Institutional Development Scheme (IDS) Research Infrastructure Grant 2022/23 Exercise
  1. The Research Infrastructure Grant aims to build up the research capacity of the institutions in their strategic areas. The proposals should clearly state the priority of strategic development, justifications for the proposed set-up, possible coverage of beneficiaries and linkage of the proposed infrastructure with the research theme. Feasible implementation and collaboration plans are also expected.

  2. The quality of proposals dropped as compared to last round of exercise. Though some proposals captured the latest trends, they were not well-thought out and were lack of focus on the development of research directions. Not only the proposed programmes did not fall in the strategic areas of the institutions, but also the proposed research activities were not closely related to the themes of the proposals. Consideration should be made if the institution had relevant expertise to develop a new research centre in the proposed strategic area. Sufficient details should also be provided in the implementation plan and the proposed deliverables.

  3. Some proposals requested a large budget for purchase of journals and equipment like software and measuring tools, etc, but the justification on these budget items were not clearly stated.

  4. Project teams were encouraged to strengthen the distinctiveness as well as the sustainability of the proposed centres / hubs and elaborate in the proposals how synergistic effects could be generated.

  5. Project teams were advised to include the following four aspects in the proposals: (a) existing domain knowledge that could be developed into critical mass; (b) well-planned programmes to realize the goals (e.g. to incubate new research areas); (c) some levels of new research elements; and (d) the sustainability of the proposed infrastructure in the long run.