Dear Research Postgraduate Students,

While there is no universally accepted approach for teaching students to be more creative in research, there are some basic principles, methodologies and skills with which students can equip themselves.  In this connection, the Graduate School has organised related short courses.  These modules are collectively referred to as the Improving Postgraduate Learning (IPL) programme.

Students are required to complete the following IPL modules in their first year of studies for completion of the University- or programme-specified requirements.

1. Starting from the 2022-23 intake, all RPg students and taught doctoral students are required to complete the RDM training, specifically, the online course Basics of Research Data Management, in the first year of study for completion of the University-specified requirement. Relevant information is available at http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/clear/prodev/ipl.html.

2. In principle, postgraduate students should not conduct any laboratory work before meeting the University recognized training requirements.  Students are required to attend Laboratory Safety modules on “General Safety”, “Biological Safety”, “Chemical Safety” courses, and/or other courses and, where appropriate, examinations the Thesis/Student Supervisor so prescribed for the students as decided by the programmes depending on the nature of the research in their first year of study for completion of the programme-specified requirement, with effect from the 2022-23 intake. Students should consult their Graduate Divisions for details.

Possible consequences of non-compliance

This email serves as a reminder to students that they will possibly face problems raised to their candidature or advancement to post-candidacy stage in the event of non-compliance problems with the aforementioned IPL course-taking or examination requirements.

Most IPL short courses are optional for postgraduate students. However, all research postgraduate students should consider seriously taking every module that has potential relevance to their research endeavours.  There are other IPL modules for completion of graduation requirements (i.e. Observing Intellectual Property and Copyright Law during Research and Research Ethics). 

Should you have any questions on the requirements, please feel free to contact the Graduate School Office. 

With best regards,

Graduate School Office

The Chinese University of Hong Kong