Purpose

The Asia Pacific Centre for Leadership and Change (APCLC) announces the initiation of a Research Team Grant (RTG) award scheme in the area of leadership and change. The Grant aims to aid APCLC's core members in pursuing large-scale external grants. The initiative will support team building, pilot studies, and proposal development, facilitating the grant application process for substantial funding opportunities.

More specifically, this scheme seeks to achieve the following goals:

  • Provide seed funding to support the development of proposals and conduct pilot studies for external grant applications;
  • Attract and support ongoing professional collaboration among APCLC members and relevant external parties;
  • Enhance the Centre's capacity for conducting high-quality, large-scale research projects;
  • Increase the Centre's impact through refinement and extension of its research projects internationally.
Structure of the Grant

The Grant is available to apply for throughout the academic year. A limited number of awards will be made annually, up to but not exceeding HK$150,000 per grant.

This funding is intended to support the development of pilot research projects that will lead to externally funded grant proposals and co-authored outputs. The proposed project should fit into the APCLC research agenda and the prioritized APCLC research theme(s).

Eligible Use of Grant Funds:

  • Staff assistance in carrying out the project (e.g., Part time / full time Senior Research Assistant(s) and/or Research Assistant(s) to be employed by and serving at EdUHK, and/or assistantship by independent contractor(s), such as translator(s), program developer(s), and research project consultant(s) to be invited by the EdUHK);
  • Expenses associated with data collection and data analysis.
  • General expenses.

All expenditures must comply with the University's guidelines and policies regarding the allocation of additional research funds to staff, and HREC approval, if required, must be obtained before fund allocation.

Eligibility

Applications are available to teams comprised of APCLC's Senior Management (director, co-director, associate director) and/or EdUHK-based Senior Research Fellows.

Application Procedures

Candidates must submit the application form and relevant documents to the APCLC (email: apclc@eduhk.hk) for review and endorsement by one of the senior members (Co-Director, Associate Director, Senior Advisor, or Senior Research Fellow) and approval by the Director or Co-Director of the APCLC.

Selection Criteria
  • Track record of PI(s)
  • Plan for Collaboration
  • Quality of expected output/deliverables
    • Expected external grant application(s)
    • Publication promise, including collaborative peer-reviewed research output and high-quality research publications
  • Feasibility of the project
  • Relevance to APCLC research agenda
Required Application Documents
  • Application Form
  • Current CV of the PI
  • Other relevant documents to support the application (if applicable)
Other Requirements
  • The grant holder(s) are required to submit a report to the APCLC within 6 months of the completion date of the project. The grant holder(s) will be required to indicate in the report the achieved deliverables arising from the project, including their submission of application(s) for external research grant(s) and publication of international refereed output(s).
  • All products funded through this scheme must acknowledge APCLC grant support (e.g., publications that result from the funding support should note the contribution of the APCLC).
  • Eligibility for subsequent RTGs will be based on evidence of the outcomes of the previous project(s). Fellows may not apply for a second RTG until they can show proof of output from the previously funded project.
Applications

Applications can be downloaded here and sent to the APCLC (email: apclc@eduhk.hk).

RTG Application Form Download
Enquiries

Should you have any questions regarding the Grant, please contact the APCLC (email: apclc@eduhk.hk).

(June 2025)