Making a difference in the lives of others and contributing your skills and knowledge for a good cause, no matter big or small, are simply the right thing to do. Launched in 2023-24, the Hong Kong Project (HKP) is an university-wide elite capstone course, enabling students to venture through the entire journey from understanding social issues to devising practical plans for implementation.
What is the Hong Kong Project (HKP)?
- A 6-credit one-semester course
- Open to final-year undergraduate students from all disciplines
- Students shall work together in groups of four to six from different Faculties to develop solutions to real-life problems faced by an organisation or corporation in Hong Kong
- An academic supervisor for each group to help students apply their academic knowledge to the project.
- work with community partners, including non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and business corporations, on an elite, interdisciplinary and collaborative group project
- learn from coaching by and discussions with industry experts and academic supervisors
- explore key social issues and develop innovative solutions to real-world problems
- develop skills fit for future-ready graduates, including self-initiative, teamwork, communication, project management, leadership, innovation and research skills.
Who is eligible to apply?
- Students in their final year of study to undertake HKP in the First/Second Semesters, with a cumulative GPA of 3.0 or above
How to form groups?
Students will participate in groups of four to six from different Faculties:- Group of 4 members: groupmates must be from at least 3 different Faculties
- Group of 5 members: groupmates must be from at least 3 different Faculties
- Group of 6 members: groupmates must be from at least 4 different Faculties.
What project topics are available?
- To choose from the list of projects proposed by community partners here
| Community Partner | Area of Focus | Project(s) |
| Agewhale | Elderly Welfare |
|
| Engineers Without Borders (Hong Kong) | Sustainable development through engineering solutions |
|
| Hong Kong Children’s Discovery Museum | Children Education |
|
| Mighty Oaks Foundation | Elderly and Youth Services |
|
| Praxis (HK) | Poverty |
|
| Project Futurus | Positive Aging |
|
| Save the Children HK | Children Welfare |
|
| Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (SPCA) | Animal Welfare |
|
| The Hong Kong Society for the Deaf | Well-being of the Hearing Impaired |
|
What are the deliverables?
5 major pieces of deliverables to be prepared and submitted. These include:- A group learning contract: it outlines the scope of work, proposed learning outcomes and schedule
- A group deliverables proposal: it summarises the major tasks to be undertaken, resources required, potential challenges, etc.
- A 10-minute group presentation: It contains not more than 10 slides, concluding the overall progress, results, findings and recommendations, if any
- A 2,500-word group written report.
- An individual essay (not more than 1,500 words), focus on how s/he applies his/her own disciplinary knowledge to the group deliverables.
What’s the grading system for the HKP?
This course adopts a pass/fail grading system. The credits and grade (pass/fail) shall be shown on student transcripts.Schedule-at-a-glance
Academic Year 2025-26 (Semester 1)
| Date | Process |
|---|---|
| August 18, 2025 | Applications Deadline: Interested students to submit an online application |
| August 25, 2025 | Announcement of application results |
| September 1-5, 2025 (wk 1) | First meeting with academic supervisor |
| September 8-12, 2025 (wk 2) | Each student group will meet with the community partner and academic supervisor and prepare a learning contract |
| By September 19, 2025 (wk 3) | Submission of the learning contract |
| September 22-October 10, 2025 (wk 4-6) | Each student group will prepare the group deliverables proposal |
| By October 17, 2025 (wk 7) | Submission of group deliverables proposal |
| October 20 – November 28, 2025 (wk 8-13) | Each student group will prepare the final group deliverables: the group presentation and the group written report |
| December 1-5, 2025 (wk 14) | Group presentation: Assessment Students shall make a presentation to the Academic Panel, academic supervisor and community partner. |
| December 8-12, 2025 (wk 15) | Submission of Group Written Report and Individual Essay Community partners will assess and grade the written report. |
Academic Year 2025-26 (Semester 2)
| Date | Process |
|---|---|
| November 24, 2025 | Applications Deadline: Interested students to submit an online application |
| December 12, 2025 | Announcement of application results |
| January 19-23, 2026 (wk 1) | First meeting with academic supervisor |
| January 26-30, 2026 (wk 2) | Each student group will meet with the community partner and academic supervisor and prepare a learning contract |
| By February 6, 2026 (wk 3) | Submission of the learning contract |
| February 9 – March 6, 2026 (wk 4-6) | Each student group will prepare the group deliverables proposal |
| By March 13, 2026 (wk 7) | Submission of group deliverables proposal |
| March 16-April 24, 2026 (wk 8-13) | Each student group will prepare the final group deliverables: the group presentation and the group written report |
| April 27-May 1, 2026 (wk 14) | Group presentation: Assessment Students shall make a presentation to the Academic Panel, academic supervisor and community partner. |
| May 4-9, 2026 (wk 15) | Submission of Group Written Report and Individual Essay Community partners will assess and grade the written report. |
Application
Application closing dates are as follows
Projects to be conducted in Semester 1: August 18 (23:59)
Projects to be conducted in Semester 2: November 24 (23:59)
Download Area
- Guidelines (requires portal login to download)
- *Learning Contract | Group Deliverables Proposal | Assessment Guidance and Rubric (*available upon request and will be sent by email)
For enquiries, please contact the Horizons Office by email at hkproj@hku.hk.