In a successful marriage, what's love got to do with it?

Have you and your partner been happily married for between 10 and 52 years? Are neither of you currently undergoing psychiatric counselling and would you be prepared to lay your relationship bare to strangers?

If the answer is yes, you're just who the University of Hong Kong is looking for.

It may sound more like the criteria for a reality television show but the university is seeking 30 'mentor couples' who fit this description as part of a student assignment on the secrets of a successful marriage.

The interviews with the couples are part of a general education undergraduate course called 'Love, Marriage, Sex and Family', which attracts more than 100 students a year.

One of the conveners, associate professor Benny Tai, from HKU's law faculty, said the course was designed to give students an insight into marriage before they tied the knot.

Volunteer couples would be required to meet with small groups of students for at least two hours during the next two months, to talk openly about their marriage and answer students' queries.

In the past the assignment required students to find a happily married couple on their own, but with Hong Kong's divorce rate rising to about 40 per cent of marriages, Professor Tai said some students struggled to find a couple who matched this criteria.