HKUST-UStA Global Knowledge Network Awards/Joint Seed Funding

HKUST and the University of St Andrews (UStA) have identified each other as strategic partners to foster deep collaboration in research and education. The HKUST-UStA Global Knowledge Network Awards/Joint Seed Funding have been established to facilitate and support joint initiatives that will strengthen the two universities’ strategic priorities as well as develop multi-disciplinary cutting-edge research to create academic and societal impact. We invite proposals from researchers in all disciplines at HKUST and UStA.

Prospective applicants may sign up for the HKUST-UStA collaboration matchmaking to identify collaborators with similar research interests.

Call for Applications (2027)

• Award Guidelines 
• Collaboration Matchmaking
• Submit an Application

Details

In this round of the awards, applicants are encouraged to submit funding proposals for innovative and sustainable programmes built around collaborative research linking HKUST and UStA. Proposals should be sustainable in the long-term with a plan for engagement that includes leveraging external funding and publication outputs. The joint funding aims to support the first steps of cooperation and is not meant as complete project funding.

In this round, up to two (2) proposals will be funded (each with two Principal Investigators; one from HKUST and one from UStA). Each successful proposal may receive up to the equivalent of HKD 40,000 from HKUST and GBP 5,000 from UStA.

Eligibility

For HKUST, applicants should be full-time faculty members. For UStA, applicants should be full-time or part-time academic staff with a contract of employment until at least the end of the project.

Emeritus and honorary faculty members, graduate students, post-docs, and research assistants/associates are not eligible to apply as Principal Investigators, but they are welcome to be part of the research team.

Application Submission

All applications must be submitted online via the HKUST-UStA Global Knowledge Network Awards/Joint Seed Funding 2027 - Application Form, and applicants should complete/ prepare the below documents and submit via the application form.

• Project Details*
• Project Budget*
• CVs of the two Principal Investigators (2 pages max)
• Brief endorsement letter of UStA Head of School

* Both the “project details template” and “project budget template” can be downloaded from the cover page of the online application form.

Applicants should refer to the Award Guidelines for details on eligible budget items, application selection criteria, and reporting requirements.

Important Dates

For Enquiries

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Judy Ma, VPRDO
Email: gkn@ust.hk

University of St Andrews
Harriet Sheridan, Global Office
Email: partnerships@st-andrews.ac.uk