Research and Development Funding
HKUST secured a total of HK$309.3 million for new research projects in 2000/01, an increase of 8% from the previous year. The grants from the Government's University Grants Committee (UGC) and Research Grants Council (RGC) accounted for 44.5% of the total funding. The UGC and RGC funding remains an important support for the University's basic and applied research.

Meanwhile, sponsorship from Hong Kong's private sector increased to HK$78.4 million, up from last year's HK$48.7 million. This increase reflects the stronger ties developed between the University and the community.

In the 2001/02 Competitive Earmarked Research Grants application, HKUST achieved the highest success rate (59%) among all local tertiary institutions for the eighth consecutive year.

Support from the Government's Innovation and Technology Fund reached a new mark this year, accounting for over 25% of the University's total research funding. Projects sponsored by this Fund are intended to deliver benefits to industry and require an industrial contribution of either 10% or 50%. HKUST's success not only reflects the excellent quality of its research, but also demonstrates the University's ability and commitment to work with business and industry in developing Hong Kong's economy.

HKUST has also secured strong funding from non-local sources. The National Natural Science Foundation of China and Research Grants Council Joint Research Scheme awarded the University a total of RMB 1.62 million, and HK$3.24 million, respectively, for five projects initiated by faculty members and their Mainland partners. In addition, Dr Weijia WEN of the Department of Physics received a grant of RMB 400,000 for his research on electro-rheological fluids from the Overseas Young Scholar Collaboration Research Grant 2000 of the National Natural Science Foundation.