The MPhil programme is research-oriented. Students work closely with a supervisor in reading the literature, conducting research and writing theses. Students spend the first year taking courses in preparation for their fieldwork. Students conduct fieldwork in the summer after their first year, and spend the second year writing the thesis.

Full-time graduate students are eligible for financial aid from the department — the department offers a number of postgraduate studentships of approximately HK$18,725 (approx. US$2,400) per month for 24 months (with effect from 1 August 2024).

The goals of the MPhil programme at CUHK are

• to teach students the fundamental theories and methods of anthropology, covering the full range of areas addressed by social and cultural anthropology in the past and at present, and
• to provide students with the anthropological training and guidance to carry out their own extended ethnographic research projects from start (proposal), to fieldwork and write-up, to finish (publication).