The programme is research-oriented with each student being directly supervised by a faculty member.

MPhil Stream*

• Complete all the graduate courses required by the Department.
• When deemed necessary by advisor/supervisor, student may be required to take other courses.
• Each MPhil student is required to give an oral presentation on his/her research progress.
• Each MPhil student is required to submit a thesis and pass the oral defence of the thesis for graduation.

PhD Stream

Pre-candidacy

• Complete all the graduate courses required by the Department.
• When deemed necessary by advisor/supervisor, student may be required to take other courses.
• Each PhD student is required to pass a written candidacy examination within the maximum period of his/her candidacy stage for the advancement to his/her postcandidacy stage.
• Submit thesis proposal and defence.

Post-candidacy

• Each PhD student is required to submit a thesis and pass the oral defence of the thesis for graduation.

Fields of Specialization

The Department of Finance pursues three research specializations:

1. Corporate Finance
The corporate finance research concentrates on company financing and investment activities and corporate governance. Specific research topics include capital structure decision, mergers and acquisitions, minority shareholder protection and corporate governance issues in China.

2. Investment
The main investment vehicles examined include stocks, bonds, gold, mortgages and derivatives. Specific research topics concentrate on the study of price behavior, asset pricing, market efficiency and implications for portfolio selection and investment strategies.

3. Financial Markets and Institutions
The research area covers the instruments traded in the financial markets, the analysis of money and capital markets, and economic and environmental problems related to acquisitions and the use of funds by financial institutions. Specific research studies include the collateralized dept obligation market, bank advertising and the marketing of products and services.

Please visit the Division’s homepage for more information.

In addition to the general requirements of the Graduate School, applicants are also required to submit the following documents:

1. a preliminary research proposal;
2. a statement of purpose;
3. a copy of previous written work such as a thesis, research project report, or any published articles;
4. an official hard copy of GMAT or GRE report (taken in or after January 2012).

GMAT Institution Code: R9H-0W-04

GRE Institution Code: 7488

TOEFL Institution Code: B022

Applicants should be committed to research and/or tertiary education.

Interview may be required.

1st round: 1 November 2017

2nd round: 1 December 2017

Last round: 2 January 2018 (while quota lasts)

1 December 2017
1.  By 12:00 noon (Hong Kong time) - to submit an initial application to RGC; and
2. By 5:00 p.m. (Hong Kong time) - to submit full application to CUHK
Please refer to HKPFS page for more details.

* MPhil Stream is not accepting application for 2018-19 admission.