Appendix 1

THE CHINESE UNIVERSITY OF HONG KONG

Faculty of Arts
Arts and Languages Panel

Direct Grant for Research 2019-20 – First Round

(For All Full-time Professoriate and Research Professoriate Ranks Only)

1. Applications documents and related requirements

1.1 The applicants must submit the following documents to the Panel by 5:00pm on 20
December 2019 (Friday):
a) Completed Research Project Database Form (RPD Form),
b) Completed Declaration for Research Grants,
c) a 3-page proposal, and
d) a 2-page CV.

1.2 The tentative start date of all approved projects is 11 February 2020 (Tuesday).

1.3 Please submit the application forms for research ethics together with your applications
if the approval from the research ethics committees is required for your projects. You
are also reminded to complete the related training session(s) and send the certificate(s)
to the Panel by the said deadline.
Link: https://www.research-ethics.cuhk.edu.hk/web/
Forms for ethics approval: https://www.research-ethics.cuhk.edu.hk/web/resources

2. Funding Cap up to $100,000

2.1 Funding is normally provided for one year. According to the University Research
Committee, the funding ceiling for a single project in the field of Humanities is up to
$100,000, subject to the Panel’s final decision.

2.2 A one-year initial support is given for projects taking more than a year to complete.
Even if the project is not supported in the subsequent year(s), the Principal Investigator
(PI) is still held accountable for the outputs of the funded year(s).

2.3 Should the same PI be approved to hold more than one Direct Grant concurrently, the
maximum overlap in project duration is up to 3 months only.

3. Eligibility

3.1 As advised by the RGC starting from 2008-09, the objective of Direct Grant is to support
mainly the projects conducted by new and junior faculty members.

3.2 The Panel at its 79th meeting on 22 April 2015 resolved that the first round of
application was open exclusively to professoriate and research professoriate ranks,
and the second round to all full-time faculty members, including Lecturers ranks and
Professional Consultants. Postdoctoral Fellows, Research Officers, Research Associates
and Research Fellows are NOT eligible for applying in the capacity of PI but could join
the projects as Co-Investigators (Co-I).

3.3 Each applicant should submit only one project proposal in a year in the capacity of PI.
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3.4 Contract staff should only submit proposals that can be completed before the end of their
employment contract.

4. Ineligibility

4.1 Applications from former PIs of Direct Grant or General Research Fund projects who
have failed to submit completion notices or final reports without satisfactory
explanation are NOT considered until those PIs have fulfilled the overdue commitments.

4.2 Commencing from the exercise of 2010-11, the PIs of Direct Grant projects with
overdue final reports are barred from applying for the Direct Grant.

4.3 Applicants who have obtained the Direct Grant for three times or more without
applying for a major external competitive grant are generally NOT supported.

5. Notes on preparation for application documents

5.1 You are requested to state the expected deliverables on both the RPD form and the
research proposal. The Panel will make reference to the information stated on the RPD
form when reviewing your proposal.

5.2 When drafting the proposed budget, please note the following issues:

a) For staff cost, please refer to the Personnel Office’s website for information:
https://www2.per.cuhk.edu.hk/en-gb/staff-area/guide-to-staff-salary/salary-
scales-for-selected-terms-of-service-b-equivalent-posts

b) Only one piece of the same equipment is normally approved. Please complete
the declaration form (Appendix 2) if acquisition of equipment is proposed.

c) Request for portal computers could be supported if you have NOT purchased
portal computers using Faculty or Departmental one-line budget or research
grants.

d) Upon completion, the equipment and research materials acquired with this Grant
should be returned to the Department/ Unit for further decision of allocation. The
Panel could suggest re-allocation and sharing of such equipment and materials.

e) The total duration of the research trips should NOT exceed 30 days.

f) For conference attendance, only travel and registration expenses could be

supported by this Grant, capped at $20,000 per project. Support will only be
given if no other funding sources are available.

g) For single items of substantial amount, please provide the breakdowns and
justifications.

h) No publication or related expenses are supported.

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5.3 Font size of not smaller than point 12 should be adopted for the research proposal. The
proposal consists of no more than 3 pages, exclusive of a brief justification for the
proposed budget.

5.4 The proposal should normally include the following items:

a) research approach and methodology,

b) research plan and schedule,

c) anticipated research outcomes, and

d) justifications for the requested budget items.

5.5 If the proposal is written in Chinese, a synopsis in English should be provided.

5.6 Please follow the prescribed format when preparing your CV.

6. Criteria for assessment

6.1 The assessment is based on the following criteria:

• academic content (35%)

• scope & objectives (30%)
• feasibility (including deliverables) & research methods (35%)

7. Abolishment of categorization in assessment

7.1 The Panel resolved to abolish the categorization (categories A/B/C) in assessment at its
2nd meeting 2017-18 held on 3 May 2018. Categorization used to be applicable to
applicants on professoriate ranks only. Members opined that applicants on the
professoriate ranks should have understood the importance of RGC Earmarked Research
Grants and section 4.3 of this guideline states the monitoring mechanism. Panel members
are to focus solely on the merits of the proposals in the assessment exercise.

8. Post-assessment check and score moderation by Panel Secretary/Under-Secretary:

1. to check the track record of applicants including application for extension for
project period and final reports rated “unsatisfactory” and flag up the cases for
the panel’s consideration ;

2. to deduct 10% from the total score awarded by the Panel to the proposals
submitted by full professors serving at CUHK over three years; and

3. to add 10% to the total score awarded by the Panel to the proposals submitted by
first-time applicants including faculty members on professoriate ranks and non-
professoriate ranks.

(Note: the 10% bonus score is not applicable to full professors serving at CUHK
over three years.)

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9. Follow-up by PIs upon completion

9.1 A completion notice should be sent to the Panel Secretary upon the completion of the
project. A final report (Appendix 6) in the prescribed format (which is obtainable at
http://www.cuhk.edu.hk/rao/rga/dirgrant_rptforms.doc) should be submitted within 12
months after the project’s completion.

9.2 By accepting the Grant, the PI agrees that all intellectual property arising out of the
research project is assigned to the University.

9.3 Successful applicants should, where possible, present their research output to our faculty
members at seminars organized for research development and sharing of research
findings.

9.4 Formal acknowledgement to the Faculty should be given in any publication or output
resulting from a project which is supported by the Grant.

9.5 With effect from December 2004, a PI who applies for leave of an accumulated total of
more than 183 days during the project period should seek prior endorsement from the
Panel before the project could be allowed to continue.

10. Funding for 2019-20

10.1 It was resolved at the 44th Meeting of the Panel on 29 March 2001 that up to 50% of the
total available sum in dollar amount, or up to 55% of the number of project proposals
submitted (whichever is lower) would be distributed in the first round allocation of the
Direct Grants.

10.2 For 2019-20, the Research Committee has allocated $1,721,662 (tentative) to the Arts
and Languages Panel for Direct Grant for Research.

Updated in November 2019