Research

Research today is regarded as one of the cornerstones of education and is an important component for quality education. In Hong Kong, research has continuously been nurtured by the UGC and its Research Grants Council (RGC) through the allocation of recurrent grants and competitive research funding schemes. We have laid a solid foundation for research in Hong Kong.

The UGC provides recurrent research funding for UGC-funded universities by means of a Block Grant. The Research element, i.e. the Research Portion (R-portion), constitutes about 20% of the Block Grant and is disbursed to the universities as infrastructure funding to enable universities to provide both the staffing and facilities (e.g. accommodation and equipment) necessary to carry out research, and to fund a certain level of research. At present, the results of the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE component) and the two-year average of universities' success in obtaining designated Research Grants Council grants (RGC component) respectively attracts a weighting of 75%-85% and 15%-25% in arriving at the R-portion funding allocation. On top of the R-portion, the UGC provides funding under the Block Grant to support the provision of research postgraduate (RPg) places.

The RGC, which operates under the aegis of the UGC, is responsible for advising on and funding academic research in the UGC-funded universities. A number of competitive funding schemes are being administered by the RGC. For further details on the work of the RGC and the various funding schemes under its administration, please visit the RGC homepage.