The University has consistently produced impactful research at the local and international levels, but to achieve true excellence, we must up our game. Constrained in the past by limited resources and facilities, we now are in the fortunate position of having wider support and opportunities at a time when our ambitions are growing. The University has embarked on programmes to develop new cutting-edge facilities, attract the cream of global talent, and capitalise on the opportunities presented in the Greater Bay Area (GBA). Together, these initiatives will solidify our position as a global hub of innovative research and significantly heighten our impact around the world. A Solid Foundation: Successes in 2020–21 HKU’s strong performance in local research funding and assessment exercises has demonstrated yet again that this is the best university in Hong Kong and a leading university in the region and the world. The Research Grants Council’s (RGC) Research Assessment Exercise 2020, for example, found 75% of our research submissions to be world-leading or internationally excellent. This compares with about 50% in the previous exercise in 2014, showing how well we are progressing. HKU also had the highest proportion of research scoring 4 stars (i.e., worldleading) among all Hong Kong universities and was rated best in six of 13 broad panel areas in which we were assessed: biology, health sciences, computer science and information technology, law, humanities, and education. The University also received the largest share of most public funding exercises, both in terms of amount awarded and number of funded projects. Under the General Research Fund, we received a total of HK$178 million (excluding on-costs) for 221 approved projects, and under the Early Career Scheme we received HK$32 million (excluding on-costs) for 43 projects. HKU scholars lead three of eight projects awarded in the 11th round of the Theme-based Research Scheme and participate in three others, and they lead a new Area of Excellence project awarded HK$92 million (including on-costs). Our scholars also performed strongly in the Humanities and Social Sciences Prestigious Fellowship Scheme (securing three of nine projects awarded), the Collaborative Research Fund (CRF) (nine of 21 group research projects) and the Research Impact Fund (six of 13 projects). Added to that list of achievements is our impressive performance in the government-funded InnoHK programme, where we lead nine research laboratories that will collectively receive more than HK$3 billion over five years, the largest share. Our COVID-19 research has also continued to be world-leading and received HK$94 million under the One-off CRF Coronavirus Disease and Novel Infectious Disease Research Exercise, the most among local institutions. People Power: The Source of Our Strength Our funding successes are not possible without a large cohort of high-quality researchers. In 2020–21, a number of HKU scholars were honoured with international and national recognition of their excellence. Thirty-one academics were named to Clarivate’s 2021 Highly Cited Researchers List – more than double the previous year when we had 13 – for producing multiple research papers that have been highly-cited by their peers. Our scholars also received two Future Science Prizes (China’s ‘Nobel’ equivalent), two John Dirks Canada Gairdner Awards, the American Chemical Society National Award, and the ASHRAE Holladay Distinguished Fellow Award, among other international honours. Young scholars received two Xplorer Prizes and nine Excellent Young Scientist awards from Mainland China. Locally, HKU researchers received five RGC Senior Research Fellow and Research Fellow scheme awards, a Croucher Senior Research Fellowship and a Croucher Senior Medical Research Fellowship. These honours recognise that our scholars are producing globally important research. To sustain our success and advance further, we cannot sit still. We need to bring in additional top-flight talent to produce even more impactful research and lift the bar for everyone. The HKU Global Professoriate Recruitment Campaign has started to recruit 100 world-class scholars in emerging fields with potential for scientific and scholarly breakthroughs. We also did well in the first round of the government’s Global STEM Professorship Scheme, which is funded separately, securing 15 of the 46 initial positions available. Rising talents are also on our radar. In 2020–21, we established the 100 Outstanding Young Professorships programme valued at HK$10 million each, alongside a recent scheme to offer 100 Presidential PhD Scholarships to promising young scholars. Enlarging Our Footprint Great research talent needs a great environment to flourish, which means access to frontier technology, large computing capacity, and space for large-scale projects. HKU is a small campus, but we are undergoing a historic expansion of our research facilities both in Hong Kong and Shenzhen. On our main campus, a new centrepiece will be the Tech Landmark, a futuristic development of four towers housing 10 new institutes dedicated to strategic research and emerging fields. One of these, the Institute of Data Science, has already secured HK$150 million in funding, begun recruiting staff and is operating out of revamped space on the main campus. Nearly every faculty will be involved in the Institute, given the importance of data and AI to research today. Most of the other institutes will be up and running when the Tech Landmark is completed in 2024. Apart from this project, the medical school is also modernising and growing its campus and facilities to meet both its research and teaching demands. The University is excited about the prospect of having a stronger foothold in the Greater Bay Area (GBA), with the Memorandum of Understanding announced in summer 2021 to establish its Shenzhen campus. The new campus will initially house scholars in such fields as science, engineering, architecture, business and life sciences, and make it easier for our researchers to conduct large-scale research, find industry collaborators and access new sources of funding. HKU researchers have done exceptional work over the years within the limited confines of Hong Kong, but now their horizons can broaden to the open spaces that await them in the GBA. Mr Zheng Hongbo (left, seated), Vice Mayor of Shenzhen, and Professor Gong Peng (right, seated), HKU’s Vice-President and Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic Development) representing the Shenzhen Municipal People’s Government and HKU respectively in the Memorandum of Understanding signing to establish an HKU campus in Shenzhen. Professor Kevin Tsia (right) of the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering introducing to the Chief Executive Mrs Carrie Lam (centre) the pioneering homebuilt ultrafast optical microscope system at the Photonic Systems Research Laboratory during her visit to HKU in August 2021. for new research projects in 2020–21. HK$902.4 MILLION FUNDING FROM UGC AND RGC HK$894.5 MILLION FUNDING FROM OTHER SOURCES + as assessed in the RGC’s Research Assessment Exercise 2020. OF RESEARCH WORLD-LEADING OR INTERNATIONALLY EXCELLENT 75% These are led by HKU professors and received a total of HK$167 million. HKU is also a participant in three other projects. THEME-BASED RESEARCH SCHEME PROJECTS 3/8 Research and Innovation HKU ANNUAL REPORT 2021 20 | 21
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