The Research Grants Council (RGC), which was established in 1991, operates under the aegis of the University Grants Committee (UGC) and functions as an advisory body on research matters within the organizational structure of the Committee. It is a non-statutory advisory body responsible for advising the Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China, through the University Grants Committee (UGC), on the needs of Hong Kong's higher education institutions in the field of academic research and for the distribution of funding for academic research projects undertaken by academic staff of those UGC-funded institutions. The RGC and its sub-committees/panels are supported by the staff of the UGC Secretariat.