This research programme aims at training communication students who plan to become researchers, university teachers, consultants, executives, professionals, etc. A total of at least 30 units are required for graduation. Advancement to PhD candidature is conditional upon the passing of a qualifying examination. Students should at least have one refereed international conference presentation that requires submission of the full paper and one single-authored or co-authored refereed Chinese or English-language journal article of any tier accepted/published before graduation.

Fields of Specialization

• Advertising and Marketing Communications Studies
• Audience and Reception Studies
• Critical and Cultural Studies
• Gender, Queer and Media
• Health Communication
• History of Communication
• Information and Communication Technology
• Intercultural and Development Communication
• International Communication
• Interpersonal Communication
• Mass Communication
• Media Law, Ethics and Policy
• Media Management and Economics
• Media Psychology
• Minorities and Communication
• Newspaper and Journalism Studies
• Organization and Group Communication
• Political Communication
• Political Economy of Communication
• Popular Culture and Entertainment Studies
• Public Relations Studies
• Visual Communication

Please visit the Division's homepage for more information. 

In addition to the general requirements of the Graduate School, applicants should possess a Master's degree in journalism/communication or in a related field of humanities and social science from this University or other recognized universities. All applicants must have a minimum TOEFL score of 580 (or computer-based score of 237, or internet-based score of 92) or a minimum IELTS score of 7.

Applicants are required to furnish proof of their research potential in form of:

1. a strong Master's thesis;
2. a research proposal outlining areas of interest, goals and plans;
3. three letters of reference from academic sources; and
4. academic records at the Master's and undergraduate levels.

Special consideration will be given to applicants' scholarly achievement and professional experience in related fields.

Please visit the Division's homepage for more information. 

For non-HKPFS PhD applicants: 1 December 2017

PhD applications will be considered mainly in this first round of admission. Preference will be given to those applying for the PhD programme through the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS).

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.