Institutional Development Scheme Research Infrastructure Grant
Open for application now! Please refer to call circular.
What Is It?
The Institutional Development Scheme (IDS) Research Infrastructure Grant aims to build up the research capacity of local self-financing degree-awarding institutions in their strategic areas.
What Makes It Special?
Application should be submitted on an institutional basis to develop a programme of research that informs teaching. The proposed programme should fall in the strategic areas of the institution’s development plan.
The maximum project duration is three years.
Funding1 covers direct costs involved in building up of research infrastructure and conducting a series of activities to support research, such as purchase of communal equipment and research materials, organization of seminars, workshops, conferences, and exchange programmes, etc.
The funding ceiling for each project is set with reference to the number of full-time academic staff and full-time students as follows:
No. of Full-time Academic Staff
Funding Ceiling ($m)
≤ 40
3 (student no. ≤ 50)
6 (student no. ≥ 51)
41 - 130
8
≥ 131
14
Who Is Eligible?
Head of Institution (HoI) is eligible to submit one application in the capacity of Project holder in each exercise. Each project team should consist of a Project holder, a Team leader and a reasonable number of Team members.
Team leader should be a full-time academic staff being engaged by the same local self-financing degree-awarding institution with at least a one-year renewable contract with the institution at the time of funding award being made; and spending at least 80% of time in locally-accredited local degree or higher degree work2 in the institution. Institutions are responsible for interpreting and confirming whether an applicant has fulfilled the eligibility requirements announced in the Call for Proposals.
There is no eligibility requirement for Team members. They can be any personnel working in the same or different local self-financing degree-awarding institutions, UGC-funded universities, or other local / overseas institutions or organizations.
A Team leader who is / will be seconded to conduct research in a university or a research institute / body / agency in the Mainland / overseas jurisdiction while retaining his / her full-time appointment and position with his / her parent institution and is still on the payroll of the parent institution is eligible to apply for the IDS Research Infrastructure Grant.
Assessment Criteria
The assessment criteria are as follows:
merit-based;
relevance to the strategic areas of institution;
number of academic staff to benefit.
Selection interview will be conducted with the project team of each shortlisted application.
Application Procedures
Applications should be made in the prescribed application form and submitted through the applicant’s affiliated institution. All applications should be submitted to the UGC Secretariat by 5:00 pm on 3 March 2025 (Monday).
To view the call circular, please click here.
To view the operation framework, please click here.
To download the application form, please click here.
