Collaborative Research Fund (CRF) 2025/26 Funding Results
CRF 2025/26 Collaborative Research Project Grant (CRPG) Proposals
Proposal Ref. Proposal Title Coordinating
University /
Collaborating
University(ies) 		Duration
(Months) 		Recommended
Amount
(HK$)
(exclusive of on-costs)

C1068-25YF^

Electrosynthesis of high-value organonitrogen compounds via C-N coupling: from catalyst design to cell engineering

CityU / CUHK, HKUST

 36 4,800,000

C1073-25GF

Waste-derived iron salts enable integrated and sustainable urban wastewater management

CityU / PolyU, HKUST, HKU

 36 5,900,000

C1077-25GF

Understanding & Fighting Scams: Psychological and Social Perspectives & Effective Interventions

CityU / PolyU, HKUST

 36 5,900,000

C1134-25GF

Control of food intake and metabolism by a sensory cortex-periphery axis

CityU / HKU

 36 7,960,000

C4025-25GF

Hong Kong's Window on the Universe - First Light

CUHK / HKU

 36 7,960,000

C4085-25GF

Immunogenic epitopes from the non-coding genome as tumor-specific antigens for drug development against childhood acute myeloid leukemia

CUHK / HKU

 36 7,900,000

C4097-25WF

A 5-Year Prospective Study of Multimodal Deep Phenotyping with Digital Measurements, Multi-Omics, and Neuroimaging Biomarkers in Prodromal and Early Stages of Alpha-Synucleinopathy Neurodegeneration

CUHK / HKUST, HKU

 36 4,900,000
C5020-25GF Sustainable AI Datacenter with Immersion Cooling and Generalized Carbon Estimation HKUST / PolyU 36 5,600,000
C5085-25GF AIoT-powered Multi-modality Underwater SOS System PolyU / CityU, HKUST 36 7,960,000
C5097-25GF Privacy Infrastructure Design for Web3 PolyU / CUHK, HKUST 36 5,700,000
C5117-25GF Endothelins in mechanoaging and osteoarthritis: biomarker discovery and drug development PolyU / CUHK, HKU 36 7,960,000
C6004-25GF Building Trustworthy Large Language Model (LLM)-Integrated Applications: A Full-Stack Lifecycle Approach HKUST / LU, CUHK 36 6,900,000
C6024-25GF Unraveling Fluid-Solid Interactions and Soft Propeller Mechanics Through Quantitative Optical Imaging HKUST / CUHK, PolyU 36 6,400,000
C6041-25GF Designing Functionalised Bio-carbons to Propel a Biorenewable Hydrogen Economy HKUST / CityU 36 7,960,000
C6053-25GF Molecular Mechanisms of Replisome Coupling HKUST / HKU 36 7,960,000
C6078-25GF Coordinated Autonomy and Smart Infrastructure for Low Altitude Economy System HKUST / PolyU 36 5,600,000
C6086-25GF Federated LPWANs for Scalable IoT HKUST / CityU, PolyU 36 6,900,000
C7026-25GF Neural mechanisms of consolidated memory editing in humans and mice HKU / CUHK 36 7,960,000
C7042-25GF A Deep Dive into Immune Dynamics and Drug Resistance to Advance Therapeutic Innovations for FGFR2-altered intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma HKU 36 7,960,000
C7065-25YF^ Investigation the Mechanism of Coronavirus RNA Replication and Translocation within Replication Organelle HKU / PolyU 36 4,900,000
C7088-25GF Human centromere structure and its maintenance mechanism HKU / HKUST 36 7,960,000
C7112-25GF Exploring an adaptive transboundary flood risk governance framework in the Greater Bay Area: An enhanced social-ecological-technological systems approach HKU / CUHK 36 5,900,000
C7140-25GF The Science of Sustainable Structural Materials: microstructure evolution, simulation tools and experiments HKU / CityU, HKUST 36 7,960,000

^Projects submitted under the Young Collaborative Research Grant by young researchers.

CRF 2025/26 Collaborative Research Equipment Grant (CREG) Proposals

Proposal Ref. Proposal Title Coordinating
University /
Collaborating
University(ies) 		Duration
(Months) 		Recommended
Amount
(HK$)
(exclusive of on-costs)
C4018-25EF A State-of-art Desktop X-ray Absorption and Emission Testing Platform for Advanced Materials Research in Hong Kong CUHK / CityU, HKUST, HKU 36 4,700,000
C4032-25EF 3D-Scope: A High-precision and Low-latency 3D Indoor Modeling and Localization System for Smart Building, Epidemic Analysis, and Embodied AI CUHK / PolyU 36 4,900,000
C4056-25EF The First State-of-the-Art Molecular Resolution Light Microscope for Live Cell Imaging into our Advanced Imaging Platforms to Timely Promote Interdisciplinary and Advanced Life Sciences Research in Hong Kong and Beyond CUHK / CityU, HKBU, PolyU, HKUST, HKU 36 7,960,000
C5081-25EF Advanced Single-Particle Mass Spectrometer to Uncover Hidden Aerosol Complexity Impacting Health and Climate PolyU / CityU, HKBU, CUHK, HKUST 36 3,400,000
C5082-25EF A trimodal PET/SPECT/CT animal imaging system for molecular imaging and radiopharmaceutical research PolyU / CityU, HKU 36 3,700,000
C6054-25EF Development of an Automated UAV Vertiport for Low Altitude Economy Research at HKUST HKUST / CityU, PolyU, HKU 36 5,090,000
C6076-25EF A Biaxial Centrifuge Shaker for Enhancing Research on Seismic and Climate Resilience of Infrastructure HKUST / PolyU, HKU 36 7,960,000
C7017-25EF An angle-resolved ultrafast cathodoluminescent microscope for interdisciplinary studies of quantum optics and quantum materials HKU / CityU, CUHK, HKUST 36 4,700,000
CRF 2025/26 Young Collaborative Research Grant (YCRG) Proposals
Proposal Ref. Proposal Title Coordinating
University /
Collaborating
University(ies) 		Duration
(Months) 		Recommended
Amount
(HK$)
(exclusive of on-costs)
C1085-25YF Nearshore intensification and inland impact of the tropical cyclones in the Western North Pacific under global warming CityU / CUHK, PolyU 36 4,300,000
C4003-25YF Cross-Cultural Analytics: Using Big Data, Large Language Models, Knowledge Graphs and Rare Books to Chart the Influence of Chinese Culture in the West, 1550-1900 CUHK 36 4,490,000
C4069-25YF Accelerating Silicon/Perovskite Tandem Photovoltaics Readiness through Phase-Stable and Hot-Spot Resistant Perovskite Design (STAR-PV) CUHK / CityU, HKUST 36 4,900,000
C4109-25YF Collaborative Intelligence and Autonomy through Cost-effective Embodied AI in Robotic Surgery CUHK / HKU 36 4,400,000
C5101-25YF Smart Environment Engineering via Beyond Diagonal Reconfigurable Intelligent Surface for Future Wireless Networks PolyU / CityU, CUHK 36 4,900,000
C5132-25YF Digital Solutions to Manage the Risks of Electric Vehicle Batteries and A Deep Learning Based Index Insurance Contract Design PolyU / HKUST, HKU 36 4,100,000
C6002-25YF Extreme-mission Microelectronic Passive Transducers HKUST / HKU 36 4,900,000
C6011-25YF Control of Chirality and Spin in Halide Perovskites: from Fundamental Study to Quantum Sensing and Optoelectronics HKUST / CUHK 36 4,900,000
C6088-25YF DeepSparseCT: An Ultra-Sparse X-Ray-Driven Foundation Model for Intraoperative 3D CT Reconstruction HKUST / CUHK 36 4,500,000
C7058-25YF Molecular Mechanisms of Non-Homologous End Joining Regulating Nucleosome Remodeling in Human DNA Repair HKU 36 4,900,000
C7143-25YF Wafer-scale integrated III-V/lithium niobate lasers and photonic circuits HKU / CityU 36 4,400,000