Tips for UGC Proposals –AoE, THRS, CRF, GRF/ECS …

Speaker: Ir Prof. Alex Wai

Vice President (Research Development)

23 May 2017

Proposal writing is an important skill of any academic. Having a good idea is necessary but not sufficient to win a proposal. The penmanship of a proposal matters a lot.

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Outline

I. UGC Grants AvailableII. The Grant Review ProcessIII. Elements of a Competitive Proposal

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I. UGC Grants Available

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Research Funding Schemes

Regular Grants• General Research Fund (GRF)• Early Career Scheme (ECS)

Large-scale Grants• Areas of Excellence Scheme (AoE)• Theme-based Research Scheme (THRS)• Collaborative Research Fund (CRF)

Fellowships • Humanities and Social Sciences Prestigious Fellowship Scheme• Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme

Competitive Research Funding Schemes for the Local Self-financing Degree Sector -Institutional Development Scheme (IDS)

Research Funding Schemes - International

Fulbright Fellowships Joint Research Scheme (JRS)

• National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) / RGC JRS• The French National Research Agency (Agence Nationale de la Recherche, ANR)

/ RGC JRS • Scottish Funding Council (SFC) / RGC JRS• European Commission (EC) / RGC Collaboration Scheme• Travel/Conference Grants

• Germany / Hong Kong JRS• PROCORE-France / Hong Kong JRS

II. The Grant Review Process

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Grant Review Process - GRF/ECFThe review process is NOT a random process:

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Mid-NovSubmission of proposal

FebAssignment of First and Second Readers

FebProposal sent out for reviews

Mar-AprWaiting for reviews to return

MayProposals graded by First and Second Reviewers

JunRGC panel meeting for final decision

Grant Review Process - AoE, THRS, CRF

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Submission of

PreliminaryProposal

Review of Preliminary Proposal by

RGC

Submission of Full Proposal

(for shortlisted proposal)

Peer review of Full Proposal by

Selection Panel and external reviewers

Interview (for shortlisted projects)

Announcement of results

III. Elements for a competitive proposal

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Elements of competitive proposal – GRF/ECS

Prepare well ahead of time – proposal writing is a year round processChoose a current topic Tell a good story – the difference between a paper and a proposalQuote all your track record Pick the right keywords Always good to have collaborators, particularly international onesMust have preliminary resultsDon’t try to outsmart the system – cite all your work Be reasonable in budget – imagine you are the reviewers

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Elements of competitive proposal – AoE, THRS, and CRF

Our target audience is UGC, not ITCCutting edge is the key

– strive to be the best in the world, not just in Hong Kong.Collaboration is the key

– don’t be small-minded

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Any Questions?

Thank you for coming!

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Good luck!