RGC announces funding results of Areas of Excellence Scheme and Theme-based Research Scheme 2024/25
The Research Grants Council (RGC) announced today (July 15) the funding results of the Areas of Excellence (AoE) Scheme 2024/25 (Twelfth Round) and the Theme-based Research Scheme (TRS) 2024/25 (Fourteenth Round).
Three AoE and seven TRS research proposals were awarded RGC funding totalling $236 million and $330 million respectively. The lists of the awarded projects are set out in Annexes I and II.
The Chairman of the RGC, Professor Timothy W. Tong, said, "I am delighted to announce the successful completion of the 2024/25 exercise. Under the AoE Scheme, three outstanding projects in the areas of diabetes care, surgical robots and artificial intelligence for geriatric care were selected for funding, after rigorous peer reviews based on academic and scientific merits. I would like to congratulate the three project teams for successfully securing the funding support to develop their cutting-edge research into areas of excellence."
"Under the TRS, the RGC decided to fund seven projects which are of strategic importance to Hong Kong's long-term development. These projects cover a wide range of research areas highly relevant to our daily lives, including Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) control, hepatocellular carcinoma, resilience against extreme storm surges, wireless power transfer technologies, sustainable supply chain finance, multi-sensory emulation wearable devices, and social robots. I am confident that these projects will deliver enduring economic and societal impacts at the local, national and international levels."
"The RGC has been committed to promoting the University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded universities in carrying out academic collaborative research. By providing annual funding through the AoE Scheme and the TRS, the RGC has been supporting universities in consolidating and putting into play their advantages, as well as pooling talent and resources. This would provide a strong foothold for developing Hong Kong into an international hub for post secondary education, and contributing to the further enhancement of Hong Kong's research capacity and the vibrancy of our innovation ecosystem."
Professor Tong expressed his gratitude to the panel experts for their valuable contributions to the assessment process, as well as local researchers for their continued support to the AoE Scheme, the TRS and the RGC's work.
Details of the approved projects for the 2024/25 exercise are
available on the RGC website
(AoE Scheme:
www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/funding_opport/aoe/funded_research/aoe12.html
and TRS:
www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/funding_opport/trs/funded_research/trs14.html)
for reference. A call for proposals for the AoE Scheme
and the TRS 2025/26 will be issued later this month.
Annex I
Areas of Excellence Scheme 2024/25 (Twelfth Round)
Funding
Results
| Project Title | Participating UGC-funded Universities# | Approved Budget* (HK$ million) | Funding from RGC* (HK$ million) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Using Data to Transform Diabetes Care and Patient Lives | CUHK, PolyU | 80.782 | 72.704 |
| AI-Powered Surgical Robots | CityU, CUHK, HKU, PolyU | 96.809 | 85.129 |
| Frontier and Human-centric AI and Robotics Technology for Geriatric Care | CUHK, HKU, HKUST | 88.481 | 78.127 |
| Total | 266.072 | 235.960 | |
| # |
CityU: City University of Hong Kong CUHK: The Chinese University of Hong Kong HKU: The University of Hong Kong HKUST: The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology PolyU: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University |
| * | Inclusive of indirect costs / on-costs. The RGC's funding allocation for the AoE Scheme 2024/25 is about HK$236 million. The remaining around HK$30 million of the approved budget will be matched by the universities concerned. |
Annex II
Theme-based Research Scheme (TRS) 2024/25 (Fourteenth
Round)
Funding Results
| Theme / Project Title | Participating UGC-funded Universities# | Approved Budget* (HK$ million) | Funding from RGC* (HK$ million) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Theme 1: Understanding Diseases and Disease Prevention | |||
| Sustained cART-free HIV-1 Control by Immunotherapeutic Interventions | CUHK, HKU | 66.762 | 60.086 |
| Understanding Phenotypic Plasticity in Hepatocellular Carcinoma to Mitigate Therapy Resistance and Tumor Recurrence | CUHK, HKU, HKUST, PolyU | 55.367 | 49.830 |
| Theme 2: Developing a Sustainable Environment | |||
| A Digital Twin for Enhancing Coastal Resilience against Extreme Storm Surges in Hong Kong | HKU, HKUST, PolyU | 62.893 | 53.821 |
| High-Frequency, High-Power and High-Efficiency Wireless Power Transfer Technologies | CityU, HKU | 28.361 | 23.768 |
| Theme 3: Enhancing Hong Kong's Strategic Position as a Regional and International Business Centre | |||
| Enhancing Hong Kong's Role in Sustainable Supply Chain Finance via Technology Transformation | CityU, HKU, HKUST, PolyU | 61.191 | 55.072 |
| Theme 4: Advancing Emerging Research and Innovations Important to Hong Kong | |||
| Mechanisms and Key Technologies of Multi-Sensory Emulation Wearable Devices (MSEWD) | CityU, PolyU | 62.378 | 52.214 |
| Social Robots with Embedded Large Language Models Releasing Stress among the Hong Kong Population | CUHK, EdUHK, HKBU, HKU, HKUST, PolyU | 40.899 | 35.209 |
| Total | 377.851 | 330.000 | |
| # |
CityU: City University of Hong Kong CUHK: The Chinese University of Hong Kong EdUHK: The Education University of Hong Kong HKBU: Hong Kong Baptist University HKU: The University of Hong Kong HKUST: The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology PolyU: The Hong Kong Polytechnic University |
| * | Inclusive of indirect costs / on-costs. The RGC's funding allocation for the TRS 2024/25 is HK$330 million. The remaining HK$48 million of the approved budget will be matched by the universities concerned. |