Background
The research funding for the local self-financing degree sector is competitive in nature and aims at developing the research capacity of the institutions and the faculty members.
Competitive Research Funding Schemes
Three funding schemes, namely Faculty Development Scheme (FDS), Inter-Institutional Development Scheme (IIDS) and Institutional Development Scheme (IDS), were launched in 2013 to provide funding for research activities performed in the local self-financing degree sector. Starting from the 2019/20 exercise (Sixth Round), the IDS is branched out into two grants, namely the “Research Infrastructure Grant” and the “Collaborative Research Grant”. Ambits of these schemes are elaborated below:
(i) The Faculty Development Scheme (FDS) aims to develop the research capability of individual academics so that they can transfer their research experiences and new knowledge into teaching and learning.
(ii) The Inter-Institutional Development Scheme (IIDS) is to enhance academics’ research capability and to keep them abreast of new developments and challenging research topics in relevant fields through the organisation of workshops or short courses on an institutional or joint-institutional basis.
(iii) The Institutional Development Scheme (IDS) aims to build up the research capacity of the local self-financing degree-awarding institutions in their strategic areas (i.e. Research Infrastructure Grant) and encourage collaborative research within / among institutions (i.e. Collaborative Research Grant).
Collaboration, whether within the local self-financing degree sector or between the local self-financing degree sector and the University Grants Committee (UGC) sector, is strongly encouraged. Collaboration may be in the form of research projects or sharing of research facilities supported by the three funding schemes. Applicants, in particular junior academics, may also consider engaging local or overseas senior scholars with relevant expertise to participate in their research projects, which could facilitate collaboration and experience sharing for developing their research capacity.
To provide research training opportunity to undergraduate students, applicants are encouraged to involve undergraduate students in their research projects and apply for the related allowance in the applications.
Operation framework of the three funding schemes can be downloaded here.
Eligibility
Full-time academic staff1 engaged by the below listed institutions2 are eligible for submission of applications to the Twelfth Round exercise:
- Centennial College
- Gratia Christian College
- HKCT Institute of Higher Education
- Hong Kong Chu Hai College
- Hong Kong Metropolitan University
- Hong Kong Nang Yan College of Higher Education
- Hong Kong Shue Yan University
- Saint Francis University
- School of Continuing Education, Hong Kong Baptist University
- School of Professional Education and Executive Development, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University
- Technological and Higher Education Institute of Hong Kong
- The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong
- Tung Wah College
- UOW College Hong Kong
- Yew Chung College of Early Childhood Education
1 Please refer to the application forms and guidance notes for the staff eligibility.
2 Institutions are listed in alphabetical order.
Application Procedures
Application should be made in the prescribed form for the corresponding funding scheme and must be submitted through the applicant’s affiliated institution. The related application forms and guidance notes can be downloaded from the RGC website:
| FDS | https://www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/funding_opport/fds/how_to_apply.html |
| IIDS | https://www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/funding_opport/iids/how_to_apply.html |
| IDS Research Infrastructure Grant | https://www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/funding_opport/ids_rig/how_to_apply.html |
| IDS Collaborative Research Grant | https://www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/funding_opport/ids_crg/how_to_apply.html |
Update of Proposals
Applicants will be requested to provide a brief update setting out any essential changes to the applications, i.e. the eligibility of the applicants, addition / removal of project team members, alternative funding obtained, declaration of related proposals, investigator(s)’s CV, grant records, etc. by 20 June 2025, if any. Such updates should be confined to the essential parts of the original proposals, and applicants should not use the opportunity to hand in a substantially changed proposal.
Deadline for Application
All applications must be submitted to the UGC Secretariat by 5:00 pm on 3 March 2025 (Monday).
Enquiries
For enquiries regarding the three funding schemes and the application procedures, please approach the Research Coordinators of respective institutions in the first instance. Contact details are as follows:
|
Ms Teresa TSAI |
Tel: 3762 6216 |
|
Ms Elisa AU |
Tel: 2319 6910 |
|
Prof CHUI Yat-hung |
Tel: 2265 6970 |
|
Ms Pekoe NG |
Tel: 2972 7427 |
|
Ms Candy LEUNG |
Tel: 2768 6251 |
|
Prof Thomas WONG |
Tel: 3996 1069 |
|
Dr Alex LI |
Tel: 2804 8438 |
|
Dr Andrew LOW |
Tel: 3653 6695 |
|
Dr Sam LAU |
Tel: 3411 3027 |
|
Ms Gigi IP |
Tel: 3746 0772 |
|
Dr Vanessa LI |
Tel: 3890 8090 |
|
Miss Ritz HO |
Tel: 3963 5127 |
|
Ms Belle HO |
Tel: 3190 6768 |
|
Prof Geoffrey BLOWERS |
Tel: 2707 3282 |
|
Prof Eric CHENG |
Tel: 3977 9883 |
Staff members of the UGC Secretariat for enquiries:
|
Miss Karen LEE |
Senior Research Administrator (4) |
|
Miss Angela LIU |
Research Administrator (4) |
|
Ms Natalie NG |
Research Administrator (4)1 |
UGC Secretariat
November 2024