Press Release - France/Hong Kong Joint Research Scheme 1999/2000
The Research Grants Council ( RGC ) and the Consulate General of France in Hong Kong announced today ( 12 January 2000 ) that 17 new research proposals and 3 extension projects have been awarded grants totaling HK$572,250 under the France/Hong Kong Joint Research Scheme in 1999/2000. The grants would be topped up with matching fund from the French side.
The France/Hong Kong Joint Research Scheme ( PROCORE ) was first launched in 1998/1999 as a pilot scheme to promote and encourage co-operation in research between researchers in Hong Kong and their counterparts in France. The Scheme is jointly supported by the RGC, on the Hong Kong side, and the Consulate General of France in Hong Kong, the National Centre of Scientific Research of France ( CNRS ) and the French National Institute for Research in Computer Science and Control ( INRIA ), on the French side. It provides grants for a series of exchange visits in support of collaborative research between the two places. As distinct from the first exercise, which only accepted one-year duration proposals in hard sciences and engineering, the 1999/2000 exercise was open to all disciplines and applications seeking funding support for up to two years were considered.
"I am pleased to see that the Scheme has continued to receive very positive and encouraging response from the institutions", said Professor Kenneth Young, Chairman of the RGC.
"The growing success of PROCORE is an encouragement to our continuous efforts in promoting France-Hong Kong co-operation in the fields of science and technology", said Jerome Pasquier, Consul-General of France.
There were 36 applications for funding including a number of requests for extension funding for some on-going projects. A Joint Selection Committee comprising members from both the Hong Kong and French sides selected a total of 20 projects ( full list at Annex ) for funding support.
The grants provide the researchers with return air passages and subsistence allowances to enable them to visit their research partners to discuss and undertake their research projects.
The France/Hong Kong Joint Research Scheme is one of four joint research schemes currently operated by the RGC. The other three schemes are with the UK, Germany and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. The joint research schemes are part of the RGC's continuing efforts to develop the research culture in Hong Kong, and to increase the opportunities for exchanges among members of the Hong Kong and international research communities.
UGC Secretariat
12 January 2000
Annex
Projects Supported for
Funding in France/Hong Kong Joint Research Scheme 1999/2000
| Project Title | Hong Kong Partner | French Partner | Amount Supported (HK) | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 / 2000 | 2000 / 2001 | |||
| A comparison of molecular changes in nasopharyngeal carcinomas from Hong Kong and North Africa | Dr John M Nicholls ( HKU ) | Dr Tadamasa Ooka ( Univ Lyon I - CNRS ) | 28,000 | 28,000 |
| Analysis of somatic mutations of the RET protooncogene in RET associated diseases | Prof Paul K H Tam ( HKU ) | Prof Giovanni Romeo ( OMS - Centre International pour la Recherche sur le Cancer/Lyon ) | 31,250 | 0 |
| Luminescent transition metal-alkynyl complexes - electronic, structural and theoretical aspects | Prof Vivian Wing Wah Yam ( HKU ) | Dr Claude Lapinte ( Univ Rennes I - CNRS ) | 29,800 | 28,000 |
| Cell cycle control: Regulation of CDC25B Phosphatases by Calmodulin and CaM Kinase | Prof Kwok-wing Tsui ( CUHK ) | Prof Bernard Ducommun ( Univ Toulouse III - CNRS ) | 30,600 | 30,600 |
| A new approach to the treatment of skeletal muscle injury - isolation and cloning of a new myogenic factor from rats | Prof Kai-ming Chan ( CUHK ) | Prof Pierre Tiollais ( Institut Pasteur - INSERM/Paris ) | 30,500 | 30,500 |
| Regional and kinship networks of Guangdong entrepreneurs in the 20th century | Dr Pui-yin Ho ( CUHK ) | Dr Isabelle Thireau ( CNRS/Paris ) | 24,000 | 0 |
| Architectural-based techniques and tools for software reliability engineering * | Dr Michael R Lyu ( CUHK ) | Dr Karama Kanoun ( CNRS/Toulouse ) | 31,100 | 0 |
| Micromechanics modeling of the martensite fatigue behaviour of shape memory alloys - interaction between plasticity and phase transformation | Dr Qing-ping Sun ( HKUST ) | Dr Mohammed Cherkaoui ( Univ Metz - CNRS ) |
28,000 |
0 |
| Investigation of slope instability in swelling soils for the South-North water diversion project in China | Dr Charles W W Ng ( HKUST ) | Prof Pierre Delage ( Ecole Nationale des Ponts et Chaussees/Paris ) | 30,700 | 0 |
| Mathematical analysis of algorithms |
Dr Mordecai J Golin ( HKUST ) | Dr Philippe Flajolet ( INRIA/Rocquencourt ) | 16,700 | 16,700 |
| Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic study of GABAa receptor structure | Dr Hong Xue ( HKUST ) | Prof James Nathaniel Sturgis ( CNRS/Marseille ) | 30,600 | 0 |
| Mathematical modeling of Couette-Taylor-Hele-Shaw flow | Dr Vladimir A Vladimirov ( HKUST ) |
Prof Gerard Ioos ( Univ Nice - CNRS ) | 30,700 | 30,700 |
| Mathematical modeling of superconductivity based on the Ginzburg-Landau theory | Dr Qiang Du ( HKUST ) | Dr Amandien Aftalion ( Univ Paris 6 - CNRS ) | 29,000 | 29,000 |
| Role of calcium in gene expression during neural induction in amphibians * | Dr Andrew L Miller ( HKUST ) |
Dr Marc Moreau ( Univ Toulouse III - CNRS ) | 28,000 | 0 |
| Photocathalysis air treatment | Prof Po-lock Yue ( HKUST ) | Dr Pierre Pichat ( Ecole Centrale Lyon - CNRS ) | 29,800 | 0 |
| Numerical studies of frustrated and dimerized quantum magnetic systems in low dimensions * | Dr Pakwo Leung ( HKUST ) | Prof Timothy Ziman ( Institut Laue Langevin/Grenoble ) | 29,000 | 0 |
| Efficient numerical and symbolic methods for sparse polynomial system solving and their applications to economics, finance and game theory | Dr Maurice Rojas ( CityU ) | Dr Ioannis Emiris ( INRIA/Sophia-Antipolis ) | 31,250 | 0 |
| Total | 572,250 | 248,750 | ||