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HKUST 2012-13 Annual Report
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group research projects. Internal support is also
available for exploratory new research projects,
and recapitalization and enhancement of
research equipment.
Externally, the University secured total research
awards of more than $500 million from various
sources, an increase of 13% over the previous
year. Major research funding sources included the
Research Grants Council (RGC), government and
government-related organizations, Hong Kong
private funds, and non-Hong Kong funds. Some
highlights of our research performance were:
• HKUST was awarded 173 new research
projects by RGC, with total project value of
$153 million. HKUST researchers achieved the
highest success rate (44%) in the competitive
2012 General Research Fund exercise and
Early Career Scheme (46%), which supports
outstanding newly recruited junior faculty
members. A HKUST application for the
Prestigious Fellowship Scheme in Humanities
and Social Sciences was also funded.
• HKUST researchers led a number of Areas of
Excellence (AoE) proposals. Subsequent to
the closing of this report, two projects were
eventually awarded around HK$100 million
in total for studies on Novel Wave Functional
Materials for Manipulating Light and Sound,
and the Mechanistic Basis of Synaptic
Development, Signaling and Neuro-disorders.
In another major move, HKUST applied to the
Ministry of Science and Technology to set up
a Partner State Key Laboratory on Advanced
Displays and Optoelectronic Technologies. The
application went on to be approved.
• During 2012-13, HKUST submitted a record
69 applications to Innovation and Technology
Fund schemes, including 12 applications
under the University-Industry Collaboration
Program (UICP). This reflects the enthusiasm
of industry in working with HKUST to bring
innovations that meet its specific needs.
• Interdisciplinary research and industrial
partnerships received a further boost from the
University’s Mainland research bases in the Pearl
River Delta. In 2012, two HKUST-led projects
within the HKUST Shenzhen Research Institute
were each awarded grants of over RMB30
million from the prestigious National Basic
Research Program (973 Program) for research
on Alzheimer’s disease and aggregation-
induced emission respectively. HKUST Fok Ying
Tung Research Institute in Nansha, Guangzhou,
also secured 20 new research grants and 32
commercial projects. During the reporting
year, HKUST scholars secured and launched
68 Mainland research projects and contracts,
worth around RMB64 million.
In line with the University’s push for research
collaborations, the share of research funding
awarded to collaborative research increased
significantly to $163 million in 2012-13. Some
particularly noteworthy examples were:
• Two HKUST-led projects, with a total value of
more than $90 million, were awarded under
RGC’s Theme-based Research Scheme: Stem
Cell Strategy for Nervous System Disorders;
and Cost-effective and Eco-friendly LED
System-on-a-chip.
• Two major grants by the Innovation and
Technology Fund: $25 million for the Large-
scale Study on Realization and Application of
SANI Process in Sewage Treatment in Hong
Kong, a public sector innovation project;
and over $11 million for Indoor Localization,
Tracking and Navigation, in logistics and
supply chain management research.