Admission

Curriculum & Features

Details

It is our mission to offer a programme that meets the realistic needs of emerging talents in the non-profit sector.

We expect to holistically equip our programme participants in terms of theoretical knowledge backed by academic literature, case studies and discussions, as well as exchanges with experienced professionals from the field.

Taking advantage of our collaboration with UBS, we also target to add insights from the financial field into the programme to elevate participants’ understanding and positioning with financial knowledge.

You can expect to enjoy the following benefits by joining SSILP:

✔️ An innovative scholar-practitioner curriculum
✔️ A highly dynamic cross-sector mentorship
✔️ A diverse network of field leaders locally, nationally, and globally
✔️ Access to funding opportunities
✔️ Opportunities to connect with leaders in other Greater Bay Area (GBA) cities

The medium of instruction in SSILP is English.

Training sessions will be held on Friday afternoons (2:30-6:30pm or 7:00pm with mentoring session), from April to June; followed by a field trip then a break between July and August, and a pitching day in September to close the programme.

The mode of teaching is face-to-face.

SSILP 2025 Timeline

Date	Lesson/ Topic (14:30 – 17:30/ 18:30)	Mentoring session (17:30 – 19:00)	Venue
11 Apr (Fri)	Opening Ceremony & Leadership exploration and adaptability	1. Meet & Greet	UBS
25 Apr (Fri)	Strategic thinking & sustainability		HKU
9 May (Fri)	Organizational culture & inclusiveness		HKU
16 May (Fri)	Cross-sector collaboration	2. Discuss the initial project idea	UBS
23 May (Fri)	Evidence-informed decision making		HKU
30 May (Fri)	Effective communications and grant-writing		HKU
13 Jun (Fri)	Social Innovation	3. Discuss the 1st draft proposal	UBS
20 Jun (Fri)	Distinguished lecture by Prof. Matthew Cheung Kin-chung		HKU
27 Jun (Fri)	Pitching skills workshop	4. Discuss the 2nd draft proposal & finalize for submission	UBS
4 Jul (Fri)	1-day field trip to Mainland to visit local NPOs
29 Aug (Fri)	Risk management & media competency workshop	5. Discuss the draft presentation deck	UBS
4-5 Sept (Thu/Fri)	Rehearsal for the final pitching day @ UBS Auditorium		UBS
19 Sept (Fri)	Final Pitching Day		UBS

Selection Process in 2025

Submission of Application & Endorsement Form

Application deadline: 7 February 2025 (Friday) 23:59. Late applications will not be considered.

Shortlisting of applicants

We might contact shortlisted applicants to submit further information.

Interview

Shortlisted applicants will be invited to attend a selection interview on 28 February 2025 (Friday) afternoon. The interview will be conducted face-to-face only.

Announcement & Acceptance of Offer

The selection result will be announced in early March. Successful applicants will be required to confirm their acceptance of offer by submitting the ‘Acceptance of Offer’ reply slip and the bank-in slip for the course fee.

Awards

Certificate of Accomplishment

Participants will be awarded a Certificate of Accomplishment co-issued by the Department of Social Work and Social Administration, HKU and UBS, following the completion of the programme.

Conditions on receiving the Certificate of Accomplishment

To obtain the Certificate of Accomplishment and become eligible to compete for the final project funding, participants are required to fulfill the following requirements: 80% attendance for the lessons and 100% attendance for the mentoring sessions, unless legitimate reasons for the absence are presented

Participants who cannot achieve the required attendance will still be required to submit a project proposal and present it on the Pitching Day

In the case of any participant leaving their original organisation, the participant(s) and the organisation(s) they represent might be disqualified from the final project submission and pitching. Participants who leave are required to notify the programme co-director of their departure as soon as possible

Participants will be invited to participate in an evaluation of the programme by completing the evaluation survey and an in-depth interview. This is for SSILP research purposes and your feedback will be appreciated and helpful

Champion Awards

2 winning projects will be selected by the panel of judges on the final pitching day. Each winning project will be awarded $400,000HKD as the funding for its operation costs.

Registered NGOs under section 88 of the IRO or a partnership between NGOs and social enterprises are eligible to compete for the 2 champion awards of $400,000HKD each.

The winning participants are required to observe the conditions on receiving and using the project funding which will be stipulated on the ‘Acceptance of Offer’ letter.

Information Session 2025

The SSILP 2025 Information Session was successfully held on 9 January at HKU. Interested applicants are encouraged to watch the recording to understand fully about the porogramme. Please refer to the most updated presentation deck here.