|
Applications
for Allocations from
the General Research Fund For 2009/2010
I am writing to invite applications
for allocations from the General Research
Fund (GRF) for 2009/2010, and to provide
details of the procedures to be followed.
Electronic
Submission
Same as last year, the GRF Electronic
Information System (EIS) is 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 noon on 11 August
2008.
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 2008. Additional
copies of the application are also
required to be submitted to the Secretariat
by 7 May 2009 (the
Secretariat will confirm the exact
number of copies required for the
second batch in March 2009).
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. 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.
The 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 10 November 2008.
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 must read
the Explanatory Notes (GRF2) carefully
before completing the
application form. A full set of the
Explanatory Notes will be mounted
on the RGC Homepage: (URL: http://www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/form/form.htm).
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 GRF1]. The Council has the final
say on whether a research proposal
requires ethics approval. If the institution/PI
declared that no ethics approval was
required but the Council/Panel has
turned out to think otherwise, the
related application runs the risk
of being disqualified.
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.
We also expect the relevant administration
units/research offices of the institutions
to take a more active role in ensuring
that the applications conform with
the requirements as set out in the
Explanatory Notes, especially those
on budget and allowable items.
Promotion
of Higher-impact and Longer-term projects
The Council has indicated its preference
of funding proposals with higher impact,
larger scope and longer duration (three
years and longer) over those of equal
quality but with incremental advances
and shorter duration from this GFF
exercise onwards. Institutions and
researchers may take note of this
when preparing their applications.
Promoting higher impact projects aside,
we also hope that this preference
will also help to maintain an efficient
application process.
Establishment
of the Business Studies Sub-Panel
In view of the distinct nature of
business studies applications from
the other applications under the Humanities,
Socials Sciences and Business Studies
Panel (H Panel), a Business Studies
Sub-Panel under the H Panel will be
established to handle the applications
relating to business studies. The
Sub-panel will be chaired by an overseas
panel member who is specialized in
business studies. From this GRF 2009/10
Exercise onwards, applications falling
within Business Studies will be handled
by the Business Studies Sub-Panel.
Revisions of Application Form
and Explanatory Notes
A number of revisions have been introduced
to various sections of GRF1 and GRF2.
The major changes are summarized as
follows:
Before completing the application
form (GRF1), applicants are required
to confirm that they have read the
Explanatory Notes (GRF2) carefully.
The RGC may stop process the application
if the application does not follow
or breach any requirements as set
out in the Explanatory Notes (GRF2).
Also, the applicant is required to
confirm that he / she will use the
RGC fund according to the Explanatory
Notes (GRF2) and other guidelines
and rules as promulgated by the RGC.
Notwithstanding the budget proposed
in the application, RGC fund must
not be spent on items that are prohibited
by the RGC unless the RGC explicitly
approves such.
- Part II Section 1(b) (iii) and
Section 10
15% of the GRF project grant will
be allocated to the institutional
management as on-costs.
- Part II Section 5(b)
PIs/Co-Is are required to declare
whether there are any other proposals
being submitted to the RGC in the
same GRF exercise, and if yes, the
applicants are required to give
details of the proposal(s) and an
explanation on the differences between
the proposal(s) and this application.
- Part II Section 7(a) and 7(b)
No abstract is required to be attached
for completed projects (i.e. projects
with completion reports submitted)
of the PIs/Co-Is.
- Part II Section 10(b)
PIs are required to declare whether
the equipment requested is available
in the institution, and if yes,
give reasons for the request.
- Part II Section 10(c)
PIs are required to declare whether
the research-related software/licence
is available in the institution,
and if yes, give reasons for the
request.
- Part II Section 15(b)
More specific examples of relationships
between PIs/Co-Is and nominated
reviewers are provided
- Part III Section 1(n) & Section
1(o)
Institution is required to confirm
the declarations made by the PI
in Part II Section 10
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 GRF. 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 GRF application
as the Principal Investigator (PI)
in any one year. Institutions
should also check and confirm that
the PIs meet the eligibility requirements
(see GRF2 Part I Section 2(a)).
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. through the
electronic system by 30 April 2009.
Hard copies of the updates should
be attached to respective proposals
and delivered to the Secretariat on
or before 10 May 2009
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 2009. 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 a substantially
changed proposal.
Special Funding
Templates
The following sets out the rough
framework of the five special funding
templates introduced under the GRF
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 GRF exercise. A fellowship
application (Enclosure I) (which
can be downloaded from (URL: http://www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/form/form.htm))
should be accompanied by a GRF 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 GRF1.
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).
At its meeting in June 2008, the
RGC agreed to increase the Clinical
Fellowship to a maximum amount of
$1,200,000 per year for a maximum
period of three consecutive years
instead of a flat rate of HK$800,000.
The actual fellowship to
be funded per year will be the sum
of the annual salary and annual
cash allowance of the applicant
or a maximum amount of $1,200,000,
whichever is the less. As
with the existing practice, the
institution must provide 50% of
the fellowship to match an equivalent
grant from the RGC for the fellow
throughout the period of fellowship.
-
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
GRF and applications are subject
to the same GRF quality threshold.
Applications should be made on the
electronic form (GRF1) with the
box for this grant properly checked
on the second page (Part I Section
1 c(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 GRF and applications are subject
to the same GRF quality threshold.
Applications should be made on the
electronic form (GRF1) 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 (GRF1)
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 GRF projects
and gaining research experience.
Applications should be made on the
electronic form (GRF1) 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 (Tel.: 2844 9916
or email: achan@ugc.edu.hk)
or Mr Brian Lip (Tel.: 2844 9959 or
email: blip@ugc.edu.hk).
|
