CE congratulates UGC-funded universities on outstanding performance in Research Assessment Exercise 2020
24.5.2021

The Chief Executive, Mrs Carrie Lam, today (May 24) was pleased to note the results of the Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 2020 announced by the University Grants Committee (UGC). She congratulated the eight UGC-funded universities, namely City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong Baptist University, Lingnan University, the Chinese University of Hong Kong, the Education University of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Polytechnic University, the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology and the University of Hong Kong, for their outstanding performance. "The RAE, which last took place six years ago, shows again the strong capabilities of the universities of Hong Kong in basic research, supporting Hong Kong's development in various areas and attracting talents from overseas and the Mainland," Mrs Lam said. About 16 000 items of research output, 340 research impact case studies and 190 research environment submissions on 13 areas were assessed in the RAE 2020. Assessments were conducted by 361 distinguished international scholars and research end users in accordance with international standards. About 70 per cent of them were non-local scholars from around the world to ensure that the assessments meet international standards. "Among the research projects assessed, 25 per cent were judged to be world leading and a further 45 per cent were judged to be internationally excellent. The remarkable performance is testimony to the internationally recognised research quality of Hong Kong," Mrs Lam added. To enhance Hong Kong's competitiveness and to advance the development of innovation and technology, the current-term Government has been committed to supporting research work of the higher education sector, including the injection of $20 billion into the Research Endowment Fund of the UGC and the setting up of a $3 billion Research Matching Grant Scheme to provide financial resources for universities' research activities, as well as the introduction of various measures to attract, retain and nurture scientific researchers including the Global STEM Professorship Scheme set out in the 2020 Policy Address. In addition, the Government attaches great importance to the commercialisation of research and development results and is establishing the InnoHK Clusters at the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park to attract world-class scientific research institutions and technology enterprises to Hong Kong to conduct more research and development projects in collaboration with local universities and scientific research institutions. The first batch of about 20 research centres have completed the renovation of their laboratories and commenced operation progressively. Mrs Lam said, "The UGC-funded universities are an important engine in Hong Kong's integration with the overall development of the nation and participation in the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay development. The Hong Kong Special Administrative Region Government will continue to support the education and research work of the universities through the UGC, helping Hong Kong nurture talents and making contributions to Hong Kong, the nation and the whole world with their excellent research results." Mrs Lam thanked the Chairman of the UGC, Mr Carlson Tong, and each committee member for their hard work in the RAE 2020. She expressed the hope that she could meet them in the regular meeting between the Chief Executive and the UGC in January next year to listen to their views on the further development of the higher education sector of Hong Kong. Ends/Monday, May 24, 2021 Issued at HKT 20:36 NNNN