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Applications for Allocations from
the Competitive Earmarked Research Grant For 2008/2009
I am writing to invite applications
for allocations from the Competitive
Earmarked Research Grant (CERG) for
2008/2009, and to provide details
of the procedures to be followed.
Electronic Submission
As the CERG Electronic Information
System (EIS) is now available for
the submission of applications in
respect of all four Panels - Physical
Sciences Panel, Engineering Panel,
Biology and Medicine Panel and
Humanities, Social Sciences &
Business Studies Panel, all applications
MUST BE submitted through the electronic
system. Applicants can use the electronic
system to prepare their applications
starting from 9 July 2007.
In parallel, a limited number of
hard copies will also need to be made
available for contingency purposes.
Institutions are therefore required
to assist the Secretariat with the
printing of one hard copy of
each proposal which has been submitted
through the electronic system. The
Secretariat will provide each institution
with a CD-ROM containing the electronic
copies of all the submitted proposals
for the purpose of printing of the
hard copies. The hard copies should
reach the Secretariat by 30
November 2007. Additional
copies of the application are also
required to be submitted to the Secretariat
by 7 May 2008 (the Secretariat
will confirm the exact number of copies
required for the second batch in March
2008).
To help reduce the cost of processing
and save paper, applicants are requested
to keep the length of proposals and
attachments to the minimum and institutions
should use double-sided printing/photocopying
when reproducing the form. In the
past few years, we have received a
lot of complaints from panel members
that some applicants have continued
to ignore the word limits set in the
various sections of the application
forms. I would like to reiterate that
applicants should comply with the
page limits and word limits specified
in various sections of the application
form. Supporting documents are allowed
in Section 17 of the application form
to cater for the needs of documents
such as letters of collaboration or
research ethics/safety approval. Supplementary
materials such as research papers,
manuscripts, publications or detailed
research work are not acceptable.
Applications will be disqualified
if the proposals are found to have
exceeded the allowable page/word limits
in various sections or have abused
the purpose of the "Supporting
Documents" in Section 17 of Part
II of the application form.
There is a dedicated function within
the electronic system for submission
and processing of progress reports.
This Secretariat has activated this
function to process the progress and
completion reports of the Physical
Sciences projects funded since 2003/2004
exercise, Engineering projects funded
since 2005/2006 exercise and Biology
and Medicine projects and Humanities,
Social Sciences and Business Studies
projects funded in the 2007/2008 exercise.
Reports in respect of other on-going
projects funded earlier, however,
should continue to be handled in accordance
with the hard-copy mode. The Secretariat
will keep the operation of the system
under constant review and update institutions
with further guidelines when necessary.
Deadline for Submissions
Applications should reach the UGC
Secretariat through the electronic
system by 31 October 2007.
With a view to avoiding overloading
the electronic system during the peak
period, applicants are encouraged
to submit their applications before
the submission deadline.
Explanatory Notes
Applicants are advised to read the
Explanatory Notes (CERG2) carefully
before completing the
application form. A full set of the
Explanatory Notes and Enclosures I
to VI will be mounted on the RGC Homepage
(URL:http://www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/form/form.htm)
and can be downloaded for use. Both
the applicants and the institutions
are required to indicate on the application
forms that appropriate approvals have
been or are being obtained for projects
involving experiments on human or
animal subjects or requiring ethics
or health and safety clearance [Part
II Section 14 and Part III Section
2 of CERG1].
The RGC encourages grant applicants
to nominate external reviewers in
their proposals for consideration
by the subject panels. In nominating
reviewers, Principal Investigators
and all Co-Investigators are required
to declare their full relationships
with the nominated reviewers. Applicants
should refer to Part II Section 15
of the Explanatory Notes for the details.
Abolition
of the "Multiple Grants Rule"
In view of the increasing funding
allocation to RGC research funding
schemes, the RGC has decided to abolish
the "Multiple Grants Rule"
starting from CERG 2008/09 exercise.
Revisions
of Application Form and Explanatory
Notes
A number of revisions have been introduced
to CERG1 and CERG2. To control the
length of the proposal more effectively,
we have imposed page limits on Part
I Section 1(d) Abstract, Part II Section
1 Project objectives, Section 2 Background
of research and Section 3(a) Research
plan and methodology. Applicants are
requested to read the guidance notes
in the respective sections of the
CERG1 and CERG2 carefully before completing
the applications. I should be grateful
if you would convey the message to
the applicants as well as the relevant
staff who are responsible for the
internal coordination of the exercise.
Financial Limit on Applications
The threshold limits for applications
to be considered by the RGC are $150,000
for projects in the fields of Engineering,
Physical Sciences, and Biology &
Medicine, and $100,000 for projects
in the fields of Humanities, Social
Sciences & Business Studies. There
are no upper limits, but applicants/institutions
would appreciate that given the considerable
competition for the limited funds
available, justifications for projects
costing over $1 million will need
to be particularly well argued and
supported.
Quotas
The Council does not impose any institutional
quota on applications for CERG. It
is however important that institutions
should satisfy themselves that the
applications are of sufficient quality
before they are submitted to the Council
for consideration.
Nevertheless, under the prevailing
policy of the RGC, no applicant should
submit more than one CERG application
as the Principal Investigator (PI)
in any one year. Institutions
should also check and confirm that
the PIs meet the eligibility requirements
(see Part I Section 1(c), Individual
Research (see Enclosure III), Longer-term
Research (Enclosure IV) and Relief
Support under Humanities Sub-Panel
(Enclosure V)) as appropriate.
Update of Proposals
Applicants are requested to provide
a brief update setting out any essential
changes to the applications, including
the eligibility of the PIs, declaration
of relationship with nominated reviewers,
any significant change of scope, content,
personnel, etc. The copies of the
updates should be attached to respective
proposals and delivered to the Secretariat
on or before 7 May 2008 so
that these changes can be brought
to the attention of panel members
or be followed up in good time prior
to the RGC/Panel meetings to be held
in mid June 2008. I must stress that
such updates should be confined to
the essential parts of the original
proposals, and applicants should NOT
use the opportunity to hand in revised
or additional information in support
of their proposals.
Special Funding Templates
The following sets out the rough
framework of the five special funding
templates introduced under the CERG
to cater for research needs in specified
areas:
-
Clinical Research Fellowship
Scheme
This is a scheme to provide outstanding
young clinicians with opportunities
to receive further training in clinical
research. It is operated in collaboration
with the two local universities
with medical school (viz. the CUHK
and the HKU) and is tied to the
annual CERG exercise. A fellowship
application (Enclosure I) (which
can be downloaded from (URL: http://www.ugc.edu.hk/rgc)
starting from 9 July 2007) should
be accompanied by a CERG research
proposal for evaluation and endorsed
by the Mentor and institution /
Hospital Authority. This completed
form should be uploaded in pdf format
into Part II Section 17 in the CERG
Electronic Application Form. The
two sponsoring universities may
each make up to three nominations
in each exercise and, subject to
the outcome of the selection process,
one award will be made for each.
Full details are set out in the
Notes for Applicants (Enclosure
II).
-
Individual Research Grant
This grant is to allow, where there
is a justified need, researchers
to concentrate on individual research
work in the humanities, social sciences
and business studies areas. For
the purpose of this funding template,
"individual research"
is defined as research to be undertaken
by the PI in person and on his or
her own, including library or archival
research, site visits, field work,
personal interviews, and similar
activities arising directly from
the proposed research project. The
grant is an integral part of the
CERG and applications are subject
to the same CERG quality threshold.
Applications should be made on the
electronic form (CERG1) with the
box for this grant properly checked
on the second page (Part I Section
1c(ii) of the application form).
Applicants are required to read
the Guidance Notes on Applications
at Enclosure III before filling
out the application form.
-
Longer-term Grant
The objective of the grant is to
cater projects with a research objective(s)
which can only be achieved in a
time span of four to five years.
As with the Individual Research
Grant, it is an integral part of
the CERG and applications are subject
to the same CERG quality threshold.
Applications should be made on the
electronic form (CERG1) with the
box for this grant properly checked
(Part I Section 1c(ii) of the application
form.) Applicants should refer to
the Notes for Applicants at Enclosure
IV for the details. This grant is
operated on a pilot basis and is
subject to review.
-
Employment of Relief Teacher
under Humanities Sub-Panel
The objective of this funding scheme
is aimed at addressing the special
needs of humanities projects which
normally require employment of relief
teachers to free up the PIs' staff
time for personal research and writing,
rather than funding for research
assistants and research infrastructure
(e.g. equipment). Applications should
be made on the electronic form (CERG1)
with the box for this grant properly
checked (Part I Section 1c(ii) of
the application form). Applicants
should refer to the Notes for Applicants
at Enclosure V for the details.
-
Provision of Research Experience
for Undergraduate Students
This scheme is to provide undergraduate
students with opportunities of working
with researchers of CERG projects
and gaining research experience.
Applications should be made on the
electronic form (CERG1) with the
box for this grant properly checked
(Part I Section 1c(ii) of the application
form.) Applicants should refer to
the Notes for Applicants at Enclosure
VI for the details.
Enquiries
If your staff have any enquiries
about the application procedures or
other aspects of this circular, please
call Mr Anthony Chan at 2844 9916
or Mr Brian Lip at 2844 9959.
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