Key Dates for a 4-year PhD Candidate

Full time:

*Key Date*	*Event*
1^st day	Registration
1^st month	Course selection @
End of 6^th month	Submit the 1^st bi-annual progress monitoring report to the Departmental Research Postgraduate Committee (DRPC)*
End of 12^th month	Submit the 2^nd bi-annual progress monitoring report to the DRPC*
Between 16th & 18^th months	Complete Phase 1 Achievement Card online with the supervisor (applicable for students who register in and after September 2018)
End of 17^th month	Submit the probationary report to the DRPC for confirmation of candidature*#
End of 18^th month	Completion of Graduate School coursework requirement and at least 50% of departmental/faculty coursework requirement. End of probationary period (Students who registered on September 1, 2017 and thereafter are required to submit a Data Management Plan (DMP) before the expiry of their probationary period if data is to be collected or generated as part of the research. Please refer to the website of the University Libraries for details of submission of DMP: http://lib.hku.hk/researchdata/rpg.htm)
End of 24^th month	Submit the 4^th bi-annual progress monitoring report to the DRPC*
End of 30^th month	Submit the 5^th bi-annual progress monitoring report to the DRPC*
Between 33rd & 36^th months	Complete Phase 2 Achievement Card online with the supervisor (applicable for students who register in and after September 2018)
End of 36^th month	Submit the 6^th bi-annual progress monitoring report to the DRPC*
End of 42^nd month	Submit the 7^th bi-annual progress monitoring report to the DRPC*
Between 43rd & 48^th months	Complete Phase 3 Achievement Card online with the supervisor (applicable for students who register in and after September 2018)
At least 3 months before the expected date of thesis submission	Submit a written notice of intention to submit a thesis to the Chairperson of the DRPC
End of 48^th month	Submit the 8^th bi-annual progress monitoring report to the DRPC* End of candidature (Thesis should be submitted by this date. Students who registered on September 1, 2017 and thereafter are required to submit the dataset of their research, where applicable, when they submit theses for examination. Please refer to the website of the University Libraries for details of submission of dataset: http://lib.hku.hk/researchdata/rpg.htm)

Part-time:

*Key Date*	*Event*
1^st day	Registration
1^st month	Course selection @
End of 6^th month	Submit the 1st bi-annual progress monitoring report to the Departmental Research Postgraduate Committee (DRPC)*
End of 12^th month	Submit the 2^nd bi-annual progress monitoring report to the DRPC*
End of 18^th month	Submit the 3^rd bi-annual progress monitoring report to the DRPC*
End of 23^rd month	Submit the probationary report to the DRPC for confirmation of candidature*#
End of 24^th month	Completion of Graduate School coursework requirement and at least 50% of departmental/faculty coursework requirement. End of probationary period (Students who registered on September 1, 2017 and thereafter are required to submit a Data Management Plan (DMP) before the expiry of their probationary period if data is to be collected or generated as part of the research. Please refer to the website of the University Libraries for details of submission of DMP: http://lib.hku.hk/researchdata/rpg.htm)
Between 25th & 27^th months	Complete Phase 1 Achievement Card online with the supervisor (applicable for students who register in and after September 2018)
End of 30^th month	Submit the 5^th bi-annual progress monitoring report to the DRPC*
End of 36^th month	Submit the 6^th bi-annual progress monitoring report to the DRPC*
End of 42^nd month	Submit the 7^th bi-annual progress monitoring report to the DRPC*
Between 45th & 48^th months	Complete Phase 2 Achievement Card online with the supervisor (applicable for students who register in and after September 2018)
End of 48^th month	Submit the 8^th bi-annual progress monitoring report to the DRPC*
End of 54^th month	Submit the 9^th bi-annual progress monitoring report to the DRPC*
End of 60^th month	Submit the 10^th bi-annual progress monitoring report to the DRPC*
End of 66^th month	Submit the 11^th bi-annual progress monitoring report to the DRPC*
Between 67th & 72^nd months	Complete Phase 3 Achievement Card online with the supervisor (applicable for students who register in and after September 2018)
At least 3 months before the expected date of thesis submission	Submit a written notice of intention to submit a thesis to the Chairperson of the DRPC
End of 72^nd month	Submit the 12^th bi-annual progress monitoring report to the DRPC* End of candidature (Thesis should be submitted by this date. Students who registered on September 1, 2017 and thereafter are required to submit the dataset of their research, where applicable, when they submit theses for examination. Please refer to the website of the University Libraries for details of submission of dataset: http://lib.hku.hk/researchdata/rpg.htm)

@ Course enrolments are conducted before the commencement of each semester. The course enrolment periods vary from year to year. Priority will be given to (i) part-time students as the choice of evening courses are very limited and the total number of our part-time students is small; (ii) all MPhil and 4-year PhD students who are in the last semester of their probation as they must complete all Graduate School courses and 50% of the faculty/school/departmental course requirement by the end of their probation to be eligible for confirmation of candidature; and (iii) students of the HKU-SUSTech PhD Programme. For students starting in months other than September and January, course enrolment can be done by following the add/drop procedure. Please click here for details.

* The DRPC shall be required to provide comments on the supervision and/or progress on the reports. After the DRPC has considered both supervision and candidate’s reports, an email will be sent to the supervisor and the candidate alerting them to view the reports with the comments of the DRPC. The DRPC will also submit the supervision report and the candidate’s report with its comments to the Faculty Higher Degrees Committee (FHDC).

# It is advisable that students submit their probationary report one month before the end of the probationary period to allow more time for the confirmation process.

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