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Research guide

Do you have to email a supervisor first? Check the programme rule

Record the contact rule by university, department, degree and year. Unknown stays unknown; it does not become a requirement.

Last checked 2026-10-25

This is a method guide, not a university rule

This is a method guide, not a university rule. Department, degree and year rules come from that programme's official page. Editorial advice and university rules are labelled apart in the text.

Who this is for

Undergraduates, taught master's students and students at Hong Kong universities who are exploring research.

Last checked

2026-10-25

The point

Record the contact rule by university, faculty, programme, degree and year. On the 2026-10-25 check, HKU Graduate School's steps listed contacting a potential supervisor as optional. PolyU and HKBU graduate application pages have to be recorded in their own words. A programme you have not checked stays unknown. Unknown does not become "you must email" and it does not become "you must not email".

The method is to find the rule before deciding whether to write. This page does not send email for you.

Use the contact-email draft. Copying it does not change contact status to sent. The next step is your own confirmation if you have actually sent it.

What to do

  1. Write one aim for this round. Do not change three paths at once.
  2. Open the matching official page and copy only the year, eligibility and deadline that page states.
  3. Leave unstated cells unknown. Unknown does not become open and it does not become a negative mark.
  4. Put the draft in a template or in My research. Copying is not sending.

An example

Record the contact rule by university, faculty, programme, degree and year. On the 2026-10-25 check, HKU Graduate School's steps listed contacting a potential supervisor as optional. PolyU and HKBU graduate application pages have to be recorded in their own words. A programme you have not checked stays unknown. Unknown does not become "you must email" and it does not become "you must not email".

The method is to find the rule before deciding whether to write. This page does not send email for you.

Use the contact-email draft. Copying it does not change contact status to sent. The next step is your own confirmation if you have actually sent it.

Easy mistakes

  • Inferring that applications are open because the page still loads.
  • Treating contact with a supervisor as formal admission.
  • Merging different deadlines, or adding 23:59 to an unknown time.

Template

The template below this article can be filled in. Blanks stay marked unwritten.

How to use the sources

Source titles, links and the check date are listed under this page. Only sources checked for this round, and not marked search_only_403 or retired_redirect, are cited. The scope does not exceed what that source says.

Next step

Return to the research home and open the next list for the stage you saved.

Supervisor email draft

Fill in only facts you can check. Copying this draft does not mark it sent, and a reply is not an admission.

Subject: Enquiry about 【未填写】

Dear 【未填写】,

I am 【未填写】. I am writing about 【未填写】.
I read the work named above and wanted to ask about one specific point.
In my own work, I 【未填写】.
【未填写】

This is a draft. It has not been sent.
[Name]

Blanks stay unwritten. Copying does not mark this as sent.

Sources