M.Phil.-Ph.D. in Industrial-Organizational Psychology
Field of Specialization
Application of psychological research to the workplace to improve the well-being and performance of the people and the organization. Topics include talent management, engagement and motivation, learning and development, psychological assessment, leadership, group dynamics, and learning organization.
Course List
Course Code |
Course Title |
Units |
PSYC5010 |
Seminar in Research Methods I |
3 |
PSYC5510 |
Talent Management |
3 |
PSYC6000 |
Major Psychological Approaches |
3 |
PSYC6010 |
Seminar in Research Methods II |
3 |
PSYC6050 |
Independent Study |
3 |
PSYC6300 |
Writing and Presentation |
2 |
PSYC6520 |
Engagement and Motivation in Organizations |
3 |
PSYC6530 |
Leadership and Group Dynamics |
3 |
PSYC6540 |
Organizational Placement I |
2 |
PSYC6541 |
Organizational Placement II |
2 |
PSYC6542 |
Organizational Placement III |
2 |
PSYC6550 |
Psychological Assessment at Work |
3 |
PSYC6560 |
Learning and Development |
3 |
PSYC6570 |
Seminar in Consumer Psychology |
3 |
PSYC6580 |
Seminar in Professional Issues |
1 |
PSYC7010 |
Seminar in Cognition |
3 |
PSYC7012 |
Neuroimaging Methods in Psychology |
3 |
PSYC7020 |
Seminar in Social Psychology and Personality |
3 |
PSYC7021 |
Seminar in Developmental Psychology |
3 |
PSYC8003 |
Thesis Research |
3 |
PSYC8006 |
Thesis Research |
6 |
PSYC8012 |
Thesis Research |
12 |
M.Phil. Stream
This programme is the first postgraduate programme in Hong Kong designed specifically for the training of professional industrial organizational psychologists. Students will receive comprehensive training in utilizing psychological knowledge for improving organizational effectiveness and employee satisfaction. Students are required to complete a minimum of 31 units of courses (excluding thesis research courses).
- General qualifications required by the Graduate School
- Fulfil the "English Language Proficiency Requirement" as stipulated by the Graduate School
(Please refer to Graduate School Homepage for details on these requirements) - Possess a Bachelor's degree in Psychology or equivalent
- Obtain an overall GPA of 3.0 or above.
In addition to the general application materials, all applicants should submit:
- a statement of career aspiration and research interest (750 words in English).
All supporting documents including confidential recommendations should reach our Division on or before the application deadline.
1. | Coursework Requirements | |||||||||||
Students are required to complete a minimum of 31 units of courses (excluding thesis research courses). |
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Prerequisites: | ||||||||||||
In addition to the 31 units, students are required to complete the following undergraduate courses if they have not completed them before: | ||||||||||||
i. An undergraduate level course related to data science which has to be approved by the Department of Psychology; and | ||||||||||||
ii. An undergraduate level course related to business administration which has to be approved by the Department of Psychology. | ||||||||||||
(a) | Required Courses: | 31 units | ||||||||||
Students are required to take a minimun of 31 units and obtain a minimum grade of B-. | ||||||||||||
(i) | PSYC5010, 5510, 6300, 6520, 6530, 6540, 6541, 6550, 6560, 6570, 6580 | 28 units | ||||||||||
(ii) | 1 from the following 2 courses: | 3 units | ||||||||||
PSYC6010, 7012 | ||||||||||||
Total: | 31 units | |||||||||||
(b) | Thesis Research Courses: | |||||||||||
Students are required to take the following thesis research course every term and obtain a minimum grade of B-: | ||||||||||||
Full-time students: PSYC8006 | ||||||||||||
Part-time and continuing students: PSYC8003 | ||||||||||||
2. |
Other Requirements |
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Students are required to submit a research thesis and pass an oral examination for graduation. |
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Students are required to complete an Improving Postgraduate Learning (IPL) module on “Observing Intellectual Property and Copyright Law during Research”. This is an online module and relevant information can be accessed from the website: http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/clear/prodev/ipl.html. Students are required to complete and pass an IPL module on “Basics of Research Data Management” in their first year of study, with effect from the 2022-23 intake. This is an online module and relevant information can be accessed from the website: https://www.cuhk.edu.hk/clear/download/IPL-Researchskills.pdf. Students are required to submit a Data Management Plan (DMP) during the first year of study, with effect from the 2025-26 intake. The final DMP should have been shared to the CUHK community on DMPTool or the relevant platform that CUHK provides when submitting the final version of the thesis/portfolio to the Graduate School. Students are required to have published the data on the CUHK Research Data Repository or an open data repository with a valid Digital Object Identifier (DOI) or other forms of permanent identifier when submitting the final version of the thesis/portfolio. Upon thesis supervisor's endorsement, students can decide on how much data from the research project is to be published. Students are required to complete an online Research Ethics Training (RET) module on “Publication Ethics” offered by the Office of Research and Knowledge Transfer Services (ORKTS) and obtain a valid Publication Ethics Certificate for graduation. Relevant information can be accessed from the RET website at https://www.research-ethics.cuhk.edu.hk/web/. |
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Students must also fulfill the additional Term Assessment Requirement of the Programme. | ||||||||||||
A student who receives two (or more) grades F or below will be asked to discontinue studies. |
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All students should:
- obtain an overall GPA of 3.5 or above in their first year of studies;
- submit an M.Phil. thesis proposal and pass an oral thesis proposal defense by the end of February during the second term of their first year of studies; no provision for a second attempt; and
- satisfy members of their Thesis Committee that their proposals have the potential to be expandable to become a proper Ph.D. thesis.
Ph.D. Stream
- General qualifications required by the Graduate School
- Fulfil the "English Language Proficiency Requirement" as stipulated by the Graduate School
(Please refer to the "Postgraduate Prospectus" or Graduate School Homepage for details on these requirements) - Possess a Bachelor's degree in Psychology or equivalent
- Obtain an overall GPA of 3.5 or above or honours not lower than Second Class Upper
- Have completed an individually supervised research thesis.
In addition to the general application materials, all applicants should submit
- research proposal in English (2500 words or above); and
- a statement of career aspiration and research interest (750 words in English).
All supporting documents including confidential recommendations should reach our Division on or before the application deadline.
The “candidacy requirement” composes of four major parts, namely, coursework requirement, candidacy examination, thesis proposal (and oral defense) and stipulated Improving Postgraduate Learning (IPL) module requirements. Students must complete and fulfill the first three parts within the “maximum period for fulfilling candidacy requirements” and complete the stipulated IPL module(s) in their first year of study. Details of the requirement are listed below:
1. | Coursework Requirement | ||||||||||||
Students are required to complete a minimum of 32 units of courses (excluding thesis research courses) |
|||||||||||||
Prerequisites: In addition to the 32 units, students are required to complete the following undergraduate courses if they have not completed them before: | |||||||||||||
i. An undergraduate level course related to data science which has to be approved by the Department of Psychology; and | |||||||||||||
ii. An undergraduate level course related to business administration which has to be approved by the Department of Psychology. | |||||||||||||
(a) | Required Courses: | 32 units | |||||||||||
Students are required to take a minimun of 32 units and obtain a minimum grade of B-. | |||||||||||||
(i) | PSYC5010, 5510, 6050, 6300, 6520, 6530, 6540, 6550, 6560, 6570, 6580 | 29 units | |||||||||||
(ii) | 1 from the following 2 courses: | 3 units | |||||||||||
PSYC6010, 7012 | |||||||||||||
Total: | 32 units | ||||||||||||
(b) | Thesis Research Courses: | ||||||||||||
Students are required to take the following thesis research course every term and obtain a minimum grade of B-: | |||||||||||||
Full-time students: PSYC8006 | |||||||||||||
Part-time and continuing students: PSYC8003 | |||||||||||||
2. | Candidacy Examination | ||||||||||||
The candidacy examination is a Major Qualifying Assessment which consists of a written paper and an oral examination. | |||||||||||||
Prior to the thesis proposal oral defense, students will need to do a Psych Review-type paper (literature review or meta-analysis) of approximately 6,000 words in main text (around 30 pages double-spaced) as an intensive review of a body of literature approved by their supervisor. Students are also required to pass an oral examination on this review. | |||||||||||||
The candidacy examination will be arranged 2 times per year. A student will be asked to have the second attempt when he/she has failed the examination for the first time. A student will be asked to withdraw from the programme if he/she has failed the examination for the second time. | |||||||||||||
3. | Thesis Proposal and Oral Defense | ||||||||||||
After passing the Candidacy Examination*, the candidate must submit a thesis proposal of approximately 20 pages and pass a thesis proposal oral defense by a Thesis Committee consisting of his/her thesis supervisor and other nominated internal examiners. | |||||||||||||
* For full-time programme: No later than 30 January of second year of studies for students admitted with a research Master’s degree; No later than 30 January of third year of studies for students admitted with a Bachelor’s or a taught Master’s degree.
For part-time programme: No later than 30 January of third year of studies for students admitted with a research Master’s degree; No later than 30 January of fourth year of studies for students admitted with a Bachelor’s or a taught Master’s degree.
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4. | Other Requirements | ||||||||||||
Students are required to complete the following Improving Postgraduate Learning (IPL) modules in their first year of study for partial fulfillment of candidacy requirements:
|
1. | Coursework Requirement | |||||||||||
Students are required to complete a minimum of 10 units of course (excluding thesis research courses). | ||||||||||||
(a) | Required Courses: | 10 units | ||||||||||
Students are required to take a minimun of 10 units and obtain a minimum grade of B-. | ||||||||||||
(i) | PSYC6000, 6541, 6542 | 7 units | ||||||||||
(ii) | 1 from the following 3 courses*: | 3 units | ||||||||||
PSYC7010, 7020, 7021 | ||||||||||||
* Students are recommended to fulfill this requirement during the Pre-Candidacy in order to match with the teaching schedule. | ||||||||||||
Total: | 10 units | |||||||||||
(b) | Thesis Research Courses: | |||||||||||
Students are required to take the following thesis research course every term and obtain a minimum grade of B-: | ||||||||||||
Full-time students: PSYC8012 | ||||||||||||
Part-time students: PSYC8006 | ||||||||||||
Continuing students: PSYC8003 | ||||||||||||
2. | Other Requirements | |||||||||||
Students are required to submit a research thesis and pass an oral examination for graduation. | ||||||||||||
In addition to completing the IPL modules stipulated for partial fulfillment of candidacy requirements, students are also required to complete the following IPL modules for graduation:
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Students must also fulfill the additional Term Assessment Requirement of the Programme. A student who receives two (or more) grades F or below will be asked to discontinue studies. |
Career Prospects
talent assessment and management
organization learning and development
- atrain
- Bank of America
- China Light & Powers
- Cubiks
- HSBC
- Human Scope
- Jardine Matheson
- KPMG
- Mercer
- Mobley Group Pacific
- MTR
- PA Consulting Group
- PwC
- SHL
- Signium
- Standard Chartered Bank