Only FT RPg students are entitled to take vacation leave. With the prior agreement of the Chief Supervisor, a FT RPg student may take up to four weeks’ vacation leave per study year.  He/she will be paid his/her Postgraduate Scholarship during the approved period of vacation leave. The period of vacation leave will count towards an RPg student’s normal/maximum periods of study.

The leave balance of an RPg student at any time in a particular study year is calculated as the difference between the leave entitlement and the number of days of vacation leave he/she has taken in that study year. A "study year" for an RPg student is composed of two regular semesters and a summer term (for those admitted from the 2017/18 cohort onwards) or any continuous period of 12 months beginning from the month he/she registered with PolyU (for those admitted in or before the 2016/17 cohort).

RPg students are assumed to carry a "workload" amounting to five working days every calendar week (seven calendar days). "Four weeks" is interpreted as four calendar weeks so that a FT RPg student is entitled to a total of 20 working days of vacation leave per study year. RPg students taking vacation leave can resume study on a weekday or a Saturday as specified by the Chief Supervisor.

Concerning the four weeks’ vacation leave per study year, RPg students can take the vacation leave that they have earned. With Chief Supervisor’s special approval, they can also take advance vacation leave in the study year.

Vacation leave cannot be carried forward to the next study year. Any leave balance at the end of the study year will lapse automatically.

It is not compulsory for RPg students to clear all their vacation leave within a study year and they are at liberty to use their vacation leave to undertake research activities, e.g. to attend conferences.

Applications should be submitted via Leave Management System for approval by the Chief Supervisor