Financial Support

The University has endeavoured to provide research postgraduate students with financial assistance to enable them to devote full efforts to their studies and to facilitate their research studies and professional development.

This prestigious top-up scholarship supports outstanding candidates admitted through the RGC’s HKPFS in the 2027/28 admission intake:

Award of HK$40,000 per year for the entire duration of study, up to four years of the normative study period;
Full waiver of tuition fees for the whole normative study period;
Eligibility to apply for an additional performance-based scholarship of up to HK$60,000 per year; and
Guaranteed hostel accommodation place for three years.

*Applicable to HKPFS awardees for the 2027/28 admission intake

Fellowships and Studentships

A full-time PhD student will normally be awarded with either a PhD Fellowship* or a Postgraduate Studentship. A full-time MPhil student will normally be awarded a Postgraduate Studentship.

PhD Fellowship
PhD Fellowship awardees will be provided with a Fellowship with a monthly stipend for a maximum period of 3 years. The monthly stipend for 2026/27 is HK$28,700 (subject to annual review). For awardees with a normative study period of 4 years, the University will offer the same level of Fellowship for their fourth year of study.

(* For more details on PhD Fellowship, please refer to the webpage of Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme.) (US$1 = HK$7.8)
Postgraduate Studentships
Postgraduate Studentships (PGSs) are awarded to full-time MPhil/PhD students to support their daily subsistence, tuition fee and other expenses that may incur during the course of their studies. The monthly stipend for 2026/27 is HK$19,010 for an MPhil student; HK$19,280 for a PhD student before confirmation of candidature; and HK$19,660 for a PhD student after confirmation of candidature. For details, please refer to Terms and Conditions of Postgraduate Studentships (US$1 = HK$7.8)

As part of the training for postgraduate degree studies, fellowship or studentship recipients are required to perform, under supervision, teaching duties and/or research support duties of up to 12 hours per week on average. Please refer to Terms and Conditions of Postgraduate Studentships.

Research Postgraduate Student Conference/Field Trip Sponsorships

The University deems it important to provide support to research postgraduate students in academic activities, mainly conference attendance and conducting field trips, to nurture their academic and/or professional growth.

The funding limit for supporting conferences, field trips and/or other exceptionally approved academic activities is HK$19,000 for an MPhil student and HK$25,000 for a regular PhD student during his/her entire period of study at Lingnan.

An annual sponsorship will be provided to a PhD Fellowship awardee for a maximum period of 3 years, and the rate for 2026/27 is HK$14,400 (subject to annual review). For an awardee with a normative study period of 4 years, the University will offer the same level of sponsorship for his/her fourth year of study.

Research Postgraduate Scholarships for Overseas Research Visits

A full-time PhD student who wishes to undertake a short-term visit at an overseas institution for a term and up to 6 months can apply for the scholarships. During the period of visit, the PhD student will be immersed in a research environment different from his/her original, and expected to participate in research activities under the co-supervision by Supervisors from Lingnan and the host institution. MPhil and PhD students at Lingnan are expected to benefit from the academic exchanges with in-bound overseas research students.

The Scholarships are offered on a competitive basis. Depending on the destination of the host institution and the period of stay, a selected PhD student may receive support ranging from HK$25,000 to HK$50,000 for a 6-month visit.

Other Scholarships

In addition, research postgraduate students are eligible for a number of scholarships, which are normally awarded based on academic merits and recommendation of department/programme concerned.

Tuition Waiver

PhD Fellowships Awardees
Starting from the 2027/28 admission intake, the full tuition fee for the whole normative study period of a PhD Fellowship awardee will be waived.
Eligible Local Full-time MPhil/PhD Students
Starting from the 2018/19 academic year, the Government of the HKSAR has provided tuition waiver for all eligible new and progressing local students enrolled in UGC-funded RPg programmes under the scheme of Tuition Waiver for Local Research Postgraduate (RPg) Students. The Scheme covers the tuition fees for the normative study period of UGC-funded RPg programmes, viz. 2 years for MPhil students, 3 years for PhD students with a research master’s degree and 4 years for PhD students without a research master’s degree.

Note

Local RPg students who are admitted to the MPhil/PhD programmes of the University as a self-financed student are not eligible for the Tuition Waiver for Local RPg Students.
Dependant visa/entry permit holders who were below 18 years old when first issued with such visa/entry permit by the Immigration Department of HKSAR (ImmD), and they do not meet the two-year residency requirement are not eligible.
Holders of a full-time employment visa/work permit are not eligible.
Holders of a visa/entry permit for various admission schemes (including the Quality Migrant Admission Scheme, the Capital Investment Entrant Scheme or the Admission Scheme for the Second Generation of Chinese Hong Kong Permanent Residents) are not eligible.
Non-local students holding the following visas are not eligible – (a) student visa/entry permit; (b) visa/entry permit under the Immigration Arrangements for Non-local Graduates (IANG); or (c) dependent visa/entry permit (applicable to students who were 18 years old or above when first issued with such visa/entry permit by ImmD).
To prevent double benefit, students whose tuition fee are fully waived by any other schemes will no longer be eligible for the tuition waiver.