This course is designed to meet the special needs of research degree students for knowledge of direct relevance to their topic of research which is not available through other courses at the university. The course is offered by each supervisor to one’s Ph.D. student in the second year of their study, to improve the student’s comprehension of one’s relevant research area. It also aims to broaden and deepen the students' grasp of knowledge deemed essential in understanding their proposed area of inquiry as identified by the research supervisor and the student. The course is expected to help students develop critical thinking and communication skills needed for dissertations and publications and decide the suitable topics of the students’ research. The course could also be used to assist the students to develop academic research papers for possible publication. Finally, following the general requirement of this outline, each supervisor is required to prepare a detailed course outline suitable for each student to take the course.