Bulletin Spring‧Summer Autumn‧Winter 1999

The highest score among local tertiary institutions Twenty-five CUHK Research Projects Supported by the UPGC Government Budget for Research 1990-91 For 1990-91, the government has made available HK$50 million to five local tertiary institution s including The Chinese University of Hong Kong, the University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Polytechnic, the City Polytechnic of Hong Kong and the Hong Kong Baptist College for research purposes. Of this amount, $15.5 million will be directly allocated to these institutions to finance projects costing less than $150,000 each. The remaining $34.5 million will be awarded to deserving research proposals submitted by the academic and research personnel in these institutions and selected by the Research Sub-Committee of the University and Polytechnic Grants Committee (UPGC) for support. The UPGC's Research Sub-Committee was first formed in 1988 to vet applications from local tertiary institutions and to decide on the level of support for each successful application. Selection is based on the competitive merits of the various research proposals and their relevance to the Hong Kong setting. Overall Allocation of Resources This year, The Chinese University has scored exceptionally well in the competitive bid for UPGC research grants. Of the 71 research proposals selected by the UPGC Research Sub-Committee for support, 25 (i.e. 35 per cent) are CUHK projects. This is also the highest score among local tertiary institutions. These 25 projects w i ll receive government grants totalling $10.74 million, or 31 per cent of the $34.5 mi l l i on research budget for 1990-91. The result compares favourably with that in 1988-89 (24.5 per cent) and 1989-90 (28 per cent). Here is a summary of the results of the UPGC deliberations of bids submitted by local tertiary institutions: No. of projects Amount Overall Institution supported approved percentage ($million) C U H K 25 1 0 . 74 3 1 % H K B a p t i s t C o l l e g e 5 3 . 3 1 9 . 5 % H K C i t y P o l y t e c h n i c 1 1 5 . 7 8 1 7 % H K P o l y t e c h n i c 1 0 3 . 6 6 1 0 . 5 % U n i v e r s i t y o f H K 2 0 1 1 . 01 3 2 % Total 71 34.5 0 100% As for UPGC's direct grants for smaller projects costing less than $150,000 each, the $15.5 million budget has been disbursed as follows: Institution UPGC allocation Overall percentage ($million) C U H K 3 . 9 5 2 5 % H K B a p t i s t C o l l e g e 2 . 2 5 1 5 % H K C i t y P o l y t e c h n i c 2 . 2 5 1 5 % H K P o l y t e c h n i c 3 . 1 2 0 % U n i v e r s i t y o f H o n g K o n g 3 . 9 5 2 5 % Total 15.5 100% Screening Process within CUHK To better coordinate the submission of research proposals to the UPGC each year and to ensure the quality of each submission, The Chinese University established a Research Project Review Panel in 1987, which was later expanded int o a Research Committee with the added responsibility of regularly reviewing the long-term research policy matters within the University. The Research Committee is supported by five subject panels which help to evaluate proposals in. each subject area, liaise with investigators concerned to improve their research plans, and accord priority to each application for funding support. Prioritization is based on the academic excellence o f the projects, their relevance to the local community, their potential social impact, timing, and the track record of the investigators. Since 1988, the committee has handled mor e R E S E A R C H 4