Foreword

The academic year of 2007/08 was a very positive year for both the University Grants Committee (UGC) and the higher education sector in Hong Kong. The UGC-funded institutions continued to deepen their development of the new curricula in preparation for “3+3+4”. They also took forward the detailed planning of all the new physical facilities needed. We also had two very significant policy initiatives from the Government: concrete measures to increase internationalisation of the student body and to promote HK as a regional education hub, as announced in the 2007 Policy Address; and the establishment of an $18 billion Research Endowment Fund to put research funding on a long term sound footing, as announced in the 2008 Budget Speech. We were also fortunate to be able to start the 4th Matching Grant Scheme in January 2008 – and it has got off to an excellent start.

At the same time, the UGC itself has embarked on a number of new initiatives such as re-organisation of its sub-committees and groups, enhancing the Committee’s transparency and external communication with institutions, starting the academic planning and funding assessment process for the 2009-12 triennium, as well as provision of an additional $200 million of Special Equipment Grants for institutions with a view to enhancing their research capability.

These and other major activities of the UGC in 2007/08 are covered in this publication. We hope that the Facts and Figures will be useful for those who are interested in the work of the UGC, as well as the higher education sector of Hong Kong.

Information in this booklet is also available on the UGC website http://www.ugc.edu.hk. You can also find other useful information about the sector on the website.