Funding results of Areas of Excellence Scheme 2018/19 Announced

The Research Grants Council (RGC) announced today (December 31) the funding results of the Areas of Excellence (AoE) Scheme 2018/19 (Eighth Round). Three proposals were awarded a total of more than $248 million. The list of awarded projects is set out in the Annex.

Announcing the results, the Chairman of the RGC, Professor Benjamin Wah, said, "I am pleased to announce that, after a vigorous peer-review process, three outstanding projects have been selected for funding in this round of the AoE Scheme exercise. The project teams of the three selected projects demonstrated strong potential to build upon their existing strengths to achieve excellence in the areas of metabolic medicine, slope safety and fundamental structure of matter. I am confident that these projects will create lasting impact and put Hong Kong on the world map."

Professor Wah added, "I would like to express our gratitude to the local research community for their continued support, as well as the RGC panel members and international experts for their invaluable contributions to the Scheme."

Background of the AoE Scheme

The AoE Scheme was launched in 1998. The objective of the Scheme is to support the University Grants Committee-funded universities to build upon their existing strengths and develop them into areas of excellence. A total of 21 AoE projects from various disciplines have been funded in the past seven rounds of exercise.

Details of the approved projects are posted on the RGC website (http://www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/aoes/aoe8.html).