Calendar 2002–03

66 Part 2•General Information Research and Development CUHK f osters quality research over a bro ad front in all its seven faculties. It offers opportunities for significant advances in human knowledge, and provides scope fo r academic staf f to undertake consultancy and collaborative projects with industry. The University hasalso established 10 major research institutes to provide faculty members with financial support and other facilities for research. While encouraging both basic and applied research in all academic areas, the University also realizes that it is important to achieve excellence and world- wideimpact. In addition to three ‘Areasof Excellence’ selected by theUniversity Grants Committee for financial suppor t — Information Technolo gy, Plant and Fungal Biotechnology,and ChineseMedicine Research and Further Development — the University hasidentified specific areas which possessworld-class strengths academically and of fer u nique research oppor tunities. These areas include compu ter -assisted d iag nosis, tr eatmen t and training in medicine, marine biotechnology, e-commerce technologies, educational development in Chinese societies, automation and robotics, research in nanostructured materials,and Hong Kong culture within national, regional, and international contexts. About one quarter of the government’s annual allocation to the University in the form of block grants goes directly or indirectly to research. The University also relies h eavily on different extern al funding sources to sup port research activities. The Research Grants Council remains the major sponsor of research. In the 2002–3 exercise,CUHK staff secured some HK$92 million in the form of competitiv e grants. The high quality of research is also reflected in the many papers published in international and local refereed journals. Other majo r so urces of fu ndin g ar e th e Qu ality Education Fun d, the Innovation and Technology Fund, the Health Services Research Fund, the Health Care and Promotion Fund, and various private donations. The University’s Research Committee is one of the main bodies responsible for allocating internal funding for research.It issupported by seven subjectpanels, each consisting of up to 10 experienced researchers. In addition to the allocation of research funding,it is also charged with the responsibility of evaluating and recommending project proposals for external grant applications. The committee is supported by the Research and Technology Administration Office (RTAO). The RTAO is the primary office responsible for research administration and technology transfer. All intellectual property rights are administer ed through RTAO unless and until assigned. The RTAO also has the responsibility to manage all technology licensing and contracts, in all subject areas. Both the Research Committee and theRTAO report to apro-vice-chancellor. The recent years sawa rapid increase in technology transfer activitiesat the Un iver sity . More and mor e techn olog ies dev elop ed by CUHK hav e been successfully adopted by industries. Fo r example, an invention entitled ‘Non- invasive Prenatal Monitoring’ enables the early detection of foetal abnormalities frommaternal blood has been licensed to a local health-care company for further commercial exploitation . Based o n th is inven tion, the company will of fer