Research Integrity and Ethics
The Department of Geography at The University of Hong Kong conducts research to the highest standards of academic integrity, transparency, and social responsibility. All members of the Department—academic staff, research staff, and postgraduate researchers—are bound by HKU’s Policy on Research Integrity, which enshrines the principles of honesty, accountability, objectivity, due diligence, and fairness in credit and attribution.
Our research is inclusive and socially responsible: we prioritise research designs that minimise harm, respect cultural difference, and create tangible benefits for communities in Hong Kong, across Asia, and globally.
Responsible conduct of research is embedded throughout the research lifecycle. Staff and students are required to complete the HKU Responsible Conduct of Research (RCR) training programme, in conformity with the Singapore Statement on Research Integrity and the European Code of Conduct for Research Integrity.
All research involving human participants is submitted for ethical review through the HKU Human Research Ethics Committee (HREC) and its online Human Research Ethics Application System (HREAS). Ethics approval is secured before any data collection begins. Fieldwork practices uphold informed consent, respectful community engagement, and environmental stewardship.
Authorship follows international norms (Vancouver/ICMJE criteria and the CRediT taxonomy). Data management adheres to HKU’s Research Data and Records Management Policy—minimum five-year retention, FAIR data principles, and deposit in open repositories such as the HKU DataHub. The University is a signatory to the Berlin Declaration on open access; preprints are deposited in HKU Scholars Hub.
Useful Resources
Note: The Faculty of Social Sciences does not maintain a separate research ethics committee — human research ethics for Social Sciences RPg students and staff is handled centrally by HREC and HREAS.
Support for Research Postgraduate (RPg) Students & Staff
The Department provides comprehensive support to ensure our researchers have the resources, guidance, and facilities needed to excel.
Supervision
Arrangements
Every RPg student is assigned a primary supervisor, with co-supervision available for interdisciplinary projects. Progress is monitored at Faculty level by the Higher Social Sciences Degrees Committee (HSSDC) via regular reporting by supervisors and the Departmental Research Postgraduate Committee (DRPC).
Conference &
Fieldwork Support
RPg students access multiple layers of travel funding. HKPFS/HKU-PS holders receive an annual Research Grants Council (RGC) travel allowance. Other students may apply for University Research Committee grants and Faculty of Social Sciences international learning funds for overseas exchanges and lab attachments.
Career Development &
Mentoring
A structured mentoring culture pairs RPg students with senior academics for guidance on publishing, grants, and career pathways. HKU CEDARS provides additional one-on-one career coaching, CV feedback, and internship schemes.
Research
Training
Students complete a structured Graduate School curriculum (RCR, research methods, transferable skills) alongside departmental compulsory courses (Philosophical Issues in Geography, Research Colloquium) and specialized electives in physical/human geography, GIS, and remote sensing.
Administrative &
Tech Support
The Department General Office provides comprehensive administrative assistance (registration, ethics applications, visas). Dedicated technical staff manage specialist equipment, ensuring reliable access to geospatial, remote sensing, and laboratory resources.
Teaching &
Collaboration
RPg students gain pedagogical experience as Teaching Assistants. They also participate in cross-institutional networks like the Human Geography Discussion Group (HGDG) and international research projects across Asia, Africa, and Europe.
Scholarships &
Financial Support
We actively support applications to prestigious funding streams, including the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme (HKPFS), HKU Presidential PhD Scholar Programme (HKU-PS), HKU Postgraduate Scholarships (PGS), and Belt and Road Scholarships.
Office Space &
Facilities
Researchers are accommodated in shared spaces in The Jockey Club Tower and a new dedicated off-campus office (opened April 2026). Students enjoy direct access to the Geography HPC cluster, specialist labs, and the Faculty's Data Computing Tech Lab.
Our Research Culture
The Department of Geography at HKU is a community built on curiosity, collegiality, and the conviction that rigorous scholarship can change the world. We welcome researchers at every career stage—from first-year MPhil students to Distinguished Professors—into an intellectually demanding and genuinely supportive working environment.
A Diverse and Internationally Connected Community
Our Department is now home to over 170 professoriate staff, postdoctoral fellows and RPg students representing six nationalities. We operate within HKU's Equal Opportunity Policy and provide concrete family-friendly provisions, including flexible working arrangements, extended parental leave, and access to dedicated Baby Care Rooms. Accessibility is a lived value, with text-to-speech tools, accessible venues, and ergonomic workstations provided as standard.
Vibrant Intellectual Life
The Department runs a rich programme of seminars, workshops, and reading groups throughout the academic year, including the Geography Distinguished Seminars Series and writing retreats. We co-organise the Human Geography Discussion Group (HGDG), a cross-university paper-discussion series shared with The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and Hong Kong Baptist University (HKBU), which fosters interdisciplinary dialogue across Hong Kong’s geography community.
Mentoring and Wellbeing at the Centre
Every RPg student benefits from close supervision by experienced faculty, a clear progression structure, access to university-wide training, and departmental mentoring that extends beyond the thesis. Senior staff actively support early-career colleagues in navigating grant applications, peer review, conference circuits, and the academic job market.
Research That Matters
Our work spans physical geography, human geography, GIS, remote sensing, and environmental science, addressing real-world challenges: urban inequality, climate vulnerability, land degradation, migration, and the governance of environmental change. We conduct fieldwork across Asia and beyond, always guided by the principles of informed consent, community respect, and environmental stewardship.