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 organization 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, either 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.
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 Tenth Round exercise:
- Caritas Institute of Higher Education
- Centennial College
- Chu Hai College of Higher Education
- Gratia Christian College
- HKCT Institute of Higher Education
- Hong Kong Metropolitan University
- Hong Kong Nang Yan College of Higher Education
- Hong Kong Shue Yan 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 (THEi) of Hong Kong
- The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong
- Tung Wah College
- UOW College of 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 guidelines 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 23 June 2023, 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 2023 (Wednesday).
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:
|
Dr Winnie CHAN |
Tel: 3702 4361 |
|
Ms Teresa TSAI |
Tel: 3762 6216 |
|
Ms Pekoe NG |
Tel: 2972 7427 |
|
Ms Elisa AU |
Tel: 2319 6910 |
|
Prof CHUI Yat-hung |
Tel: 2265 6970 |
|
Ms Candy LEUNG |
Tel: 2768 6251 |
|
Prof Thomas WONG |
Tel: 3996 1069 |
|
Miss Helen FUNG |
Tel: 2804 8438 |
|
Dr Sam LAU |
Tel: 3411 3027 |
|
Ms Gigi IP |
Tel: 3746 0772 |
|
Dr Tracy KWAN |
Tel: 3890 8090 |
|
Miss Ritz HO |
Tel: 3963 5127 |
|
Dr David WONG |
Tel: 3190 6722 |
|
Prof Geoffrey BLOWERS |
Tel: 2707 3282 |
|
Dr Elaine LAU |
Tel: 3977 9864 |
Staff members of the UGC Secretariat for enquiries:
|
Miss Karen LEE |
Senior Research Administrator (4) |
|
Miss Angela LIU |
Research Administrator (4) |
|
Miss Natalie NG |
Research Administrator (4)1 |
UGC Secretariat
November 2022