RGC commends outstanding research academics in Hong Kong
The Research Grants Council (RGC) today (November 2) held an award presentation ceremony to honour 87 academics from the eight University Grants Committee-funded universities for their distinguished research achievements and significant contributions to the higher education sector.
Among the awardees, 70 came from the fourth cohort of the RGC Senior Research Fellow Scheme, RGC Research Fellow Scheme and RGC Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme, and another 17 outstanding researchers received awards under the Humanities and Social Sciences Prestigious Fellowship Scheme and Early Career Scheme. A full list of the awardees is in the Annex.
Officiating at the ceremony, the Secretary for Education, Dr Choi Yuk-lin, said that Hong Kong had emerged from the disruptive impact of the COVID pandemic and resumed normalcy. The Government is sparing no effort on all fronts to propel Hong Kong to become the "eight centres" under the National 14th Five-Year Plan, and deepen the co-operation within the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area. The academic excellence of the local universities is part of Hong Kong's good story. A strong talent pool is the key to sustaining Hong Kong's leading edge in its areas of strength and reaching its goals successfully.
"In 'The Chief Executive's 2023 Policy Address', we are delighted that the number of award places under the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme will be commensurately raised from 300 to 400 by phases in the coming exercises. This will enable us to attract more of the world's best and brightest students to come, and to grow and develop the research talent pool within universities in Hong Kong so as to build the next generation of top-notch researchers for Hong Kong," Dr Choi added.
Also officiating at the ceremony, the RGC Chairman, Professor Wong Yuk-shan, congratulated the awardees for their accomplishments and expressed appreciation for the Government's support for increasing the number of award places under the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme to expand Hong Kong's research talent pool.
"The Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme has been successful in attracting the best and brightest students in the world to pursue their research-based PhD programmes in our universities since 2010/11. The dynamism of these outstanding students, with diverse cultural backgrounds, has enriched the educational and research experiences of all other students, which would definitely continue to be beneficial to the higher education sector by better preparing us for the new challenges arising from globalisation," he said.
Recipients of the awards were selected through a rigorous process by RGC selection panels. Their award citations are available on the RGC website (www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/about/events/).