RFS and SRFS are operated on an annual basis to provide sustained research support integrated with relief from teaching and administrative duties for outstanding academics respectively at University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded universities in Hong Kong. RFS and SRFS facilitate academics to dedicate their career to research and development (R&D), as well as to give them the time and resources to nurture and train the next generation of local research talent for Hong Kong, through the delivery of a programme of world-leading research.

The target group of RFS and SRFS are stellar researchers at Associate Professor rank and full Professor rank respectively. For eligibility of RFS/ SRFS candidates, please refer to the details as set out in the Operation Guide for the RGC Research Fellow Scheme and RGC Senior Research Fellow Scheme .

Nomination*

Each UGC-funded university may nominate up to six candidates (at Associate Professor rank) for RFS and six candidates (at full Professor rank) for SRFS. Universities are encouraged to maximise effective utilisation of the assigned nomination quota to include more promising candidates, in particular for the RFS fellowship under H-disciplines. Both RFS and SRFS candidates should not reach the age of 55 by the end of the year of nomination, and that the remaining years of service at the supporting UGC-funded university should be sufficient to complete the full course of the 60-month fellowship. RFS candidates are expected to possess adequate tenure experience at the rank of Associate Professor and show sufficient depth of excellence. Further, universities are also recommended to provide better support/ coaching for potential RFS nominees with a view to bolstering their capacity in terms of proposal writing skills and interview skills.

* Eligibility requirements of RFS and SRFS candidates are updated in October 2024. For more details, please refer to the updated documents (in particular paragraph 7 (for RFS)/ paragraph 10 (for SRFS) in the Operation Guide for RFS and SRFS) on https://www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/funding_opport/rrfs/how_to_apply.html.

Fellowship Award

In the 2025/26 exercise, RFS and SRFS will each provide research funding support to ten awardees for a period of 60 months for teaching and administrative duty relief. The funding covers salary costs for relief teachers and support for the related research project including resources for staff, equipment, travel, subsistence and dissemination costs, but the award does not cover “on costs”. Supporting universities are required to make their own provision for “on-costs”.

Each RFS awardee will be conferred the title "RGC Research Fellow (研資局研究學者)", and the supporting university will receive a fellowship grant at around $5.5 million per award (a uniform rate is applied for both non-clinical and clinical academics) over a period of 60 months.

Each SRFS awardee will be conferred the title "RGC Senior Research Fellow (研資局高級研究學者)", and the supporting university will receive a fellowship grant at around $8.2 million per award (a uniform rate is applied for both non-clinical and clinical academics) over a period of 60 months.

Whilst the selection of RFS/ SRFS awardees is merit-based, universities should reflect upon the diversity of RFS/ SRFS nominations and further encourage more female faculty members to be nominated and to compete for the fellowship awards. Further, inter-disciplinary strategic and thematic research to address global challenges would be welcomed.

Nomination Submission

A full set of the updated operation guide, nomination form (RFS-SRFS-1) and guidance notes (RFS-SRFS-2) are attached for your ready reference. These documents, together with a set of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), are also available at https://www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/funding_opport/rrfs/ for your easy access. 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 form.

The fellowship was not meant to be merely an extended General Research Fund (GRF) research grant to a project of five years. There was an expectation of pursuing research at a new level and progressing/ developing the subject on a higher stage sustained over a full period of five years. Nominees should also present carefully-considered personal commitment to the fellowship and research project for a full course of five-year period.

It should also be noted that the UGC and the RGC place great importance to both nurturing young researchers and educating university students. Nominees should therefore be reminded to set out clear mentoring plan in the submissions to include training of postdoc(s) and/or research postgraduate student(s) with appropriate allocation for teaching relief, and that resources for strengthening the capacity of early career researchers should not be compromised by allocating excessive teaching relief.

Each nomination should include the research proposal, with proposed budget, of the project to be undertaken by the nominated candidate during the fellowship period. Nominations should be submitted via email to RFS@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) Special Duties 1
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 29 November 2024 (Friday). Late nomination will not be processed.

Selection

Two selection panels, i.e. Humanities, Social Sciences and Business Studies (H-Panel) and Sciences, Medicine, Engineering and Technology (S-Panel), will evaluate the merit of the candidates in the two broad academic streams (disciplines) separately. For inter-disciplinary projects, experts from the other Panel might be involved should the Panel Chair recommend this. Shortlisted finalists for RFS/ SRFS will be invited for in-person interview by the Panel concerned between late May and early June 2025. Nominees should take note of the interview schedule as remote arrangements for interviews normally will not be considered.

Enquiries

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