Annual Report 2019

54 香港中文大學年報 CUHK Annual Report 2019–2020 spreading COVID-19, the University has adopted work-from-home arrangement when the risk was high, and only limited services would be provided by the Departments/Units. The University had established a CU RElief Fund (CURE Fund) to provide assistance and support to University members who were adversely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic, and that employment opportunities for over 300 of our graduates and interest-free emergency loan for staff in junior posts were made available. As we prepare for the new academic year of 2020–21, under somewhat trying circumstances, the University has spared no effort to ensure that teaching and learning continues to forge ahead, with enhanced IT support and timely pedagogical interventions. The University will continue to adopt a curated ‘hybrid’ mode—a carefully planned combination of face-to-face and synchronous online academic activities. Under the ‘new normal’ for teaching and learning, our education efforts will not be bounded geographically, and will develop a virtual exchange programme to enable our efforts in internationalization continue to bear fruits. While the world eagerly awaits the development of a vaccine targeted against SARS-CoV-2 and effective treatments for COVID-19, the University will remain vigilant on all fronts to safeguard the well-being of all members of the University community. The University, had spearheaded the preparation for the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 2020 since 2017 by initiating a mock RAE, for which, panels at university-, subject-, and unit-of- assessment (UoA)-levels were set up and external consultants were enlisted to assist with the internal preparation and evaluation. With all collaborative effort, submission was eventually made in December 2019, involving over 3000 research output items from 841 RAE-eligible staff members, 67 impact cases from 35 UoAs, and 35 environment statements and data from all the UoAs. In the meantime, the assessment of submission is underway by the UGC and the RAE results are expected to be announced in the second quarter of 2021 which will inform the funding allocation for the 2022–25 triennium. On top of the funding purpose, we also look forward to take this RAE outcomes as an informative key performance indicator to further promote our research excellence. The University has capitalized on a number of initiatives announced by the HKSAR government, including $10 billion for the establishment of Inno Hong Kong (InnoHK) to help develop Hong Kong as a hub for global research collaboration, initially under two research clusters, Health@InnoHK and AIR@InnoHK, focusing on healthcare and artificial intelligence/robotics, respectively. The University has set up six R&D Centres to foster translational research and commercialization. The individual R&D Centres were successfully incorporated as limited by guarantee in 雖然2020至21學年在充滿困難下的情況展開，但大學藉更佳的資訊科技支援和新穎教學模式，致力提升其教學水平。大學將繼續採用面授和網上教學的混合模式進行授課。在「新常態」下，我們的教學將不受地域藩籬的限制，網上國際交流活動將使大學教育國際化取得豐盛的成果。當我們期盼新冠肺炎病毒疫苗及有效治療方案面世，大學將繼續在多方面保障大學成員的利益。大學自2017年開始，即着手預備2020年度的研究評審工作，並為此推行模擬研究評審。為此，中大成立了大學層面、學科層面、評審單位層面的小組；大學也延聘了校外顧問協助內部準備和評核。大學最終於2019年12月遞交其報告，內容涵蓋由八百四十一位教職員、三十五個評審單位的六十七個個案、三十五項環境申述，以及所有評審單位提供的資料。教資會正評核大學提交的報告，結果將於2021年第二季公布，並影響2022 至25三年期的撥款。撥款以外，我們也期望研究評審工作有助大學提升其研究水平。大學受益於數項政府措施，當中包括出資一百億元成立InnoHK，促進香港成為國際研究合作中心；初步推出分別專注醫療和人工智能／機器人的Health@ InnoHK及AIR@InnoHK。中大成立了六個研究及發展中心，旨在促進科技轉移及商品化。而不同中心於2020年2月成為TR at CUHK Company Limited 之下的擔保有限公司。大學已開始籌劃策略計劃2021-2025，並成立由校長領導的指導委員會。策略計劃涵蓋七項重要範疇，計有教育、研究及創新、學生體驗、全球視野、人才招攬及發展、社會責任及可持續發展、凝聚校友及大學拓展等各方面。策略計劃將於2021年4月實施。大學正着手籌備2022至25年的「學術規劃建議書」，並已從教資會取得建議書