回复：请教在香港做Assistant Professor

In HK, different people are on VERY different terms, depending on when you joined the university.

In the old days (mostly pre 1997), everyone was tenured automatically, their salaries are damn high and with lots of perks (housing allowance, not the kind pathetic little allowance new staff get now, passage, child education allowance, etc).

Then around 1997 to 2002, many of the perks were cut and the automatic tenure was gone.

After 2002, almost all perks were cut and the salaries was being cut for 4-5 consecutive years. And it gets damn difficult to get tenure.

The current salary in HK is actually lower than the research universities in US now. Although the tax rate is lower in HK, the housing is A LOT more expensive than US. And high-end life style is quite expensive too. So don't expect you will MAKE more money in HK.

But we don't JUST move for money, right?

HK's academic system is VERY hierarchical. In HKU and CUHK, most assistant professors work for some chair professors and have very little academic freedom. That is why when you check the publication record of these chair professors, they are scary - many with 200,300, or 400 papers.

The funding in HK is puny too. You can ONLY write one RGC grant (typically 600k-800k for 2 years), enough for hiring 1 RA. There are big grants like central allocation and AOE, but you may have a chance for these when you make to the chair professor.

And there is definitely the HongKong-people-is-better-than-mainlander feeling in HK society and HK academic. So mainlanders have little chance of climbing up the ladder. You can check the websites of HKU and CUHK.

Honestly, if you really care about your career, it would be a terrible mistake to come to HK. Especially for those educated in US, you will find the HK academic culture is a nightmare for you.

--from someone who is currently stuck in HK