National Natural Science Foundation of China /
Research Grants Council Young Research Scheme
2026/27 Exercise

Invitation for Applications

Aim

Launched in 2026/27, the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) and the Research Grants Council (RGC) of Hong Kong Young Research Scheme (YRS) aims to provide enhanced support for young researchers in Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland so as to nurture junior academics in their early career stage.  The six focus areas include Information Technology, Life Science, New Materials Science, Marine and Environmental Science, Medicine, and Management Science.

2. The RGC has reserved an amount of HK$8 million for the Hong Kong applicants in the NSFC/RGC YRS 2026/27 exercise. Around ten projects will be supported.  The operational details (including eligibility, funding, application procedures, selection procedures, etc.) are set out in the ensuing paragraphs. 

Eligibility

3. Each Chinese Mainland or Hong Kong applicant is only allowed to submit one application in the capacity of the Principal Investigator (PI) under NSFC/RGC Joint Research Scheme (JRS)^[1] or NSFC/RGC YRS or the Project Coordinator (PC) under NSFC/RGC Collaborative Research Scheme (CRS) ^[2] in the same funding exercise.

4. The Hong Kong PI should meet ALL the following requirements^[3]: -
   • having a full-time^[4] appointment in the university proper^[5];
   • at the closing date of the application, not exceeding three years of his/her full-time academic job as an Associate Professor or career equivalent (including those at a lower rank)^[6], involving teaching and research duties and in substantiation track / tenure track position in any university (local or overseas), or not exceeding 12 years of post-doctoral or equivalent terminal qualifications in the relevant fields experience, whichever is shorter;
   • being in Staff Grades from "C" to "I"^[7]as defined in the Common Data Collection Format (i.e. from "Senior Lecturer " to "Assistant Lecturer");
   • being primarily engaged in and spending at least 80% of time in degree or higher degree work^[8]at the university proper; and
   • salary being wholly funded^[9]by the university proper.

5. A Hong Kong PI of an on-going NSFC/RGC JRS research project or a Hong Kong PC of an on-going NSFC/RGC CRS project is not allowed to submit a new application in the capacity of PI in the current NSFC/RGC YRS exercise unless both collaborative partners have submitted their completion reports of the project to the NSFC and the RGC before the application deadline.  Nevertheless, he / she could participate in a NSFC/RGC YRS proposal if not in the capacity as a PI.  Moreover, applicants should refer to the relevant requirements of the NSFC and ensure their eligibility as Hong Kong PI will be accepted by the NSFC. 

6. A joint proposal submitted by a Chinese Mainland PI affiliated with a Chinese Mainland institution which is established and operated by the same University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded university of the Hong Kong PI will not be considered as a valid collaboration. Such application will be disqualified.  Examples of invalid collaborations include but are not limited to the following –

   UGC-funded University of Hong Kong PI	Chinese Mainland Institution of Chinese Mainland PI
   Hong Kong Baptist University	Beijing Normal University - Hong Kong Baptist University United International College
   The University of Hong Kong	The University of Hong Kong Shenzhen Institute of Research and Innovation
   The Chinese University of Hong Kong	The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen
   The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology	The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (Guangzhou)
   City University of Hong Kong	City University of Hong Kong (Dongguan)

7. Chinese Mainland applicants should check with the NSFC for their eligibility requirements.

8. Researchers outside Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland may participate as members of the Hong Kong or the Chinese Mainland research team.

Funding

9. The scheme aims to support research projects with duration of four years. For Hong Kong applicants, the grants sought for each project should not exceed HK$ 800,000 (exclusive of on-costs).  For Chinese Mainland applicants, the maximum funding amount per project is RMB 800,000 (exclusive of on-costs). 

10. The RGC funding will provide support for:
    • salary of research support staff hired by the Hong Kong researchers;
    • equipment in Hong Kong;
    • general expenses, including consumables that are directly related to the research work;
    • expenses for receiving the Chinese Mainland collaborators in Hong Kong;
    • passage for Hong Kong researchers and research postgraduate students to visit collaborators in the Chinese Mainland; and
    • grants for Hong Kong researchers and research postgraduate students to attend international conferences.

11. The Chinese Mainland and the Hong Kong partners of the supported projects will receive funding from the NSFC and the RGC separately, and the grants can only be used in the Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong respectively.

How to Apply

12. A one-stage application process (i.e. no preliminary proposal stage) is adopted in the scheme. There is a quota of five submissions for each UGC-funded university.

13. Parallel submissions of both applications by the Chinese Mainland and the Hong Kong applicants are required. While applications must be submitted before the deadline as outlined below, Hong Kong applicants should check with their universities for internal closing dates.  Late submissions will not be processed.

14. Hong Kong applications should be submitted to the RGC through respective universities. Chinese Mainland applications are to be submitted to the Office for Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan Affairs of the NSFC.  Detailed information on application procedures of the NSFC is available on the NSFC website: https://www.nsfc.gov.cn.

15. It is the obligation of both the Chinese Mainland and the Hong Kong applicants to ensure that their respective applications contain sufficient and consistent information for evaluation. Incomplete submission (such as those lacking substantial data / information for evaluation) or inconsistent / inaccurate information would lead to disqualification of applications.  The project period of both sides should have the same start and end dates.  All proposals funded in the 2026/27 exercise should commence on 1 January 2027. 

16. Hong Kong applicants should submit two hard copies and a soft copy (with size up to 5MB per proposal) of their full proposals through the Research Offices of their universities to the RGC by 4:00 pm of 27 February 2026. The application to be submitted to the RGC should be prepared in accordance with the “Full Proposal Application Form” (YRS 1 (Nov 25)) and should be jointly signed by the collaborators of both places.  Each full proposal must be accompanied by an agreement of collaboration between the Hong Kong and the Chinese Mainland applicants.  Hong Kong applicants are also required to submit to the RGC two hard copies and a soft copy of the proposals submitted by their Chinese Mainland partners to the NSFC by the same deadline.  To ensure consistency and fairness to all applicants, applicants must complete the applications in the following standard RGC format.  Failure to comply with the application format and / or the allowable page will lead to disqualification of the proposal.

    Font:          Times New Roman
    Font size:    12 point
    Margin:      2.5 cm all round
    Spacing:     Single-line spacing 

Selection

17. The main factors for consideration are (i) the scientific merits and innovation of the proposal; (ii) the opportunities for effective synergism among the participating researchers, research groups and universities and the extent to which existing strengths of the Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong may complement each other; and (iii) the long-term goal of the proposal and its impacts to the Chinese Mainland and Hong Kong. Balance of different disciplines may be taken into consideration when the scientific aspects of two proposals are considered being equal.

18. The NSFC and the RGC will arrange to assess the research proposals received in accordance with their respective peer-review procedures. A Joint Selection Committee, comprising representatives from the NSFC and the RGC, will conduct a final assessment on the applications.  The Joint Selection Committee will only fund proposals which have been supported by both sides.

Announcement of Results

19. The results of the final selection will be announced in November 2026. The results will also be published on the RGC website.

Monitoring and Assessment

20. Hong Kong PIs of funded research projects are required to submit mid-term and completion reports through their universities to the RGC for monitoring and assessment. The reports will be evaluated in part by the level of collaboration between the Chinese Mainland and the Hong Kong teams involved, and the PIs are required to show tangible evidence of collaboration via the research output in their mid-term / completion reports.  Details of reporting requirements will be provided to the successful applicants in the announcement of funding results.

Conditions

21. The NSFC and the RGC will not be responsible for any expenditure incurred by the project in excess of the approved funding.

22. Neither the NSFC nor the RGC will provide any insurance cover in connection with the project or allow the use of the grants for insurance cover. Applicants should make their own arrangements.  The NSFC and the RGC will not accept any responsibility arising in any way from the visits and the activities undertaken by the researchers.

23. As a matter of policy, the RGC does not claim any intellectual property rights arising from the projects it funds. Researchers, their collaborators and the universities concerned should make their own prior arrangements with regard to the ownership of such rights.

24. Funded projects may be selected by the NSFC and the RGC to present their progress during a site visit. Selected projects will be separately notified of the date and logistic requirements in advance.

Enquiries

25. All enquiries should be directed to the Research Offices of respective universities in the first instance. Their contact details are as follows:

Mr Winaf Fan City University of Hong Kong 83 Tat Chee Avenue Kowloon Tong, Kowloon	Tel.: 3442 7547 Fax: 3442 0136
Mr Ivan Lau Hong Kong Baptist University Kowloon Tong Kowloon	Tel.: 3411 7751 Fax: 3411 5525
Ms Sandy Keung Lingnan University 8 Castle Peak Road Tuen Mun, New Territories	Tel.: 2616 7545 Fax: 2591 9618
Dr Wenting Zhu The Chinese University of Hong Kong Shatin New Territories	Tel.: 3943 0349 Fax: 3942 0993
Ms Clara Fong The Education University of Hong Kong 10 Lo Ping Road Tai Po, New Territories	Tel.: 2948 7700 Fax: 2948 7697
Miss Ivy Chau The Hong Kong Polytechnic University Hung Hom Kowloon	Tel.: 3400 3630 Fax: 2355 7651
Miss Becky Lau The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology Clear Water Bay, Kowloon	Tel.: 3469 2798 Fax: 2358 1541
Miss Kay Ling The University of Hong Kong Pokfulam Road Hong Kong	Tel.: 3917 7080 Fax: 2803 0558

* * * * * * * * * *

UGC Secretariat
21 November 2025

^[1] The submission deadline of NSFC/RGC JRS is 2 January 2026.

^[2] The submission deadline of both NSFC/RGC CRS and NSFC/RGC YRS is 27 February 2026.

^[3] Unlike NSFC/RGC JRS and NSFC/RGC CRS, visiting scholar is not eligible for NSFC/RGC YRS. They may participate in the project team as Co-I.

^[4] Part-time staff members and staff members holding honorary appointments are excluded.

^[5] Schools/arms of continuing education and professional training and other analogous outfits are excluded.

^[6] For avoidance of doubt, an academic staff at or below the rank of Associate Professor or career equivalent may apply, subject to his/her satisfaction of the eligibility criteria.

^[7] Polytechnic staff grades are excluded.

^[8] A PI who is/will be seconded to work full-time or part-time at the two Innovation and Technology (I&T) clusters (Health@InnoHK and AIR@InnoHK) at the Hong Kong Science Park, or to conduct research in a university or a research institute / body / agency in the Chinese Mainland / overseas jurisdiction, is eligible.

^[9] Staff members who are receiving income from paid appointments outside the university proper or who is supported by external research grants are excluded.