Guidelines Leaflet
Online Application System User Guide
Forms and Notes for Successful Applicants
RSAP 2025/26 1st Round
(for attachment commencing on or before 30 Sept 2026)
Introduction
Research Student Attachment Programme - Incoming (RSAP-Incoming) provides international PhD students with an opportunity for research attachment at PolyU to foster collaborative research. Two rounds of applications are invited each year.
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 Sept 2025 Call for applications 26 Oct 2025(23:59 HKT)
Application deadline 29 Oct 2025
PolyU supervisor endorsement deadline 4 Nov 2025
Departmental (DoRPgS) assessment deadline mid-Dec 2025
GS application selection and approval 31 Dec 2025 GS notification of results
Enquiries
For enquiries, please contact the Graduate School by email at gs.attachment@polyu.edu.hk.
This program could also find in Research Student Attachment Programme – Incoming at Graduate School.
