STEM Internship Scheme 2025/26

Internship Requirements

• Full-time internships in Hong Kong with duration of at least four consecutive weeks (i.e. 28 calendar days), and are advised to last no more than 59 consecutive days.
• The employer should ensure that student interns have the opportunity to work in offices, fostering direct interaction with supervisors and colleagues for the majority of their internship time. Fully remote working, or remote working where the employer and the interns are in different territories, is not allowed.
• I&T-related, i.e. actual work which contains sufficient I&T elements.
• Internship positions directly subsidised by the Government DO NOT fall under this Scheme.
• The summer internship should commence no earlier than May 2025, and winter internship should commence no earlier than November 2025.

Employer Registration

Please note that the Job Posting Request Form and Eligibility Verification Form are currently CLOSED due to overwhelming responses. The forms will be reopened only when the funding becomes available.

Allowance and Disbursement

• The allowance for the internship for each student intern is HK$11,490 per month (i.e. 30 days), capped at two months. The abovesaid allowance will be disbursed directly to student interns by PolyU.
• The employer can, at own discretion and expenses, extend the internship duration or offer additional allowance to the student intern(s), provided that the arrangements comply with the Employment Ordinance, the Minimum Wage Ordinance, the Mandatory Provident Fund Ordinance, and other related ordinances.
• Salary, wage and any expected allowance, including the allowance under the Scheme, should be clearly stated in the employment contract for the internship.
• The employer is expected to remind and support the student intern(s) to complete online application(s) upon offer confirmation, the required documents for disbursement after the internship, and communicate with PolyU as early as possible if any problem arises that would affect the disbursement of the allowance.

See Guidelines for Employers for more details.

Enquiries
Tel: 3400 2446
Email: stem.cps@polyu.edu.hk

Eligibility

As required by ITC, the Scheme is open to undergraduates and postgraduates who are:

• local or non-local students enrolling in one of the full-time STEM programmes (please refer to the “List of Eligible STEM Programmes” on this page) recognised by ITC to be eligible for the Scheme;
• from any year of studies; and
• legally employable in Hong Kong.
• Non-local students are capped at a quota of 40% of all PolyU participants. Quota is allocated on a first-come, first-served basis. Once the quota is met, further non-local applications will be put on hold or rejected without additional notifications. These applications may proceed only if quota becomes available.

Internship Requirements

• Full-time internships in Hong Kong with duration of at least four consecutive weeks (i.e. 28 calendar days), allowance capped at two months.
• The duration of the internship is the number of calendar days in the contract period, and the start and end days of the internship should be working days. If the internship start/end days fall on Saturday, General Holiday or Statutory Holiday, they will be regarded as unpaid leave.
• I&T-related internship positions, i.e. actual work which contains sufficient I&T elements.
• Student interns should work in offices to have direct interaction with supervisors and colleagues for the majority of their internship time. Fully remote working, or remote working where the employer and the interns are in different territories, is not allowed;
• The summer internship should commence no earlier than May 2025, and winter internship should commence no earlier than November 2025.
• The internship funded by the Scheme, as required by ITC, CANNOT be used to fulfil WIE requirements. However, the internship period IN ADDITION TO that required for WIE requirements could be funded by the Scheme. For students who are undertaking an internship period IN ADDITION TO that required by WIE requirements, please refer to Appendix 3 in the Guidelines for Students.
• Internship positions directly subsidised by the Government DO NOT fall under this Scheme (e.g. internship programmes of the HKSAR Government).
• Students must declare any potential conflicts of interest in relation with the employer and/or internship. Failure to do so may result in disqualification from the Scheme.

Application Procedures

1. Students can apply for STEM internship through PolyU Job Board or Faculties/Schools/Departments, or source on their own.
2. Submit the followings to CPS, SAO AFTER confirming a STEM internship offer and by the application deadline:
   
   

• Online Application Form (for applicants undertaking an internship period in addition to their WIE requirements, click HERE)
• Copy of Employment Contract
• Signed Student Charter (for applicants undertaking an internship period in addition to their WIE requirements, click HERE)
• Copy of Student ID Card
• Copy  of “No Objection Letter” (“NOL”) issued by the Immigration Department (for non-local students only)
• Home Faculty’s/School’s/Department’s approval for student’s internship participation (for research postgraduate students only)

3. Approval for student applications will be granted by CPS, SAO based on student eligibility, internship nature, and funding availability at students’ time of submission. The first batch of applications will receive priority consideration for approval. CPS, SAO may consider later batch(es) of applications subject to the funding availability.
4. The Scheme will be closed when the provision of funding is exhausted.
5. Successful applicants are required to attend a pre-internship training workshop organised by CPS, SAO.
6. Students should submit the following items to CPS, SAO within two weeks upon the completion of internship:
• Assessment/Evaluation Form (to be filled in by both employer and student intern)
• Timesheet (signed by work supervisor)
• Salary Statement (if applicable)
• Learning Journal and Photos
7. Submit bank account information to the Finance Office of PolyU (for undergraduates/taught postgraduates; for research postgraduates).

Allowance and Disbursement

• Allowance for internship for each student intern is HK$11,490 per month (i.e. 30 days), capped at two months. Student interns may receive the allowance under the Scheme for more than one internship place, PROVIDED THAT
• the participating employers are different and the internship periods do NOT overlap; and
• the maximum amount of allowance does NOT exceed three months in one academic year (i.e. academic year 2024/25 is from 2 September 2024 to 31 August 2025; academic year 2025/26 is from 1 September 2025 to 30 August 2026).
• Only students who have successfully enrolled in the Scheme, completed the entire internship, and submitted post-internship documents are eligible to receive the allowance.
• Allowance will NOT be disbursed to students who fail to achieve 80% attendance rate or cannot complete the internship as planned.
• Unpaid leaves will NOT be taken into consideration in the calculation of allowance under the Scheme, and will be deducted from the calculation of internship duration.
• The employers may, at own discretion, offer additional allowance to student interns, which the arrangements should comply with the Employment Ordinance, the Minimum Wage Ordinance, the Mandatory Provident Fund Ordinance, and other related ordinances.
• Salary, wage and any expected allowance, including the allowance under the Scheme, should be clearly stated in the employment contract for the internship.
• Student interns who do NOT receive a minimum wage from employers for the internship under the Scheme should check their eligibility to work as “Work Experience Student” under the Minimum Wage Ordinance, and submit to employers the Confirmation of Student Status and the statutory declaration (Click HERE for details).
• Attendance of pre-internship training workshop is a mandatory requirement for the release of allowance.
• Students may expect to receive the allowance around three months after the post-internship submission.

 See Guidelines for Students for more details.

Enquiries
Tel: 3400 2446
Email: stem.stud@polyu.edu.hk

Approved by ITC

*Research postgraduate students who receive Research Scholarship are NOT permitted to take up any employment with the University or with any other employers unless special approval is granted by home Faculty/School/Department.
*Research postgraduate students who would like to participate in the Scheme must seek prior approval from their home Faculty/School/Department, and provide written proof to CPS, SAO during application.