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 and further enhance 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 self-financing institutions as well as with University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded universities (i.e. Collaborative Research Grant).
Collaboration, whether within the local self-financing degree sector or between the local self-financing degree sector and the 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 Fourteenth 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. General information and guidelines to applicants for preparing and submitting proposals are set out in the “Scheme Overview and Guidance Notes for Completing the Application Form”. Applicants should read the guidance notes carefully before completing the application forms. Applicants may also refer to a “Standard Template for Application Format” to check the compliance of their proposals with the standard RGC format. The related application form, guidance notes as well as the standard template for application format for each scheme 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 |
Applicants’ attention is drawn to the following updates starting from the 2027/28 exercise –
- Funding Cap for Conference Expenses: to enhance support for participating at recognised international conference(s) for the purpose of delivering paper(s) related to funded project, the financial limit of the Conference Expenses has been increased to $30,000 per year;
- Declaration on Use of Artificial Intelligence (AI): applicants are required to disclose, where applicable, on the usage of AI, including but not limited to the models / systems / tools that were / will be used, details of usage, and to confirm the use of AI complies with the relevant institutional policies; and
- Declaration on Data Collection and Management: applicants are required to provide, where applicable, details regarding data collection, management, access and storage, etc. in the conduct of research, including compliance with relevant regulatory provisions.
Update of Proposals
Applicants will be requested to provide an 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 / being requested, declaration of related proposals / projects / research work, investigator(s)’s CV, grant records, etc. through the affiliated institution by 18 June 2027, 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 1 March 2027 (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 |
|
Prof Sammy HUI |
Tel: 2319 6910 |
|
Ms Maureen LAM |
Tel: 2265 3868 |
|
Ms Winnie LAI |
Tel: 2972 7427 |
|
Ms Candy LEUNG |
Tel: 2768 6251 |
|
Prof Thomas WONG |
Tel: 3996 1069 |
|
Ms Ronny LEUNG |
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 |
|
Dr Darren CHAU |
Tel: 3963 5455 |
|
Ms Jessica LAM |
Tel: 3190 6768 |
|
Prof King-kui SIN |
Tel: 2707 3186 |
|
Prof Kerry LEE |
Tel: 3977 9883 |
Staff members of the UGC Secretariat for enquiries:
|
Ms Joyce YIU |
Senior Research Administrator (4) |
|
Miss Angela LIU |
Research Administrator (4) |
|
Ms Natalie NG |
Research Administrator (4)1 |
|
Miss Carrie POON |
Project Executive (4) |
UGC Secretariat
November 2026