Established in 1984, the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI) is the only academic unit amongst the local tertiary institutions offering a range of opportunities for education, training and research in the fields of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (or Geomatics). The Department has close links with both international and local academic institutions and the professions. By maintaining links with the local professional community through our community service and consultancy activities, our courses and research are oriented towards the needs of Hong Kong.
The Department has identified Urban Informatics and Smart City as its strategic area, with three corresponding focused research directions: a) spatial big data modelling and analytics b) smart positioning and smart mobility and c) urban sensing and measurement. As a regional centre of excellence in geomatics research, LSGI is comparable with international reputed academic units in the discipline, as evidenced by both the quantity and quality of the research produced and research grants received.
Aims and Learning Outcomes
The Research student programmes aim to provide rigorous training to students who aspire to become researchers or scholars capable of conducting independent and original research, and producing research findings that are relevant and significant to their chosen field of specialisation. To be awarded the degree, students must demonstrate their research competence by submitting a thesis and successfully defending it in an oral examination.
Research students (MPhil and/or PhD) must satisfactorily investigate or evaluate a chosen area, demonstrate understanding of the context and significance of the work, display sustained independent effort and original thought, and present a clear, complete thesis of a quality worthy of publication. For PhD students, they are also expected to produce evidence and argument supporting an original proposition or rigorous testing and analysis of others propositions, that results in a significant contribution to knowledge in the subject area.
The research degree programmes are designed in such a way to enable the student to:
• Acquire competence in research methods and scholarship
• Display sustained independent effort and original thought
• Develop competence in disseminating and communicating their work and
• Gain lifelong learning capability.
Expected September 2026
Faculty of Construction and Environment, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
ZS1201, 12/F, South Tower, Block Z,
Hung Hom,
Kowloon City, Hong Kong, Kowloon
To register for the degree of MPhil, a student shall hold:
PolyU may accept other equivalent qualifications. The decision is made on an individual basis.
The requirements for those who do not have a degree for which English was the language of instruction at a recognised university are:
An overall score of at least 6.5 (with score for the writing component at 6.0 or above) in the International English Language Testing System (IELTS); OR
A Test of English as a Foreign Language (TOEFL) score of 80 or above for the Internet-based test (with a writing score of 23 or above) or 550 or above for the paper-based test (with a score of 4 or above in the Test of Written English).
Alternatively, consideration will be given to acceptable scores in other internationally recognised public examinations, such as the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) or the Graduate Management Admission Test (GMAT).
All English language test scores are considered valid for five years after the date of the test.
