To enhance the recruitment of research postgraduate students, the School of Science (SSCI) organized a 5-day Summer Camp and a 5-week Summer Research Program for prospective research postgraduate students at HKUST in summer of 2014.  The events aimed to provide an interactive platform for outstanding senior undergraduate students from leading universities in Mainland China and elsewhere to learn more about HKUST and in particular, SSCI.

 

In the Summer Camp, individual division / departments organized different activities such as campus visit, laboratory visits, group discussions and seminars especially designed for the participants.  Faculty members and PG students attending the Summer Camp offered detailed information on the characteristics of each program and answered participants’ questions.  The faculty members also gave the participants an overview of their research directions.  Participants interested in pursuing postgraduate studies at HKUST were invited for interviews. 

 

In the Summer Research Program, participants were invited to experience research and to work with the faculty mentors in SSCI.  Over the 5-week period, participants had opportunities to work in the laboratories and meet with the faculty mentors and fellow PG students, and discuss potential research opportunities.  There were extensive face-to-face meetings between the participants and the current PG students and faculty mentors.  Participants were able to experience research in an interactive learning atmosphere. 

 

Feedback on the Summer Camp and the Summer Research Program was overwhelmingly positive.  A total of 117 and 24 students had joined the summer camp and the summer research program respectively this year.  The two summer events have laid a solid foundation for PG student recruitment.  In 2015, the School plans to expand the scale of the Summer Camp and the Summer Research Program to admit, approximately 140 and 40 participants respectively.