Department of Building and Construction
City University of Hong Kong

International Research Exposure for Students (IRES)

Under IRES, a successful applicant will spend one semester or the summer vacation (3 months maximum) with a hosting department of a university outside Hong Kong and Mainland China. Upon completion of the programme, the participants shall be able to:

1) Appreciate the merit of scholarly research;
2) Adapt to a culturally different workplace, and
3) Communicate effectively in an English-speaking environment.

 

There will be two main rounds of application and the following conditions shall apply:

Section A: Applicable to all rounds of application

1) Research activity including joint supervision must form an integral part of the exchange programme. Research output is expected from the exchange programme.

2) Credit transfer, if any, shall be agreed between the Department of Building and Construction and the host department. As such, all credits required for completion of the CityU programme must be obtained for graduation.

3) A successful applicant will be granted a subsidy, up to a maximum of HK$50,000, for travel and living expenses.

4) Selection criteria include:
(i) academic performance;
(ii) ability to undertake research in an overseas environment, and
(iii) the relevancy of the areas of study including research.

 

5) Upon completion of the programme, each participant shall be required to report his/her research results and experiences as an exchange student in a debriefing session organised by the Department of Building and Construction.

6) The attention of the applicant is drawn to the need of obtaining a valid visa for the programme.

Section B: Applicable to this round of application (TWO Places)

1) The host department is the Department of Civil and Structural Engineering of the University of Sheffield in the United Kingdom.

2) The exchange period can be either:
(i) Spring semester at Sheffield University (5 Feb 2007   9 June 2007), or
(ii) 1 June 2007   31 August 2007.
Successful applicants opting to go aboard for the Spring semester at Sheffield University (Option 1) must take at least 3 modules offered by the host department. A list of available modules is attached in Appendix A.

 

3) Applicants should engage a research supervisor, who is a staff member in the BC Department at CityU, and discuss possible research to be carried out at Sheffield University, before submitting an application.

4) While the host department will offer assistance to our students in finding accommodation at Sheffield, it is the students  responsibility to make definite arrangements for accommodation before arriving in the UK.

 

Application procedure

Application is now open, please send CV to Dr S.O.Cheung bcsoc@cityu.edu.hk or Dr Johnny Cheuk cycheuk@cityu.edu.hk should you are interested. Application closes on 24th November 2006. Short-listed applicants will be invited to an interview to be held in early December 2006.

 

Appendix A
Modules offered by the host department (Department of Civil and Structural Engineering, Sheffield University)

Module code Module title *(Credit units)

 

Year 1 modules
AMA144 Civil Engineering Mathematics and Computing (10)
CIV102 Civil Engineering Mechanics 2 (10)
CIV110 Structural Mechanics 2 (10)
CIV123 Civil Engineering Design and Surveying (10)
CIV150 Geotechnical Engineering 1 (10)
CIV163 Structural Materials (10)

 

Year 2 modules
CIV212 Structural Analysis 2 (10)
CIV215 Structural Analysis 3 (10)
CIV226 Civil and Structural Engineering Design (20)
CIV235 Water and Wastewater (10)
CIV251 Geotechnical Engineering 3 (10)

 

Year 3 modules
CIV304 Group Design Project (10)
CIV316 Structural Dynamics (10)
CIV322 Bridge Engineering (10)
CIV337 Urban Drainage Engineering (10)
CIV352 Engineering Geology (10)

 

Course details can be found at:

http://www.online.shef.ac.uk:3001/pls/live/web_cal.cal3_unit_form?dept_code=CIV&dept_name=Civil+and+Structural+Engineering&disp_year=06

*Note: In general, 3 credit units at City University of Hong Kong is equivalent to 10 credit units at the University of Sheffield.