Newsletter No. 500

Part 1 • General Information Part 1 Postgraduate Studies Master’s programmes were first offered in 1966–67, and the number of programmes in 2009–10 is 160. Doctoral programmes were first introduced in 1980–81 and the number of programmes is 41 in 2009–10. MPhil–PhD programmes were first introduced in 2004–05, and the number of programmes is 28 in 2009–10. Research and Development CUHK fosters the development of quality research over a broad front in all its eight Faculties. It provides opportunities for advancement in the pursuit of human knowledge, and for academic staff to undertake consultancy and collaborative projects with industry. Twenty-five major research institutes have been established by the University to provide 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- wide impact. As part of its Strategic Plan adopted in January 2006, the University has identified Five Major Areas under its Focused Investments Scheme. These areas, selected by the University taking into account both its overall strategy and specific opportunities for funding support, are Chinese Studies, Biomedical Sciences, Information Sciences, Economics and Finance, and Geoinformation and Earth Sciences. In the four University Grants Committee (UGC) ‘Areas of Excellence’exercises, CUHK has been successful in securing significant support from the UGC in the areas of information technology, plant and agricultural biotechnology, Chinese medicine research and further development, and Centre for Research into Circulating Fetal Nucleic Acids. The multidisciplinary teams aimed for good progress in their respective research areas. At the national level, two State Key Laboratories have also been established at CUHK. The State Key Laboratory in Oncology in South China (CUHK), established in 2006, conducts research into the biology and early detection of cancers particularly prevalent in Asian populations, and seeks to develop novel therapeutics for their treatment. The State Key Laboratory ofAgrobiotechnology (CUHK), established in 2008, studies ways of improving rice yields in China by improving the species of rice grown by Chinese farmers. 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 heavily on different external funding sources to support research activities. The Research Grants Council remains the major sponsor of research. In the 2008–09 exercise, CUHK staff secured some HK$119 million in the form of competitive grants. The high quality of research is also reflected in the many papers published in international and local refereed journals. Other major sources of funding are the Quality Education Fund, the Innovation and Technology Fund, the Health and Health Services Research Fund, the Health Care and Promotion Fund, the Research Fund for the Control of Infectious Diseases, and various private donations. n