MPhil-PhD in Computational Social Science
The rise of digital technology has revolutionized every subfield in humanities and social science (HSS). Applying digital technology to HSS has become an unavoidable global trend in the future. The MPhil-PhD Programme in Computational Social Science is designed for students who wish to pursue an academic career in the broad area of computational social science and humanities. It will train students to identify interesting and promising research topics and conduct research projects by bridging the gap between computational techniques and traditional studies in humanities and social sciences. They are expected to become leading scholars and practitioners in academia and industries, making original and substantial contributions to their fields of research and to humanity and society. This programme aims to attract two types of applicants who have, 1)a computer science background with a strong interest in humanities and social science, and 2)a social science and humanities background with a strong interest in social computing.
| Course Groupings | Course Units | Minimum Grade | Streams | |
| MPhil | PhD | |||
| Pre-Candidacy Period | ||||
| I. Required Courses | Units Required for Graduation | |||
| CSS5010 Social Science Research Methods | 3 | C | 9 | 9 |
| CSS5020 Statistics for Social Science | 3 | C | ||
| CSS5220 Computational Thinking with Social Science Applications | 3 | C | ||
| II. Elective Courses: Group A | ||||
| CSS5110 Advanced Topics in Sociology | 3 | C | 6 (six units from group A) | 9 (nine units from group A) |
| CSS5120 Computational Linguistics | 3 | C | ||
| CSS5130 Advanced Topics in Economics | 3 | C | ||
| CSS6110 Advanced Topics in Archaeology | 3 | C | ||
| CSS6120 Advanced Topics in Literature | 3 | C | ||
| GLB5010 Theories of Global Studies | 3 | C | ||
| GLB5050 Positive Social Analysis | 3 | C | ||
| GLB5330 Comparative Politics | 3 | C | ||
| GLB5340 Comparative Public Opinion | 3 | C | ||
| GLB5650 Political Governance of China | 3 | C | ||
| PSY5120 Child and Adolescent Development | 3 | C | ||
| PSY5130 Educational and Psychological Testing | 3 | C | ||
| PSY5150 Advanced Topics in Educational Psychology | 3 | C | ||
| PSY5230 Social and Personality Psychology | 3 | C | ||
| PSY5310 Counseling and Clinical Psychology | 3 | C | ||
| PSY5320 Positive Psychology | 3 | C | ||
| PUB5210 Public Choice: Rationality and Decision-making | 3 | C | ||
| PUB5220 Fiscal Governance and Budgeting | 3 | C | ||
| TRA5316 Corpus and Computational Linguistics | 3 | C | ||
| TRA6010 Critical Theories for Translation Studies | 3 | C | ||
| TRA6020 Translation Pedagogy | 3 | C | ||
| TRA6030 Research Methodologies for Translation Studies | 3 | C | ||
| URB5410 Urban Analytics | 3 | C | ||
| URB5430 Urban Spatial Analysis and Planning | 3 | C | ||
| III. Elective Courses: Group B | ||||
| CSS5230 Introduction to Machine Learning for Social Science | 3 | C | 6 (six units from group B) | 9 (nine units from group B) |
| CSS5240 Data Visualization for Social Science | 3 | C | ||
| CSS5250 Psychological Testing | 3 | C | ||
| CSS6210 Introduction to Social Science Data Management and Analysis | 3 | C | ||
| CSS6220 Introduction to Statistical Learning | 3 | C | ||
| CSS6230 Introduction to Social Computing | 3 | C | ||
| CSS6240 Cloud Computing for Social Science | 3 | C | ||
| GGE5001A Academic Writing and Presentation | 2 | Pass | ||
| IV. Elective Courses: Group C | ||||
| CSS5210 Advanced Topics in Social Statistics | 3 | C | / | 3 (three units from group C) |
| CSS6010 Survey Experiment | 3 | C | ||
| V. Thesis Research Course (students need to register in the course every term) | ||||
| CSS7010A Thesis Research | 6 | B- | 6 units per term | 6 units per term |
| VI. Other Courses (students need tregister in CSS7020 every term and pass CSS7030 in the pre-candidacy period) | ||||
| CSS7020A Research Seminars | 0 | Pass | 0 unit per term | 0 unit per term |
| CSS7030 Thesis Writing and Presentation | 0 | Pass | / | 0 |
| Post-Candidacy Period | ||||
| VII. Thesis Research Course (students need to register in the course every term) | ||||
| CSS7010B Thesis Research | 12 | B- | / | 12 units per term |
| VIII. Other Courses (students need to register in the course every term) | ||||
| CSS7020B Research Seminars | 0 | Pass | / | 0 unit per term |
| Units Distribution | ||||
| Required Courses | 9 | 9 | ||
| Elective Courses: Group A | 6 | 9 | ||
| Elective Courses: Group B | 6 | 9 | ||
| Elective Courses: Group C | / | 3 | ||
| Thesis Research Course | 6 units*No. of terms | 6 units*No. of terms in Pre-Candidacy Period + 12 units*No. of terms in Post-Candidacy Period | ||
| Other Courses | 0 | 0 | ||
| Notes: | ||||
| 1. For MPhil students exceeding normative study period, each student is expected to register in CSS7010A Thesis Research (6 units per term) every term. | ||||
| 2. For PhD students exceeding normative study period, each student is expected to register in CSS7010B Thesis Research (12 units per term) and CSS7020B Research Seminars (0 units) every term in the post-candidacy period. | ||||
*Applicable to students admitted in or after AY2024-2025
Study Period
The study periods for students of different streams/ stages under the framework of the new MPhil-PhD Programme are summarized below:
| Degree | Mode | Maximum Pre-Candidacy Period 1 | Normative Period | Maximum Period |
| MPhil | Full-time | -- | 24 months | 48 months |
| PhD (entering with a research master’s degree) | Full-time | 24 months 2 | 48 months | 72 months |
| PhD (entering without a research master’s degree) | Full-time | 36 months 2,3 | 60 months | 84 months |
Notes:
1 Maximum period to pass the candidacy requirement, counted from first entry.
2 A student who fails to pass the candidacy requirement within the maximum pre-candidacy period is required to withdraw from the PhD study.
3 A student without a master’s degree who fails to pass the candidacy requirement within the maximum pre-candidacy period is allowed to switch to MPhil study.
Course and Unit Exemptions
1. MPhil Stream: Students may be granted course and/or unit exemptions if they have taken similar or equivalent postgraduate courses with satisfactory performance (“B” grade or above). Supporting documents such as academic transcripts, course syllabus must be provided. Exemption for a maximum of 6 units of lecture courses may be granted. The application should be approved by the Dean of the Graduate School after the endorsement of the Programme Director/Coordinator and the Graduate Panel Chair.
2. PhD Stream: Students may be granted course and/or unit exemptions if they have taken similar or equivalent postgraduate courses with satisfactory performance (“B” grade or above). Supporting documents such as academic transcripts, course syllabus must be provided. Exemption for a maximum of 6 units of lecture courses may be granted. The application should be approved by the Dean of the Graduate School after the endorsement of the Programme Director/Coordinator and the Graduate Panel Chair.
