welcome feedback from you on this newsletter. If you have any suggestions or comments, please send us an email at pgsec@ust.hk <mailto:pgsec@ust.hk>.

*PG Secretariat* Office of the Provost

In This Issue Statistics on PG Enrollment in 2011/12 <#01> Thinking about your career <#02> RPG Workshop – Thesis Writing and Speaking <#03> Release of the 'Blessing Heart' booklet <#04> Festival of Thinkers 2011 <#05> Overseas Research Attachment Awards for PhD students <#06> FREE video-recording service for RPg thesis presentations <#07> PGS Rates for 2012/13 <#08> New Policy on TA Assignments for RPg students <#09> Online RPg Annual Progress Reporting <#10>

Statistics on PG Enrollment in 2011/12

We would like to give you an update on the current PG student population at HKUST. Over the past years, we have seen a steady increase in our PG population with the total number of PG students now reaching 3800, counting all TPgS and RPgs. 57% of the students are from outside HK, coming from over 10 countries - Australia, Mainland China, Czech Rep, Germany, Iran, Greece, Spain, France, Korea, USA, etc.

*2011/12* *Full-time* *Part-time* *Total* Local Non-local Local Non-local Research postgraduates 206 1,125 85 5 1,416 Taught postgraduates 145 684 1,205 364 2,398 *Univ Total* (as at Jan 2012) *351* *1,809* *1,285* *369* *3,814*

Education Enhancement

Thinking about your career

Are you interested in exploring and broadening your career options? If you’re thinking about embarking on a career outside of research and academia after graduation, you may be interested in the Career Building Course for RPgs recently re-launched in Spring 2012. PDEV 5020 is open to RPgs from all disciplines. Students learn through interactive lectures and in-class practices such as mock interviews, presentation skills, and sharing sessions with professionals and alumni. The course is led by Ms. Lannie Lee, a seasoned recruiter, trainer and consultant with extensive experience in various industries. For more info on PDEV5020, please visit /here/ <https://career.ust.hk/career_building.html>.

Let's start and paint your career

Over the past winter break, the Career Center introduced a lively and fun-filled 'Career Accelerator Program' to our RPg students. It was an intensive 3-hours session hosted by Ms Alison Chang, an experienced headhunter and career coach. Each participant also received a 45-mins one-on-one consultation session to talk about his/her career issues. The workshop was inspiring and well received by participants.

More exciting events are being planned. Please visit the /Careers Services website/ <https://career.ust.hk/> for the latest news.

Alison Chang（張慧敏）, Managing Director of COREsearch Ltd. She is the author of 《獵頭職場啟示錄》, published by Cosmos Books Hong Kong and the Columnist of Apple Daily（蘋果日報）專欄「職場慧眼」

RPG Workshop – Thesis writing and speaking

When it comes to thesis writing, have you ever had a feeling of loss, not knowing how to put your innovative ideas into words? If you feel frustrated, the Language Center is here to help you! RPG Workshops are specially designed to assist research students to gain a clear understanding of the thesis writing process and develop essential skills and strategies for writing a thesis.

The first workshop series, on 'Thesis Writing', was piloted in Fall 2011. It was so well received that all the 300 places were snatched up within five hours. In Spring Term, the coverage of the workshops has been extended to include One-to-One Consultations.

There are altogether six themes:

a) Reporting Experiments, b) Conference Abstracts, c) Thesis Introduction, d) Literature Review, e) Thesis Discussion, and f) Thesis Conclusion.

Apart from 'Thesis Writing', 'Speaking' workshop series is another highlight this Spring: the 'Pronunciation Consultations' focus on English phonology, while the ‘Conference Presentation Assessments’ emphasizes on furnishing your skills on actual conference presentations.

These workshops offer you great flexibility to improve your language skills according to your needs at any point in your research career. They will be re-offered again in Fall 2012.

To find out more, visit /http://lc.ust.hk/~support/rpgwks/ in August. Places of these workshops can be filled up quickly, so register early when you know the exact details!!

RPG Workshop

Student Life

*Release of the 'Blessing Heart' booklet*

*/'We are not alone; what we cannot see by ourselves, our traveling partners can reveal them for us through love and understanding.'/*

There will always be hiccups in life. The challenge of making a difference is in the way we handle them. As we are all mirrors for each other, hearing from others about their experiences can enlighten us in one way or another. The 'Blessing Heart' booklet prepared by the Counseling and Development Team of SAO is published once every two years. This is an impressive book with nice illustrations and much heartfelt sharing from our students and student counselors.

The 'Blessing Heart' booklet can be viewed online at /https://sao.ust.hk/counseling/publications/BH2/index.html/.

Hopefully you will be touched and encouraged after reading it. A trouble shared is a trouble halved; and a blessing shared is a blessing doubled.

No matter what you are going through at this moment, our counselors are always willing to offer you space and support in a confidential environment. They listen to you and guide you to find your own answers.

For on-line appointments, you may visit the Counseling & Development Team website at /http://counsel.ust.hk/.

Blessing Heart

International Exposure/ The Student Experience

Festival of Thinkers 2011

Students at the University are encouraged to reach out, talk to people, learn from their experiences and make a positive impact on the world in which they live.

Three research postgraduate students from the School of Engineering recently attended a 3-day conference held in mid-Nov 2011 in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates. They had the privilege to sit with several Nobel Laureates and over a hundred world thinkers in a round-table setting to discuss a range of global issues.

The Festival of Thinkers (/www.fot.hct.ac.ae/ <http://www.fot.hct.ac.ae>), held biennially since 2005, is now in its 4th round.

Listen to what our participants have to say about this eye-opening experience:

'Learning without thinking is useless; thinking without learning is dangerous' has become my motto after participating in the Festival of Thinkers (FOT). Having discussed with a lot of top students of different backgrounds, I got inspired in many controversial topics, such as global warming, health care, economic crisis, and so on. FOT not only broadens my horizon, but also develops me to be a creative and divergent thinker.

*Edwin Chi Yan TSO, MPhil student n Environmental Engineering*

Edwin Chi Yan TSO Edwin had a fruitful discussion with two Nobel Laureates (Left: Dr. Eric Maskin, Economics, 2007; Right: Professor Finn E.Kydland, Economics, 2004) about the economic crisis in Greece.

'It's my great honor to participant in the Festival of Thinkers event in Abu Dhabi. It's an event that encourages sharing, welcomes ideas and respects difference. There were inspiring talks given by great thinkers and Nobel Laureates. I also got to meet with local students for a snapshot of the seemingly mysterious Arabian culture. As always, it was great to gain exposure to a different culture.'

*Rebecca Jialei YAN, PhD student in Industrial Engineering and Logistic Management*

Rebecca Jialei YAN During the 3-day conference, Rebecca (second from right) forged friendships with her counterparts from around the world.

'During the FOT event, I participated in round table discussions with intellectuals from around the world, talking about global economic crisis, education and environment issues. I made friends with people from all over the world. Together we enjoyed the desert journey, exquisite cuisine and rich culture of UAE.'

*YanJiao CHEN, PhD student in Computer Science and Engineering*

YanJiao CHEN

Overseas Research Attachment Awards for PhD students

This award scheme was launched in 2006/07. Feedback from participating students and faculty has been very encouraging. Overseas experiences not only provide students with exposure to a foreign culture and environment which better prepares them for their academic development, but also widens their circle of professional contacts, assisting them in their career development. In 2011/12, a total of 22 places were allocated to Schools to provide support to selected post-qualifying PhD students to travel overseas to major research universities worldwide (see table) for a period up to six months. For the 2012/13 round, Office of the Provost will call for nominations in mid-September.

To learn more about this award scheme, please visit our PG website at /https://www.ust.hk/provost/pg/forms_stu/.

Below is a list of selected institutions that past and current awardees of this scheme have visited:

*Region* *Host Institute/ University* /United States/ Carnegie Mellon University Stanford University University of California Berkeley University of Washington Yale University /United Kingdom/ Imperial College London /Italy/ Politecnico di Milano /Spain/ Instituto de Empresa Business School University of Zaragoza /Australia/ University of Sydney /Asia/ Korea Advanced Institute of Science & Technology National University of Singapore

Useful University Services

FREE video-recording service for RPg thesis presentations

If you would like to polish your presentation skills and be better prepared for your thesis examination and research presentation, here is the good news!

Remote Video Capture (RVC) is a dynamic free video recording service offered by the Publishing Technology Center (PTC) of the University. In Spring 2010, more than 100 faculty members and instructors teaching over 110 courses have used RVC to videotape their lectures, and more than 40 teaching venues are installed with RVC devices.

PTC has now extended the RVC service to all research postgraduate students. By video-recording your presentations for real or merely for rehearsal purpose, you can use the taped materials to review your performance and improve your presentation skills. Just a few simple booking steps are needed.

Don't hesitate and book NOW at /http://rvc.ust.hk//.

Free video-recording service for RPg thesis presentations

Announcements

PGS Rates for 2012/13

The standard rate for postgraduate studentship (PGS) for 2012/13 will be HK$13,700 a month. For PhD students who have passed their qualifying examination and have performed well in their research work, a higher PGS rate of HK14,100 may be offered by program offices. It should be noted that the award of the higher PGS rate is not automatic, nor is it an entitlement for post-qualifying PhD students. The actual PGS rate for these PhD students is determined by the home department. Apart from academic performance, the availability of funding is also a factor affecting the topping-up reward. Copies of the PGS Terms and Conditions for 2012/13 are now available at the general office of academic departments. It can also be viewed or downloaded from the PG Studies homepage: /www.ust.hk/provost/pg/ <http://www.ust.hk/provost/pg>.

New Policy on TA Assignments for RPg students

In view of the fact that some new RPg students, particularly those from overseas and Mainland China need time to adjust themselves to the new academic environment at HKUST, from Fall Term 2012/13, all newly admitted RPg students will normally *NOT* be assigned any TA duties _during their first term of study_.

However, this policy is *NOT* applicable to students whose previous UG or Master's degrees were obtained at one of the eight UGC-funded tertiary institutions in Hong Kong.

Online RPg Annual Progress Reporting

In order to track the study progress of RPg students, the University requires all RPgs to submit through their home department an online study progress and self-evaluation report around May/June every year. Following the submission of their progress reports, RPgs should receive feedback from their supervisors. Please refer to ARRO’s notice on the submission deadline of the report which was sent to all RPg students around mid- April.

BACK TO TOP <#>

Copyright 2012 Office of the Provost, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Designed by PTC <http://ptc.ust.hk/>