• To support scholarly collaborations between individual Hong Kong and Dutch researchers.

• To facilitate Hong Kong and Dutch researchers of similar fields to develop new collaborations through dissemination of their recent and unpublished research work.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 (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 the Netherlands. 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.

• The RGC grant is solely for use by the Hong Kong PI.

• Save in very exceptional circumstances (such as prolonged illness of the PI) and with proper justification stated in the "Travel Plan" of the application form as well as prior approval of the RGC, the PI cannot delegate the trip to Co-Investigator (Co-I) nor his project team members. An application without proper justification 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 justification 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 less 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 four grants per exercise to sponsor two events in Hong Kong and two events in the Netherlands. The 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 workshop. The RGC grant covers travel, accommodation and subsistence costs of guest speakers from the Netherlands to Hong Kong, and the direct organising costs, e.g. reservation of meeting venue, production of workshop materials etc. Expenditure on meals is not covered by the grant.

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

• For each proposed research project, there should be a Hong Kong PI and a Dutch 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 workshop, there should be a Main Organiser and a Co-Organiser. The Main Organiser is responsible for the overall co-ordination 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 Dutch counterpart should be the Co-Organiser. For the event to be held in the Netherlands, the Dutch applicant should be the Main Organiser, and his/her Hong Kong counterpart should be the Co-Organiser.

• Maximum HK$30,000 per year for each selected Hong Kong applicant. Applications requesting an amount exceeding the funding ceiling will not be processed.

• The Secretariat will release the grants in full in July / August 2012.

• Maximum HK$150,000 per event. Applications requesting an amount exceeding the funding ceiling will not be processed.

• The Secretariat will release funds in July / August 2012.

• Parallel submissions of applications by the Hong Kong and the Dutch 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. Dutch applicants should submit their applications directly to NWO.

• It is the obligation of both the Hong Kong and Dutch 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. NWO will 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

• 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 the 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, 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 Dutch PI; and

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

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

• Applications must be received by the RGC by 19 December 2011. Applicants should check with the Research Offices of respective institutions for internal deadlines.

• Parallel submissions of applications by the Hong Kong and the Dutch 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 Dutch and Hong Kong) on his/her presentation at the proposed 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 the 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, 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 19 December 2011. Applicants should check with the Research Offices of respecive 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 NWO, will review the applications based on:

  1. the academic quality of the proposed research and of the applying research teams;

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

  3. the opportunities for training young researchers through the proposed research.

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

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

  1. the academic quality 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. the prospects for new/longer term research collaboration.

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

• The RGC and NWO will announce the selection results by April 2012.

• The RGC will 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>

• 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 July 2012 and 30 June 2013 inclusive, and second year fund of the two-year grants between 1 July 2013 and 30 June 2014 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 2012/13 workshop should take place between 1 July 2012 and 30 June 2013 inclusive.

• The PIs should make use of the Project Report form to prepare and submit their interim reports to the RGC by the deadline as stipulated in results announcement. 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 approved funding period.

• All publications arising from the research collaboration under this Scheme should carry an acknowledgement as follows: "The work was supported by a grant from NWO / RGC Joint Research Scheme sponsored by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong and Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (Reference No. [D-HK] [serial number of 3 digits]/[year][type], e.g. D-HK002/12T)".

• 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 workshop materials should carry where appropriate an acknowledgement as follows: "The workshop (delete where appropriate) was supported by a grant from NWO / RGC Joint Research Scheme sponsored by the Research Grants Council of Hong Kong and Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (Reference No. [D-HK][serial number of 2 digits]/[year][type], e.g. D-HK02/10C)".

• The Main Organiser / Co-Organiser in Hong Kong should submit one copy of a document enclosing the workshop programme, a list of local and Dutch 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 Sun
City University of Hong Kong
83 Tat Chee Avenue
Kowloon Tong
Kowloon

Tel.: 3442 6832
Email: rocsun@cityu.edu.hk
Fax : 34420136

Ms Jade Fong
Hong Kong Baptist University
FSC7d, HSH Campus
224, Waterloo Road
Kowloon Tong
Kowloon

Tel.: 34117940
Email: jfong@hkbu.edu.hk
Fax : 3411 5133

Ms Connie Lam
Lingnan University
8 Castle Peak Road
Tuen Mun
New Territories

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

Miss Kay Ling
The University of Hong Kong
Pokfulam Road
Hong Kong

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