************************************************************
The following is issued on behalf of University Grants Committee Secretariat:
The University Grants Committee (UGC) announced today (September 18) the funding results of the fifth round of its Areas of Excellence (AoE) Scheme.
On the advice of its Areas of Excellence Group (AoEG), the UGC decided to fund the following five proposals with a total of $378 million (including 15% on-costs) over a period of eight years. The budget is set out in Annex 1, and the abstracts of the five proposals are attached at Annex 2.
The UGC also approved the allocation of about 60 Research Postgraduate (RPg) places to the five proposals and a renewed sustained funding project "Centre for Marine Environmental Research and Innovative Technology".
Announcing the results, Mrs Laura Cha May Lung, Chairman of the UGC, said, "The AoE Scheme is instrumental in building a research base of international excellence in Hong Kong. The Scheme facilitates the formation of quality research consortia to explore important questions across a broad range of disciplines. It buttresses inter-institutional and inter-disciplinary collaborative links. The longer term funding together with the allocation of RPg places enable high calibre research teams to pursue high impact and forward looking projects.
"This year, we have five successful proposals covering a wide academic spectrum of research and I am very pleased with the outcome. I am impressed by the exemplary dedication and devotion the institutions and research teams have displayed. The quality of the proposals and the firm commitment of matching funds from institutions manifest their enthusiasm for attaining excellence," Mrs Cha added.
Commenting on the quality of the proposals in the fifth round, Professor Willard Fee, Convenor of the AoEG said, "Selection was challenging, as we had to choose the best among so many high quality proposals. The Scheme is highly competitive and members made robust and painstaking evaluations, with reference to very rigorous evaluation standards.
"It is wonderful to see that five proposals measured up to the challenge. This round of AoE has seen the highest number of proposals being selected since the inception of the scheme in 1998. Yet, the five selected proposals that thrived in this highly competitive scheme are truly outstanding and their research teams are on par with leaders in the international research community in their respective fields. We believe that the knowledge generated by the projects will contribute to the social, economic and academic development of Hong Kong."
The UGC received a total of 28 initial proposals from six UGC-funded institutions in the fifth round AoE. Evaluation was undertaken by a review panel composed of international experts from the related fields.
The scope of the five funded proposals encompasses biology & medicine, engineering, physical sciences and humanities. The outcome clearly demonstrates that the UGC is committed to supporting and rewarding excellence in research in all disciplines, irrespective of fields and subjects. The UGC will continue to promote and invest in excellence through funding research schemes like the AoE.
The progress of all AoE funded projects is subject to rigorous monitoring, and release of funding is dependent on achievement of deliverables at different stages. In addition to scrutiny of progress reports, the UGC also conducts on-site review visits to the projects as part of its monitoring and assessment effort.
The background information of the AoE Scheme is set out in Annex 3.
Ends/Friday, September 18, 2009
Issued at HKT 15:07
NNNN
