Research Student Attachment Programme – Incoming

Guidelines   Leaflet 
Online Application   System User Guide
Forms and Notes for Successful Applicants

RSAP 2024/25 2nd Round

(for attachment commencing on or before 30 April 2026)

Introduction

Period of attachment

• The duration of attachment is from a minimum of three months to a maximum of one year. The actual duration may vary depending on the approval of student visa by the Immigration Department of the HKSAR Government.
• Applicants should take visa processing time into consideration when proposing the commencement date of the attachment.
  
  

Eligibility

• Current PhD students with good academic standing, whose home institutions are overseas (except mainland China, Macau and Taiwan), are eligible for application.
• The applicants and host supervisor should have common research interests to ensure high-quality supervision. For host supervisors at the rank of Research Assistant Professor, joint supervision with academic staff with supervisory experience is required.
• Students who previously received financial support from RSAP cannot re-apply.

Financial support

• Successful applicants will be offered a subsistence allowance of HK$400 per day. The maximum allowance is capped at HK$72,000, i.e., the amount for a maximum of 180 days.
• Any visiting period before the issue date of the offer letter is not eligible for retroactive financial support.
• Successful applicants are not required to pay tuition fees to PolyU, but may be required to pay tuition fees to their home institution.

Application procedures and timeline

• Step 1: Applicants should seek consent from a potential host supervisor prior to application.  The research interests and contact information of PolyU faculty staff can be found on the PolyU Scholars Hub.
• Step 2: The research plan and expected outcome must be mutually agreed.
• Step 3: Application can be made via the online submission system. Required submission documents include:
  • A supporting letter from the home supervisor or the affiliated department/faculty, specifying the full name of PhD student, the home supervisor, the host supervisor, and the attachment period,
  • A copy of the latest academic transcript of the applicant,
  • A brief CV of the applicant with a list of representative publications, and
  • A brief CV of the host supervisor with a list of representative publications and PhD student supervision experience.
• Timeline:

  Date	Event
  1 Apr 2025	Call for applications
  26 May 2025 (23:59 HKT)	Application deadline
  29 May 2025	PolyU supervisor endorsement deadline
  5 Jun 2025	Departmental (DoRPgS) assessment deadline
  Jul 2025	GS application selection and approval
  31 Jul 2025	GS notification of results

Enquiries

For enquiries, please contact the Graduate School by email at gs.attachment@polyu.edu.hk.