Applications for Allocations from
Research Impact Fund for 2025/26
This is to invite submission of preliminary proposals for allocations from the Research Impact Fund (RIF) for 2025/26 and to provide details of the procedures to be followed.
Objectives
Applicants are advised to take into account RIF’s objectives as follows when making their submissions ⸺
- To encourage the local academics to consider and articulate the potential of research to deliver benefit for the wider community; and to encourage more impactful and translational research projects; and
- To encourage a greater volume of collaborative research beyond academia (e.g. organisations such as government departments, business sector, industry and research institutes).
The proposals will be assessed based on “academic merit” and “potential research impact”. The basis for evaluation of the RIF proposals is at Annex.
Budget
In 2025/26, the RGC has reserved $75 million (exclusive of on-costs) for the RIF exercise. Mandatory matching funds are required from the University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded universities / organisational partner(s) for approved projects on a 70% (RGC) / 30% (university / organisational partner(s)) basis. The net amount of funding requested from RGC should range from $3 million to $10 million per project. The duration of the project should span three to five years.
Matters Requiring Attention
Applicants are invited to note the following matters ⸺
Observations of the RIF Selection Panel in respect of the 2024/25 exercise
Submission of proposals are being encouraged in high-demand fields such as artificial intelligence, computer science, and chip technology. In addition, the RGC and RIF Panels would like to see increased interactions of project teams with and greater participation from commercial entities, thus allowing for more direct input from these external organisations in the projects.
Renewal application
Applications for “renewal” funding are invited from projects that were funded in 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21, 2021/22 and 2022/23. To qualify, the research teams are required to demonstrate that remarkable results have been achieved in their current research and there is a good argument and prospect for further research work to continue in the relevant area. A “renewal” proposal should be an extension of the current project led by the same Project Coordinator (PC) and should not constitute any major overlap with research work supported by other UGC / RGC or government grants. A “renewal” proposal should also have its own goal(s) and new or extended research objective(s).
For any “renewal” proposal to be funded in the 2025/26 exercise, the “renewal” project must start upon the completion of the current one before the end of the academic year 2025/26 (i.e. 30 June 2026) and the current project has to be completed within two years (i.e. between 1 July 2024 and 30 June 2026). Prior approval of RGC for variation to the stipulated schedule must be sought in case a research team has difficulty in adhering to the schedule, though approval may only be given in very exceptional circumstances.
All funded “renewal” proposals are subject to the same monitoring and accounting requirements as applicable to other newly funded projects under the scheme. A PC should only submit one single proposal in the 2025/26 exercise, irrespective if it is a new or “renewal” application.
Re-submission application
If the application is a resubmission under any of the UGC / RGC funding schemes, please provide a summary of all the previous submissions and the revisions made to each of the previous submissions. Please make sure that sufficient revisions and improvement based on the comments provided by the assessment panels have been made.
Pathways to Impact Statement
The Pathways to Impact Statement shall demonstrate how the research team will realise the “impact” beyond the academia by the findings / outcome of the research proposal and by addressing any associated risks. For the purpose of this section, impact is defined as the demonstrable contributions, beneficial effects, valuable changes or advantages that research qualitatively brings to the economy, society, culture, public policy or services, health, the environment or quality of life; and that are beyond the academia. The impacts may occur in any geographical location whether locally, regionally, nationally or internationally.
Deadline of Submission
Preliminary proposals should be submitted through the RGC Electronic System to the UGC Secretariat by 28 February 2025. The application forms in pdf format are also available on the RGC website (https://www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/funding_opport/rif/how_to_apply.html) for downloading. In addition to electronic submission, universities should provide one hard copy and one soft copy (allowing search function) of the proposals. For the soft copy, please save all files in one CD or USB flash drive, with the file names follow that of the project reference number. The hard copy and soft copy of the proposal must be submitted to the UGC Secretariat through the Research Offices of respective universities by 5:00 pm (HKT) on 5 March 2025. For “renewal” funding, an up-to-date progress report on the current research project should be submitted together with the application form.
Code of Conduct
The RGC is fully committed to the principle of honesty, integrity and fair play in the conduct of its business. All applicants should comply with RGC Code of Conduct, which is available on the RGC website (https://www.ugc.edu.hk/doc/eng/rgc/guidelines/code/code_of_conduct.pdf).