Call for Proposals: Research Program Development in Aging, Healthcare and Mental Wellbeing, Deadline for 1st Draft Submission: FRI 15 Oct
Principles
The University recognises that aging, health and mental well-being is a ‘Grand Challenge’ for Hong Kong, GBA, Asia and beyond. As such, it is committed to developing impactful research in the field. To support this, it has allocated ~HKD 10 million to support a number of projects to deliver not only short-term outputs of research, but which also have the potential to develop into large-scale programs of research.
Essential information
Expected number of funded projects: 3-6
Expected budgets for projects: HKD 0.5m to HKD 3m
Expected project length: 1-3 years
Eligible expenditures: standard costs as eligible under GRF (e.g. postdoc/RA/Senior RA, PG lines, equipment, survey costs, workshop/conference costs, conference expenses, fieldwork expenses)
Ineligible expenditures: standard UGC costs, plus payment for course relief; consultancy.
Project deliverable(s):
Research outputs from project itself (i.e. articles, conference
Research teams must make at least one application (with repeat application if unsuccessful) for an upscaled research program to a research funding source within the time frame of the project. The total funding asked for should be at least a multiple of three times the amount allocated in the seed funding exercise. Such funding sources/programs include Theme-based; Area of Excellence; Strategic Public Policy; ITF; Research Impact Fund; Mainland funds; private donors; foundations.
Eligible research areas: any relating to aging, health and mental well-being
Eligible faculty: all regular faculty across all campuses/platforms
When preparing the budget, please reference to the monthly indicative rate of around HK$18,000 for Research Postgraduate Students, around HK$25,000 (HK$288,000/per annum plus COL adjustment in June 2022) for Research Assistant and HK$40,000 (HK$462,000/per annum plus COL adjustment in June 2022) for Sr. Research Assistant/Research Associate/Post-doctoral Fellow.
We will prioritise projects which are characterised by:
A clear and achievable set of deliverables and realisable plan for scaling up after project-end
The best proposals will have a clear and achievable plan for how to use the seed funding to generate research outputs within the course of the project itself; but also a realisable goal for leveraging the seed-funding into a larger-scale program of work. We would expect a clear statement of the expected source and scope of follow-on funding.
Academic collaboration
We believe that ground-breaking research can benefit from insights from different insights from both within and across disciplines. As such, we will prioritise support for projects which demonstrate a clear, and deep collaboration within/across subject, Division, School and/or between CWB faculty and their counterparts based in CWB or other Mainland platforms. We will also recognize and take into account collaboration with local, regional and academic scholars.
Collaboration with external stakeholders
In order to maximise the chances of achieving impact with our research, it is important that we engage potential stakeholders from project inception. Under these circumstances, we are more likely to be able to deliver ‘co-created’ knowledge, and guarantee uptake at project completion. These stakeholders can be in the commercial, public, or third/NGO sector. The university already has extensive collaborations with a wide variety of such stakeholders, especially Haven of Hope Christian Service - a local NGO providing a wide range of healthcare services. Please feel free to contact us for further advice on how to engage with our network of stakeholders.
Timeframe
August 20th: Applications open (Download application form here). Briefing session for funding scheme and introduction by CEO of Haven of Hope Christian Service, a key stakeholder of the scheme.
August 25th: ‘Matchmaking session’ with potential collaborating faculty from Caritas Institute for Higher Education.
October 15th: Deadline for first draft of proposals (Proposals should be emailed to Ling Ling SZE)
October 22nd: Faculty to receive reviews and suggestions for proposal development
November 12nd: Deadline for final draft of proposals
November 19th: Final funding decisions announced
Any questions can be directed to Ling Ling SZE in the first instance.
For more details, please visit: https://aging.ust.hk/seed-funding-application-guidelines