The University of Hong Kong (HKU) is hiring several tenure-track Professors, Associate Professors and Assistant Professors in its Department of Ophthalmology. The posts are for translational neuroscience researchers who can turn work on nerve injury, glaucoma and nerve regeneration into treatments. Contracts are three years, renewable, with tenure considered before the end of a second three-year term. The salary is described only as “competitive”. HKU starts reviewing applications on 22 December 2026, and the Deadline is 21 January 2027.
You apply online at jobs.hku.hk (reference 537622) with a CV, a research statement, a teaching statement, two or three of your best papers and at least three referees. Below is what the University of Hong Kong ophthalmology professor job involves, the research profiles HKU wants, the benefits it lists, and how to write a research statement that fits this call.
University of Hong Kong professor of ophthalmology job: key facts
| Item | Detail |
|---|---|
| Employer | The University of Hong Kong |
| Department | Department of Ophthalmology, School of Clinical Medicine (department code 22300), in the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine |
| Ranks | Professor, Associate Professor or Assistant Professor (several posts) |
| Contract | Three years, renewable on satisfactory performance; tenure considered before the end of the second three-year contract |
| Hours | Full time |
| Start date | As soon as possible |
| Salary | “Competitive”, matched to qualifications and experience; no figure published |
| Reference | 537622 |
| How to apply | Online at jobs.hku.hk |
| Review starts | 22 December 2026 |
| Closing date | 21 January 2027, or earlier if the posts are filled |
| Visa sponsorship | Not mentioned in the advert |
Apply before 22 December
HKU says review starts on 22 December 2026 and continues until the posts are filled or the closing date passes, whichever comes first. A strong application in by mid-December is reviewed in the first round. One that arrives in January may find the posts already filled. The advert body also prints the closing date as “January 21, 2026”, which looks like a typo; the listing’s own date is 21 January 2027.
What the ophthalmology posts involve
These posts are for laboratory and computational scientists who work on the nervous system, with the eye and optic nerve as one target. The advert lists no clinical service duties. Appointees will:
- Lead translational neuroscience research: build an independent group that moves findings towards treatments that can be used in the clinic.
- Use several methods together: drug discovery, bioinformatics, machine learning and regenerative medicine are all named.
- Teach: contribute to undergraduate and postgraduate teaching, with a stated commitment to inquiry-based learning.
- Supervise: take on research students.
- Do administration: share departmental and faculty duties.
Requirements: essential and desirable
The essential criteria are:
- A PhD in Neuroscience, Biomedical Sciences, Regenerative Medicine or a related field.
- A record of impactful research, publications, external grants and leadership.
- A commitment to inquiry-based teaching at undergraduate and postgraduate level.
- A translational neuroscience record in at least one of the four areas below.
| Research area HKU names | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Neurological disorder treatments | Diabetic neuropathy, glaucoma, traumatic brain injury, nerve injuries and chemotherapy-induced peripheral neuropathy |
| Drug repurposing | Using bioinformatics and machine learning to repurpose FDA-approved drugs for nerve repair and regeneration |
| Regeneration therapies | Small-molecule and gene therapy approaches for axon regrowth, mitochondrial dynamics and restoring visual function |
| Data integration | Combining multi-omics and clinical data for neuroscience research |
The ranks are flexible. HKU says candidates with less experience may be considered for Associate or Assistant Professor. In practice, the full Professor rank expects an established group with a long grant record, while Assistant Professor suits someone a few years past a strong postdoc who has started to win their own funding. This is my reading of how the ranks usually work, not text from the advert.
Salary and benefits
HKU does not publish a salary range for these posts and does not publish a public pay scale for tenure-track professoriate staff that I could check. What the advert does list:
| Benefit | What HKU says |
|---|---|
| Salary | Competitive, matched to qualifications and experience |
| Tax | Salaries tax at current rates does not exceed 15% of gross income |
| Gratuity and retirement | A contract-end gratuity and university contribution to a retirement benefits scheme, together up to 15% of basic salary |
| Housing | Housing benefits, where applicable |
| Leave and medical | Annual leave and medical benefits |
The low tax cap is one reason Hong Kong academic posts attract applicants from Europe and North America. Housing is the main cost of living in Hong Kong, and Pok Fu Lam, on the west of Hong Kong Island near Queen Mary Hospital and the HKU medical campus, is not a cheap area. Ask HR how the housing benefit is calculated for your rank before you compare offers.
Visa sponsorship
The advert does not mention visas. Non-local academics generally need an employment visa, which the employer supports through the Hong Kong Immigration Department. Confirm with HKU that it will support your application if you are offered the post. Allow time for this: the start date is “as soon as possible”, but your arrival depends on your visa and notice period.
How the HKU tenure track works for this post
The advert sets out the contract path in one sentence, and it is worth unpacking because it decides how long you have to prove yourself:
| Stage | What the advert says | What it means for you |
|---|---|---|
| First contract | Three years, full time | You set up your lab, recruit students and apply for your first Hong Kong grants |
| Renewal | Renewable subject to satisfactory performance | Your research output, funding, teaching and service are reviewed before a second contract |
| Second contract | A further three years | You build the record you will be judged on for tenure |
| Tenure | Considered before the end of the second three-year contract | A tenure review within about six years of starting |
So you have roughly six years to show that your group is productive and funded. If you join at Professor or Associate Professor rank with an established record, ask HR whether the tenure review can come earlier for you, because the advert does not say. Also ask how start-up funds, lab space and research student places are allocated, as these shape what you can deliver in the first three years.
About HKU and the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine
HKU is ranked 33rd in the world in the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2027. THE’s profile lists 17,465 students, 16.9 students per staff member and 53% international students. The medical faculty is the largest recruiter at HKU: on the day I checked, the university’s careers site showed 188 open posts in the Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine. The faculty’s clinical departments work alongside Queen Mary Hospital in Pok Fu Lam, which gives translational researchers access to patients and clinical data.
How to apply for the HKU ophthalmology professor job
- Find the post: go to jobs.hku.hk and search for reference 537622.
- Create an account: register on the careers site and start the application.
- Upload your CV: include grants with amounts and your role, publications, students supervised and teaching.
- Upload a research statement: map your work to one or more of the four named areas.
- Upload a teaching statement: show how you teach through inquiry and what you could teach in medicine or biomedical science.
- Upload your two or three best papers: pick the ones that best show translational work.
- Add at least three referees: give their full contact details and warn them that HKU may contact them.
- Submit before 22 December 2026: that way you are in the first review.
How to write the research statement
The statement is where most applicants win or lose this kind of post. A structure that works for a translational neuroscience call:
- Problem: the clinical problem you work on, such as optic nerve degeneration in glaucoma or chemotherapy-induced neuropathy, and why current treatment fails.
- Your record: what you have already found, with two or three results and the papers behind them.
- Five-year plan: two or three aims, each with methods (for example drug screening, machine learning on omics data, gene therapy in animal models).
- Translation: the route from your lab to patients, including partners in the ophthalmology clinic.
- Funding: the grant schemes you will apply to and what you have already won.
- Fit: why HKU’s Department of Ophthalmology is the right base, and which colleagues you could work with.
A sample opening, for illustration only: “My group studies why retinal ganglion cell axons fail to regrow after injury, and over the past five years we have identified [number] repurposed drugs that promote regrowth in [model].”
What the selection process looks like
HKU’s advert does not describe its stages. For tenure-track posts at Hong Kong universities, the usual pattern is a department search committee review, a shortlist, a seminar or job talk with a panel interview (often online first), and then faculty and university approval before an offer. Expect the process to take several months, and longer for the Professor rank.
Common mistakes
- Applying as a clinician without research: these are research-led neuroscience posts, and a clinical CV without grants and papers will not fit.
- Ignoring the four named areas: if your statement does not connect to at least one, the committee has to guess why you applied.
- Sending too many papers: HKU asks for two to three. Choose, don’t dump.
- Weak teaching statement: HKU names inquiry-based learning, so describe how you actually teach.
- Waiting for January: the posts can be filled before the closing date.
Who should apply and who shouldn’t
Apply if you are a neuroscientist or biomedical scientist with a translational record in nerve injury, glaucoma, neuropathy, regeneration or neuro-data science, and you have led or are ready to lead your own group. Researchers from anywhere can apply. A postdoc with independent funding may fit the Assistant Professor rank.
Don’t apply if you want a clinical ophthalmology post with mainly patient care, or your research is outside neuroscience and regeneration. Early-career researchers without first-author work and some grant success should look at postdoc posts first, such as the HKU Post-doctoral Fellow in the Department of Medicine.
Similar professor jobs to compare
| Role | Institution | Salary | Deadline |
|---|---|---|---|
| Tenure-track Professor, Epidemiology and Biostatistics | The University of Hong Kong | Competitive | 28 April 2027 |
| Tenure-track Clinical Assistant Professor, Orthopaedics | The University of Hong Kong | Competitive | 8 April 2027 |
| 90 Scholars for 90th Anniversary global hiring | The Hong Kong Polytechnic University | Not stated | 31 December 2027 |
| Full, Associate or Assistant Professor in AI | University of Macau | MOP 855,400 to 1,250,200 a year | 22 December 2026 |
FAQs about the HKU ophthalmology professor job
What is the salary for a tenure-track professor at HKU?
HKU describes it as competitive and matched to experience but publishes no figure. Benefits include a gratuity and retirement contribution of up to 15% of basic salary, and salaries tax capped at 15%.
When is the deadline for the HKU Department of Ophthalmology job?
The closing date is 21 January 2027, but review starts on 22 December 2026 and the posts may be filled earlier.
Do I need a medical degree for this HKU ophthalmology post?
No. The advert asks for a PhD in neuroscience, biomedical sciences, regenerative medicine or a related field.
What documents does HKU ask for?
A CV, a research statement, a teaching statement, two or three key publications and contact details for at least three referees, all uploaded at jobs.hku.hk.
Sources and updates
I checked this post on 29 October 2026 against the Times Higher Education Unijobs listing 416959 (HKU reference 537622). Ranking and student figures come from the Times Higher Education World University Rankings 2027 profile of HKU, and the faculty vacancy count from the HKU careers site. I could not open the individual posting on jobs.hku.hk, so check it for any change to the dates. HKU has not published a salary scale or a visa statement for these posts. I will update this page if the dates change.
I am Jude Chinecherem, a final-year MBBS student at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka. I know what it feels like to want an education your family cannot afford. When my parents could not pay for my schooling, I had to learn how to find scholarships and work the system out on my own, with nobody to guide me. I came out the other side, and now I share everything I learned so the next student does not have to figure it out alone. This is the advice I wish someone had given me back then.
