Bulletin Spring 1990

The University Actively Seeks Private Funds to Supplement UPGC Research Grants Seven Research Projects Supported by the Croucher Foundation For many years, the University and Polytechnic Grants Committee has not been able to provide local tertiary institutions with adequate funding for research purposes. The Chinese University has therefore taken upon itself the responsibility to actively explore other sources of finance for its staff members to undertake research projects. Recently the University succeeded in obtaining grants totalling some $6 million from the Croucher Foundation to support seven research projects. Six of them were approved in one lot and together will cost over $5.4 million, which is the largest amount of research funds vetted by the trustees of the Croucher Foundation to a local tertiary institution in a single round. Details of the research projects are separately reported. One of the largest private charitable foundations in Hong Kong, the Croucher Foundation was founded in 1979 by Mr. Noel V.A. Croucher who came to Hong Kong in 1910 and built up an extensive business network in Hong Kong and China. Mr. Croucher had strong philanthropic leanings and the deed for setting up the Croucher Foundation to promote education, learning and research was signed just four months before he passed away in March 1980. In accordance with Mr. Croucher's wishes, the foundation has concentrated its efforts in promoting research on subjects related to science, technology and medicine. One of its main activities is to assist in appropriate cases the development of research activities in the universities and polytechnics by (a) financing individual research projects including joint projects with relevant institutions in the People's Republic of China and countries of the Commonwealth, and (b) subsidizing the expenses of specialist visitors from overseas on academic exchange programmes. The foundation invites applications three times a year in January, May, and October. Applications from faculty members in this University are coordinated by the Office of Industrial and Business Development and have to be submitted to the foundation through the Vice-Chancellor's Office. The University has bee n a major beneficiary of the foundation for many years. PROJECTS SUPPORTED 1 The Testing of Short ScreeningQuestionn ($186,500) Researchers: Dr. N.F. Chan, Prof. S. Donnan, Prof. C.N. Chen This is a two-year project to validate simple methods of uncovering stress and psychological disturbance in Chinese patients consulting doctors in Hong Kong and to assess the prevalence of these problems. Developing efficient diagnosis of problems is the first step in helping the local population to cope with the stress of our community, the symptoms of which are, for various reasons, either expressed in the physical form (somatization) or not expressed at all. RESEARCH 1 4