Research Grants Council announces funding results of Areas of Excellence Scheme and Theme-based Research Scheme 2025/26

The Research Grants Council (RGC) announced today (July 10) the funding results of the Areas of Excellence (AoE) Scheme 2025/26 (Thirteenth Round) and the Theme-based Research Scheme (TRS) 2025/26 (Fifteenth Round). This round saw a significant increase in the number of applications for the two Schemes. Altogether, nine outstanding projects with academic and strategic importance for Hong Kong have received a total amount of around $464 million funding support from the RGC.

Three research proposals are awarded RGC funding under the AoE Scheme, of which two meritorious projects are provided with a five-year budget totalling around $134 million. Another potentially ground-breaking project is provided with a one-year exploratory funding of $10 million for yielding preliminary results. As for the TRS, six research proposals are funded at a total of $320 million. 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 that the 2025/26 exercise of the two schemes was completed with great success. It is encouraging to see the significant increase in the number of AoE Scheme and TRS applications by 107 per cent and 36 per cent respectively this year, bearing testimony to the robustness of the Hong Kong research community. After rigorous peer reviews based on academic and scientific merits, the RGC is pleased to support two outstanding projects in the areas of plant biotechnology and quantum materials, and an exploratory project on early childhood development under the AoE Scheme. 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 six 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 Alzheimer's disease, adolescents' mental health, eco-friendly disinfectants, chemical weather observations, generative AI and electronic design automation. I have full confidence that these projects will help bring about lasting societal impacts and making breakthroughs in scientific and technological applications.

"The RGC endeavours to enhance the capacity and vibrancy of our research ecosystem through administering various collaborative research funding schemes. Through the annual AoE Scheme and the TRS, the RGC has been supporting universities in leveraging their strengths to pursue excellent and impactful research, thereby solidifying Hong Kong's position as a global leader in higher education and innovation."

Professor Tong expressed his gratitude to the panel experts for their valuable contribution to the assessment process, as well as local researchers for their continued support for the AoE Scheme, the TRS and the RGC's work.

Details of the approved projects for the 2025/26 exercise are available on the RGC website
(AoE Scheme: www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/funding_opport/aoe/funded_research/aoe13.html
and TRS: www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/funding_opport/trs/funded_research/trs15.html)
for reference. A call for proposals for the AoE Scheme and the TRS 2026/27 will be issued later this month.

 

 

Annex I

Areas of Excellence Scheme 2025/26 (Thirteenth Round)
Funding Results

Project Title	Participating UGC-funded Universities#	Approved Budget* (HK$ million)	Funding from RGC* (HK$ million)
Proposals with Five-Year Budget
Centre for Plant Vacuole Biology and Biotechnology	CUHK, HKBU, HKU, HKUST, PolyU	87.777	75.000
The Study of Topological and Strongly Correlated Quantum Materials	HKUST, CUHK, HKU	65.415	58.874
Total (Two projects)		153.192	133.874
Exploratory Proposal with One-Year Budget
Optimizing Early Childhood Development of Children from Low-Resource Settings by Leveraging Technology and Biological Data	CUHK, HKU, PolyU	-	10.000
Total (One project)		-	10.000

#

CUHK: The Chinese 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 two projects with five-year budget in AoE Scheme 2025/26 is $134 million. The remaining $19 million of the approved budget will be matched by the universities concerned. For the exploratory project, the RGC’s funding allocation is $10 million and the university matching is subject to a revised one-year budget plan to be submitted by the project team which requires approval from the relevant Committee.

 

 

Annex II

Theme-based Research Scheme (TRS) 2025/26 (Fifteenth 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
Neuroimmune Mechanisms and Modulation in Alzheimer’s Disease	HKUST, CUHK, HKU	76.206	68.585
Sleep and Circadian Rhythm: Potential Window for Prevention of Mental Disorders in Adolescents	CUHK, HKU	76.282	67.688
Theme 2: Developing a Sustainable Environment
Identification and Exploration of Effective and Eco-friendly Disinfectants from Halophenolic DBPs/Compounds	HKUST, CityU, CUHK, EdUHK, HKBU, HKU	33.972	28.812
Chemical Weather Observations of Carbon Chemistry in Greater Bay Area	HKUST, CityU, CUHK, HKBU, PolyU	53.292	44.545
Theme 4: Advancing Emerging Research and Innovations Important to Hong Kong
Collaborative Generative AI (Co-GenAI)	PolyU, CUHK, HKU, HKUST	62.606	41.785
Next Generation Electronic Design Automation	CUHK, HKBU, HKU, HKUST	78.427	68.585
Total		380.785	320.000

#	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 2025/26 is $320 million. The remaining $61 million of the approved budget will be matched by the universities concerned.