ORFS is an initiative of the University Grants Committee (UGC)/ Research Grants Council (RGC) which seeks to promote internationalisation of UGC-funded universities.  It aims to encourage university faculty to visit overseas institutions/units for immersive collaboration experiences internationally, thereby helping to widen the international perspective and deepen the exposure of the Hong Kong research community to trends elsewhere.  It will also boost the visibility of the Hong Kong universities as a whole.

The ORFS draws on the existing sabbatical leave arrangement and complements universities’ mobility programmes.  It provides fellowship for mid-career academic staff as a further incentive to learn, develop or enhance understanding and skills that will improve their scholarly/research competence.  Selected fellows would be supported to go to overseas institutional laboratories/research units/clinical set-ups to work on research projects/undergo research-related professional development.

The implementation of the ORFS is on a pilot basis for three academic years (i.e. 2026/27 to 2028/29 academic years), with 40 fellowship places (maximum) to be awarded each academic year.  Universities are welcome to top up the fellowships with funding of their own.  For the details of the ORFS, including the eligibility of nominees, coverage of the fellowship, operational arrangements, etc., you may wish to refer to the Operation Guide for the Overseas Research Fellowship Scheme (ORFS-2) for the details.

Fellowship Award

In the 2026/27 exercise, each ORFS fellow will receive a fellowship of up to HK$48,000 per month for up to six months, and a supplementary grant of up to HK$80,000 for justified research and conference expenses.

The ORFS Nomination Form (ORFS-1), Operation Guide (ORFS-2) Guidance Notes (ORFS-4), and a set of “Frequently Asked Questions” are available at https://www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/funding_opport/orfs/.  Nominees and supporting universities are advised to read all related documents carefully before completing the nomination form.

Nominations should be submitted via email to ORFS@ugc.edu.hk, with one set of original hard copies and one set of soft copy (saved in one USB memory stick/DVD) delivered to:

Assistant Secretary-General (Research)4

University Grants Committee Secretariat

7/F Shui On Centre

6-8 Harbour Road

Wanchai

Hong Kong

Nominations should reach the UGC Secretariat by 5:00 p.m. on 22  December 2025 (Monday).  Late nominations will not be processed.

Selection Process

The assessment of nominations and selection of ORFS awardees will be undertaken by a Selection Panel of the RGC, covering both the Humanities, Social Science and Business Studies (H-), and the Science, Medicine, Engineering and Technology (S-) disciplines.  The Selection Panel, comprising both local and non-local academics and experts, will evaluate the merits of the nominations received by a score-based selection mechanism. 

Enquiries

For enquiries about the nomination procedures or other aspects of the ORFS, please contact the UGC Secretariat via email: ORFS@ugc.edu.hk.