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WUN Research Development Fund 

 

Internal Deadline: Monday, 9 September 2024

 

BACKGROUND

WUN is an exclusive network of 23 research-led universities* across six continents with a mission to create new, multilateral opportunities for international collaboration in research and education. It fosters distinctive international research collaborations directed at problems of global significance. CUHK joined the Network in 2011 as the only member university in Hong Kong and has since taken an active role in the Network for internationalization and research capacity building. Current members of WUN include:

Australia

University of Technology Sydney

Brazil

Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais

Canada

University of Alberta

Germany

Ruhr University of Bochum

Ghana

University of Ghana

Greater China

CUHK

National Cheng Kung University

Renmin University of China

Japan

University of Tsukuba

Mexico

Tecnológico de Monterrey

Thailand

Mahidol University

The Netherlands

Maastricht University

New Zealand

University of Auckland

South Africa

University of Cape Town

University of Pretoria

Switzerland

University of Lausanne

Uganda

Makerere University

UK

The University of Sheffield

University of Bristol

University of Exeter

University of Leeds

University of York

USA

University of Rochester

* The University of Southampton will retire from WUN in July 2024. It may be engaged in the application but not as a core team member.

 

RDF provides one year of seed funds to foster research collaborations among WUN members with a view to stimulating larger projects that will strengthen WUN and making the collaborating partners competitive for major external grants.

 

WUN RDF 2024

In line with the WUN Strategic Plan 2023–2026, proposals that address problems in one or more of the following areas within the context of sustainable development are encouraged:

  • Social justice and human rights; Inequality
  • Sustainable world: cities and urbanization; energy transitions; water and food security
  • Mental health; Child and maternal health; Ageing
  • Responsible and ethical applications of AI

 

Terms of Award

  1. An award of up to £10,000 will be offered by WUN to each selected project.
  2. An award from WUN will be matched by funding provided by CUHK (up to the value awarded by WUN and only for projects led by CUHK).
  3. Awarded funding should be expended within 12 months. Any unspent funds may be recalled.
  4. Eligible and ineligible expenditures are detailed in the WUN RDF Guidelines. (Important note: Staffing and equipment costs are NOT supported by the scheme.)
  5. PIs should submit annual reports to WUN for the life of the awarded projects beyond the initial year of the grants. The reporting is essential to track outcomes and the return on investment for WUN.

 

Internal Application

  1. Application from PIs leading a project is invited. Applicants must be full-time faculty members1 at CUHK. Projects led by early career researchers2 are especially encouraged. (Successful applicants are required to remain in university service for not less than a year upon completion of the project.)
  2. The project must involve at least three WUN member universities (including CUHK) across at least two regions (i.e. Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America, and Oceania), though more will be encouraged. The project may include non-WUN universities but it must have an active core of WUN member universities. At this stage, applicants may simply indicate possible partners.
  3. Applicants should engage/identify at least one more CUHK faculty member to collaborate in the project.
  4. Complete the WUN RDF Concept Note and return it to the Office of Academic Links (OAL) by the internal deadline on Monday, 9 September 2024.

Faculty members interested in applying are encouraged to contact OAL as soon as possible to discuss the proposals.

 

Notes:
[1] Academic staff at Assistant Professor rank or Research Assistant Professor rank or above may serve as PIs.
[2] An ECR applicant at CUHK is defined as follows: A faculty member who has completed fewer than seven years of his/her first appointment as a member of faculty/academic staff. The age has no bearing on this timeframe and career breaks within this seven-year period do not count.

 

For further information, please refer to the internal call circular (CUHK staff log-in required).

 

GUIDELINES/FORMS DOWNLOAD

(CUHK staff log-in required)

 

For enquiries, please contact Ms. Yvonne Heung of OAL.