Calendar 2011–12

The University 7 Part 1 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 2010–11 exercise, CUHK staff secured some HK$137 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. The University’s Research Committee is one of the main bodies responsible for allocating internal funding for research. It is supported by eight subject panels, each consisting of up to 23 experienced researchers. In addition to allocation of research funding, it is also charged with the responsibility of evaluating and recommending project proposals for external grant applications. It is supported by the Research Administration Office, which is responsible for research administration as well as for implementation of policies for the enhancement of the University’s research portfolio. Knowledge Transfer As a research-based comprehensive university, CUHK has been playing a prominent role in expanding the scope of knowledge transfer in areas including high-end technologies, patents, licensing, consultancies, community-based projects, the arts and cultural programmes of high social relevance. To enhance knowledge transfer development, the University re-organized the Technology Licensing Office and Knowledge Transfer Unit to establish the Knowledge Transfer Office (KTO) in March 2011. KTO is responsible for knowledge transfer, intellectual property rights management, technology development and pertinent contracts. The recent years have seen a rapid increase in knowledge transfer activities at the University. With the support of the UGC, a total of 18 and 25 projects with high social impact have been launched in the years 2009–10 and 2010–11, respectively. Two new funding schemes, ‘Patent Application Fund’ and ‘Technology and Business Development Fund’, have been launched by the KTO to further support technology protection, development and commercialization. In addition, to foster the culture of knowledge transfer and enhance knowledge transfer capacity, the KTO has organized a number of events and seminars, and invited experts, lawyers and guests from around the globe to share their success stories and practical skills with our staff and students. In the year 2009–10, an income of over HK$200 million was generated from the University’s knowledge transfer activities. As of April 2011, CUHK has been granted 299 patents, covering major jurisdictions around the world, and a substantial number of license agreements have been executed.