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.

Teaching Staff

Winton AU

Tim CAREY

Sarah CHAN

Tak CHAN

Judy FENG

Harry HUI

Julian PFROMBECK

Clara TO

Course List

Course List (Applicable to students admitted in 2020-21 and thereafter)

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

* Course Descriptions

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).

Admission Requirements

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.

Important Application Information

Study Scheme

1.

Coursework Requirements

Students are required to complete a minimum of 31 units of courses (excluding thesis research courses).

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

Students are required to submit a research thesis and pass an oral examination for graduation.

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/.

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.

Qualifications for Transfer from M.Phil. to Ph.D. Pre-Candidacy

Ph.D. Stream

The objective of this programme is to train students to make independent contributions to the advancement of psychological knowledge. Students are required to complete a minimum of 42 units of courses (excluding thesis research courses), pass a candidacy examination, submit a completed research report undertaken after admission, and submit a research thesis and pass an oral examination for graduation.

Admission Requirements

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.

Important Application Information

Study Scheme (Pre-Candidacy)

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.

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:

Students are required to complete and pass an IPL module on “Basics of Research Data Management” in the 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), with effect from the 2025-26 intake.

Study Scheme (Post-Candidacy)

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:

Complete an 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.
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/.
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 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

Major fields of employment after graduation

talent assessment and management

organization learning and development

Past organizational placement of the programme