• To support scholarly collaboration between individual Hong Kong and French researchers.

• To facilitate Hong Kong and French researchers of similar fields to develop new collaboration through dissemination of their recent and unpublished research work.

• There is no quota on the number of applications to be submitted by each institution.

• Applicants may apply for one-year or two-year travel grants.

• An applicant (Principal Investigator (PI)) can only submit one application in an exercise but may participate as a member of another project in the same exercise.

• The RGC grant provides only for air passage(s), accommodation and subsistence costs directly related to the proposed exchanges between the two partners in France. If free or less expensive air tickets and / or accommodation are available, the PI may undertake additional visits or visits of longer duration.
  

• The RGC grant does not cover expenditure on equipment, consumables or other project-related expenses, as well as insurance. Each PI must make provision for these and any other costs associated with the project.

• Funding will not be provided to the same project for more than two years.

• Save in very exceptional circumstances (such as prolonged illness of the PI) and with proper justifications stated in the “Travel Plan” of the application form as well as prior approval of the RGC, the PI cannot delegate the trip to his Co-Investigator (Co-I) nor his project team members. An application without proper justifications for delegation of the trip to Co-I or project team members does not meet the eligibility criteria of the scheme and will be disqualified.

• If, for operational reasons, a project team member is required to make use of the grant for a trip (in addition to the trip undertaken by the PI), detailed justifications with a clear breakdown on the expenses requested for each traveller must be provided in the “Travel Plan” of the application form. In the case that no breakdown of expenses is provided and the number of trips endorsed by the RGC is smaller than the number requested, the RGC grant will be awarded on a pro-rata basis.

• The PI should under no circumstances use the travel grants to support a student

• The scheme will award two grants per exercise to sponsor one event each in Hong Kong and in France. The two events are to focus on different research subjects / fields / topics, and are separate and independent.

• An applicant (Main Organiser) can only submit one application in an exercise and cannot participate as a co-applicant (Co-organiser) in other applications in the same exercise.

• Applicants may apply to seek sponsorship of a two or three-day conference / workshop. The RGC grant covers travel, accommodation and subsistence costs of guest speakers from France to Hong Kong, and the direct organising costs, e.g. reservation of meeting venue, production of conference / workshop materials etc. Expenditure on meals is not covered by the grant.

• The RGC funds are solely for sponsorship of the conference / workshop to be held in Hong Kong.

• For each proposed research project, there should be a Hong Kong PI and a French PI to facilitate and co-ordinate work in their respective teams.

• The event comprises sessions where overseas and local guest speakers present on-going research work; local postdoctoral fellows and postgraduate research students post up their current work; and / or interested local parties attend hands-on sessions to acquire new techniques.

• For each conference / workshop, there should be a Main Organiser and a Co-Organiser. The Main Organiser is responsible for the overall coordination of the event; and the Co-Organiser assists in drawing up the main programme, e.g. suggestion on guest speaker(s) to be invited. For the event to be held in Hong Kong, the Hong Kong applicant should be the Main Organiser, and his / her French counterpart should be the Co-Organiser. For the event to be held in France, the French applicant should be the Main Organiser, and his / her Hong Kong counterpart should be the Co-Organiser.

• Maximum HK$31,250 per year for each selected Hong Kong applicant.

• The Secretariat would release the grants in full upon notification of results of applications.

• Maximum HK$150,000 per event.

• The Secretariat would release funds upon notification of results of applications.

• Parallel submissions of applications by the Hong Kong and the French applicants are required:

  1. Hong Kong applicants should submit their applications to the RGC through the Research Offices of respective institutions. Direct submission of applications to the RGC will not be accepted; and

  2. French applicants should submit their applications directly to the CGF.

• It is the obligation of both the Hong Kong and French applicants to ensure that their applications contain sufficient and consistent information for evaluation. The RGC will not seek or accept supplementary information / revision after the application deadline. The CGF would verify the applications upon receipt of the Hong Kong applications from the RGC. Applications containing inconsistent information will be disqualified.

• Applications will be disqualified if the proposals are found to have exceeded the allowable page limits or excessive attachments.

Application

New applications for one-year and two-year grants

• For each application, please submit five copies of:

  1. application form;

  2. two-sheet (i.e. four sides) project proposal (see below); and

  3. one A-4 page (with a maximum of 400 words) curriculum vitae (CV) of each project team member, with information on name, academic qualifications, previous academic position(s) held (with date(s)) & present position (state if applicant is a visiting academic from overseas), previous relevant research work, publication records including the five most representative publications in the recent five years and five representative publications beyond the recent five years (10 at maximum), and others including research-related prizes and awards, brief description of experience in consultancies, service as a referee in evaluating other grant applications, patents, PhD theses supervised, etc.

• The project proposal should contain the following details:

  1. project title;

  2. project objective(s);

  3. research plan and methodology;

     • to make sure this section is written in a manner that allows easy understanding by reviewer(s) in related field(s)
     • to include an outline of the work plan according to a proposed time schedule

  4. reason(s) for the choice of the French PI; and

  5. plan for collaboration (indicate the respective roles and the specific tasks to be undertaken by the Hong Kong and French PIs as well as each of their team members).

• Hong Kong applicants may refer to the Proposal Template enclosed at the Appendices to the application form in preparing their proposals and CVs.
  

• Applications must be received by the RGC by 20 May 2011. Applicants should check with the Research Offices of respective institutions for internal deadlines.

• Parallel submissions of applications by the Hong Kong and the French applicants (as the Main or Co-Organiser) are required. The procedures are the same as travel grants. (Please see adjacent column)

Application

• For each application please submit five copies of:

  1. application form;

  2. half-page summary by each guest speaker (i.e. both French and Hong Kong) on his / her presentation at the proposed conference / workshop; the current understanding in the field on the topic he / she will be speaking on; and the latest research findings and their significance; and

  3. one A-4 page (with a maximum of 400 words) curriculum vitae (CV) of each guest speaker, with information on name, academic qualifications, previous academic position(s) held (with date(s)) & present position (state if applicant is a visiting academic from overseas), previous relevant research work, publication records including the five most representative publications in the recent five years and five representative publications beyond the recent five years (10 at maximum), and others including research-related prizes and awards, brief description of experience in consultancies, service as a referee in evaluating other grant applications, patents, PhD theses supervised, etc.

• Applications must be received by the RGC by 20 May 2011. Applicants should check with the Research Offices of respective institutions for internal deadlines.

• Hong Kong applicants may refer to the Proposal Template enclosed at the Appendix to the application form in preparing their CVs.

• Members of the Joint Selection Committee, appointed by the RGC and the CGF, will review the applications based on:

  1. the academic merits of the proposed research;

  2. the possible synergy, the expected benefits, and the prospects for longer-term collaboration; and

  3. opportunities for training of young researchers through the proposed exchanges.

• Based on the recommendations of the Joint Selection Committee, the RGC and the CGF will jointly select applications to be supported.

• Members of the Joint Selection Committee, appointed by the RGC and the CGF, would review the applications based on:

  1. the research standing of the Main and Co-Organisers, and that of the guest speakers;

  2. the degree of intra- and inter-institutional participation by local researchers and students; and

  3. prospects for new / longer-term research collaboration.

• Based on the recommendations of the Joint Selection Committee, the RGC and the CGF will jointly select the conference(s) / workshop(s) to be sponsored in Hong Kong and in France.

• The RGC and the CGF will announce the selection results by November 2011.

• The RGC would convey the results to the Hong Kong applicants through their respective institutions. The Joint Selection Committee will not provide feedback on the applications.

• The results will also be available at RGC homepage under “Funding Results” at http://www.ugc.edu.hk/rgc. or “Cultural and scientific news” section of the CGF homepage at http://www.consulfrance-hongkong.org/.

• Same as detailed in the description of the Travel Grants.

• PIs should use the one-year grants or the first year fund of the two-year grants between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2012 inclusive, and second year fund of the two-year grants between 1 January 2013 and 31 December 2013 inclusive.

• For two-year grants, unspent balance from the first year cannot be carried forward to the second year and should be returned to the RGC within six months upon expiry of the first-year of the funding period.

• The 2011/12 conference / workshop should take place between 1 January 2012 and 31 December 2012 inclusive.

• For two-year grant projects approved in 2011/12, the PIs should make use of the PROCORE Report form to prepare and submit their interim reports to the RGC by 30 September 2012. They should check with the Research Offices of respective institutions for internal deadlines.

• Although the second year funding has been granted, the RGC will consider clawing back the grant and terminating the project if interim report indicates that the PIs fail to accomplish the proposed exchanges and collaboration.

• Hong Kong PIs should submit a copy of their completion report together with publications arising directly from the sponsored work to the RGC through respective institutions within six months after the expiry of the approved funding period.

• All publications arising from research collaboration under this Scheme should carry an acknowledgement as follows: “The work was supported by a grant from the PROCORE-France / Hong Kong Joint Research Scheme sponsored by the Research Grants Council and the Consulate General of France in Hong Kong (Reference No. [F-HK] [serial number of 2 digits]/[year][type], e.g. F-HK02/11T)”.

• The RGC will not allow extension of the approved funding period.
• The institution should submit the relevant financial statement together with any unspent balance to the RGC within six months after the expiry of the approved funding period.

• All conference / workshop materials should carry where appropriate an acknowledgement as follows: “The conference / workshop (delete where appropriate) was supported by a grant from the PROCORE-France / Hong Kong Joint Research Scheme sponsored by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong and the Consulate General of France in Hong Kong (Reference No. [F-HK][serial number of 2 digits]/[year][type], e.g. F-HK02/11C)”.

• The Main Organiser / Co-Organiser in Hong Kong should submit one copy of a document enclosing the conference / workshop programme, a list of local and French participants, and a breakdown of expenditure to the RGC through the institution within six months of the conclusion of the event.

• The institution should also return the unspent balance of the grant for the event held in Hong Kong to the RGC within six months of the conclusion of the event.

Ms Cecilia S L Sun
Research Grants and Contracts Office
City University of Hong Kong
83 Tat Chee Avenue
Kowloon Tong
Kowloon

Tel: 3442 6832
Fax: 3442 0136
Email: rocsun@cityu.edu.hk

Ms. Jade Fong
Research and Postgraduate Studies Section
Academic Registry
Hong Kong Baptist University
Kowloon Tong
Kowloon

Tel: 3411 7940
Fax: 3411 5133
Email: jfong@hkbu.edu.hk

Ms Connie Lam
Office of Research and Staff Development
Lingnan University
8 Castle Peak Road, Tuen Mun
New Territories

Tel: 2616 7683
Fax: 2591 9618
Email: splam@LN.edu.hk

Miss Kay Ling
Research Services, Registry
The University of Hong Kong
Pokfulam Road
Hong Kong

Tel: 2859 1181
Fax: 2803 0558
Email: lingkay@hku.hk