The following is issued on behalf of the University Grants Committee:

     The Research Grants Council (RGC) announced today (December 22) the funding results of the Areas of Excellence (AoE) Scheme 2016/17 (Seventh Round). Two proposals were awarded a total of $167 million. The list of awarded projects is set out in the Annex.

     Announcing the results, the Chairman of the RGC, Professor Benjamin Wah, said, "I am pleased to announce that the Seventh Round exercise of the AoE Scheme has been successfully concluded. Similar to the 18 outstanding research projects funded in the last six rounds of the AoE Scheme, the selected projects in this round of the exercise displayed strong potential for developing into areas of excellence for Hong Kong."

     With a view to increasing funding support for projects and encouraging universities to submit high-quality proposals which they consider worthy of putting in resources, the universities concerned will contribute a matching fund of $11 million.

     Professor Wah said the objective of the AoE Scheme is to support the University Grants Committee (UGC)-funded universities to build upon their strengths and develop them into areas of excellence. The AoE Scheme was launched by the UGC in 1998 to enable development in research areas where Hong Kong has particular potential and can develop a competitive edge internationally.

     Professor Wah attributed the success of the AoE Scheme to the continued support and contributions from the local research community and international experts. He added, "The funded projects were selected through a vigorous peer-review process. The selection panel, comprising non-local academics, has worked very hard in the past few months to come to the recommendation of awarding the highly competitive projects. I am confident that the award-winning teams will build upon their strengths and the projects will become world leading research projects in their respective fields."

     Details of the approved projects are posted on the RGC website at www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/aoes/results/aoe7.htm.
 

Ends/Thursday, December 22, 2016
Issued at HKT 16:30

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