Postgraduate Research Students’ High Satisfaction with Learning Experience at Lingnan University
Lingnan University is guided by the core value of “Care for Learning”. The university was recognised internationally; ranked 3rd in “Quality Education” among around a thousand universities globally in the 2021 Times Higher Education University Impact Rankings. Meanwhile, according to the University Grants Committee, Lingnan University received the highest score among the eight public-funded universities regarding “undergraduate satisfaction with the quality and value which they have gained from their teaching and learning experience” in 2019. These achievements reflect the premium that the university places on student learning.
Indeed, results of the 2021 exit survey among all Master of Philosophy and Doctor of Philosophy graduates confirmed the outstanding teaching and learning environment offered by Lingnan University. The survey recorded 100% satisfaction among the graduates regarding the learning environment and their overall experience at Lingnan University. The success of the university’s close faculty-student relationship approach was also affirmed in the survey as 97.1% of the graduates were especially satisfied with the quality of supervision and scholarly interactions with their advisors:
My supervisors and the examiners have offered me invaluable support in polishing my work, allowing me to realise the deficiencies of my research study (Comment by a graduated student).
Lingnan University offers diverse opportunities for research students to share their work and learn from leading scholars in their respective fields of study. Such opportunities include seminars, workshops and conferences organised by various departments and the School of Graduate Studies, often in collaboration with some of the over 250 Lingnan partners globally. Research students receive generous funding support to participate in international conferences and conduct field studies. It is not surprising that all the 2021 graduates felt that they had adequate opportunities to attend seminars and conferences, while 91.2% of them had the chance to present their research to knowledgeable audiences in Hong Kong and internationally.
I’m pretty thankful and satisfied with the equipment and help Lingnan University offered to us students during my study period (Comment by a graduated student).
Because of the world-class learning environment at Lingnan University, most of the 2021 graduates felt that they were well-trained in their various study fields. The survey found that 97.1% of the graduates had developed a systematic understanding of their fields of scholarship, whereas 94.1% posited that they had made an original contribution to their chosen research fields. Additionally, 97.1% of them indicated that they had improved their ability to assess intellectual claims, theories, and arguments critically. Most importantly, 88.2% of the graduates expressed their commitment to apply the knowledge and skills they have acquired for academic and societal benefits. This commitment echoes Lingnan’s vision of conducting research not for its sake but to ensure that such research positively impacts people and societies.
While these results are encouraging, the university plans to broaden students’ access to critical resources for their research and personal development through collaborative efforts. Although the whole world has been adversely affected by the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the School of Graduate Studies has been actively promoting a range of research activities, partnering with academic institutions like University of Oxford (UK), University of British Columbia (USA), Peking University (China), University of Turku (Finland) and Chengchi University (Taiwan), just name a few, to offer online webinars, symposium, workshops for internationalising student learning experience.
Lingnan’s research is guided by the value of “Impact with Care”. A significant proportion of Lingnan University’s research in humanities, social sciences and business was classified as “World Leading” and “Internationally Excellent” in the 2020 Research Assessment Exercise by the Hong Kong University Grants Committee. Additionally, the university intends to offer more opportunities for students to obtain intercultural experiences and introduce international perspectives to their research. In this vein, it plans to strengthen its position as the No.1 Asian University regarding the proportion of “International Faculty” and opportunities for students to go on international exchange (QS Asia University Rankings 2021). Most recently, the University has partnered with Shenzhen University and Wuhan University in Mainland China to offer Joint PhD programmes to enrich students’ research experience across campuses.
A Strong and Caring Research Community @ Lingnan
RPG student recruitment
https://ln.edu.hk/rpg/admission/application-for-admission