Appointment of Research Grants Council Chairman

     The Government announced today (June 12) that the Secretary for Education, Mr Kevin Yeung, has appointed Professor Joseph Lee Hun-wei as Chairman of the Research Grants Council (RGC) for a term of three years with effect from July 1, 2020.

     Professor Lee is an expert in environmental hydraulics, water quality modelling and environmental management. He is currently a member of the RGC, as well as the Senior Advisor to the President of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology (HKUST) and Chair Professor of the Guangzhou HKUST Fok Ying Tung Research Institute. He was a member of the Engineering Panel under the RGC between 1993 and 1998. 

     "Professor Lee is a distinguished scholar, seasoned educator and university administrator. With his ample experience in higher education and research, I am confident that he will continue to advance the vibrant research culture in academia and lead the RGC in rendering enhanced support to the research community in the years to come," Mr Yeung said.

     Mr Yeung also paid tribute to Professor Benjamin W Wah, the outgoing Chairman of the RGC, for his valuable contributions during his chairmanship of over seven years. "Under Professor Wah's sterling leadership, the RGC has continued to excel and firmly established itself as a respected and major academic research funding body in Hong Kong that stands international comparison and contributes to building a solid foundation for research in Hong Kong," he said.

     "Professor Wah has provided invaluable counsel on research-related matters. He has spearheaded new research funding schemes to meet the diversified needs of different scholars in the research arena. During his tenure, there has been increasing collaboration between the RGC and other research bodies from both the Mainland and overseas."

     The RGC advises the Government, through the University Grants Committee, on the needs of Hong Kong's higher education institutions in the field of academic research and on the distribution of funding for academic research projects undertaken by academic staff of higher education institutions. The RGC manages a variety of research funding programmes, including the General Research Fund, the Early Career Scheme, the Collaborative Research Fund, the Research Impact Fund, the Theme-based Research Scheme, the Areas of Excellence Scheme and various Joint Research Schemes. It has set up committees and subject panels to assess research bids in various disciplines, such as biology and medicine, business studies, engineering, humanities and social sciences, and physical sciences. It also manages a number of fellowship schemes, including the Hong Kong PhD Fellowship Scheme and the RGC Postdoctoral Fellowship Scheme.