Objective and Coverage

The Government has reserved recurrent funding for the RGC's PDFS on an annual basis to support young research talent in building up research and development (R&D) careers in Hong Kong.

Aiming at promising local and non-local postdoctoral researchers at UGC-funded universities at a pivotal time of their very early careers, PDFS will provide support to 50 awardees for 36 months of full-time appointment as Postdoctoral Fellow (PdF) at a UGC-funded university. PDFS covers all academic disciplines which are grouped into two streams: (i) Humanities, Social Sciences and Business Studies (H disciplines); and (ii) Sciences, Medicine, Engineering and Technology (S disciplines).

 

Eligibility of Nominees for 2024/25 Exercise

The PDFS nominee must (i) obtain a legal right to work and reside in Hong Kong during the fellowship period; (ii) have obtained / been conferred a PhD degree or an equivalent qualification on or after 1 January 2020 (i.e. not more than three years before 2023), or will complete the requirement of a PhD degree or an equivalent qualification by 31 August 2024; and (iii) be supported by a UGC-funded university at which he / she wishes to hold the fellowship.

 

Quota and Fellowship

All eight UGC-funded universities are eligible to make nomination for the fellowship in support of full-time employment of PdF for research projects/ activities. Each university may nominate up to 12 PdF candidates (PDFS nominees). In case more than one nomination of the same candidate are received by the UGC Secretariat, the candidate concerned would be requested to indicate his/ her preferred supporting university before the assessment stage commences. Only the nomination by the candidate’s preferred supporting university will be processed further.

Candidates applying for the “Jockey Club Global STEM Postdoctoral Fellowship for Translational Research and Application” will not be considered for the PDFS fellowship in the same year. Universities are advised to avoid nominating such candidates for PDFS in the same year, as their nominations will be deemed as withdrawn from the supporting university in the exercise concerned.

Each PDFS awardee will be eligible for a full-time appointment as PdF at the supporting university. For each PDFS awardee, his / her supporting university will receive an annual stipend which is to cover the awardee's basic salary as well as a conference and research-related travel allowance throughout the 36-month fellowship period. Universities are welcome to supplement the fellowship with other fringe benefits on par with ordinary employment of a PdF, on top of the stipend to attract outstanding candidates.

 

Nomination and Guidance Notes

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

Assistant Secretary-General (Research) Special Duties 1
University Grants Committee Secretariat
7/F Shui On Centre
6 - 8 Harbour Road
Wanchai
Hong Kong

Supporting universities should conduct internal assessment, including interviews, of the nominees first. Nominations should reach the UGC Secretariat by 5:00 p.m. on 31 October 2023 (Tuesday). Late nomination will not be processed.

The updated operation guide for PDFS, nomination form, academic referee’s report form and guidance notes for completing the nomination form, are available at https://www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/funding_opport/pdfs/ for your reference. Nominees and supporting universities are advised to read the nomination details as set out in the operation guide and the guidance notes carefully before completing the nomination forms.

 

Enquiries

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