Indicative Budget for 2024/25
Funding Schemes Indicative Distribution
($ million)
Individual Research Schemes
General Research Fund 988.27
Early Career Scheme 145.33
Collaborative Research Schemes
Areas of Excellence (AoE) Scheme 160.00
Collaborative Research Fund (CRF) 280.00
Research Impact Fund 75.00
Theme-based Research Scheme (TRS) 320.00
Strategic Topics Grant 150.00
Apportionable Budget among AoE Scheme, CRF and TRS 50.00
Fellowships
Humanities and Social Sciences Prestigious Fellowship Scheme 10.00
Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme 362.25 [1]
Research Grants Council (RGC) Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme 63.01
RGC Research Fellow Scheme/RGC Senior Research Fellow Scheme 131.48
Joint Research Schemes

a) National Natural Science Foundation of China / RGC Joint Research Scheme

60.00

b) National Natural Science Foundation of China / RGC Collaborative Research Scheme

36.00

c) European Union (EU)-Hong Kong (HK) Research and Innovation Cooperation Co-funding Mechanism

9.00

d) The French National Research Agency/RGC Joint Research Scheme

8.50

e) Germany/Hong Kong Joint Research Scheme

1.20

f) PROCORE - France/Hong Kong Joint Research Scheme

1.02

g) Healthy Longevity Catalyst Awards (Hong Kong) 2024

5.70
Competitive Research Funding Schemes for the Local Self-financing Degree Sector

a) Faculty Development Scheme

65.00

b) Inter-institutional Development Scheme

5.00

c) Institutional Development Scheme

30.00
Others
RGC Postgraduate Students Conference / Seminar Grants 0.80
Research Matching Grant Scheme N/A[2]
Tuition Waiver for Local Research Postgraduate Students 109.00
[1]
Subject to annual adjustment in accordance with Composite Consumer Price Index.
[2]
Commencing to operate from 1 August 2019, the Research Matching Grant Scheme will continue accepting applications until the $3-billion provision is fully exhausted. At the close of the seventeenth processing cycle (2023 Q3), the aggregate amount of matching grant disbursed to participating universities/institutions is about $2.87 billion. The remaining balance available for matching stands at about $0.13 billion after seventeen processing cycles.