Good news! The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) will soon be inviting applications for the Excellent Young Scientists Fund (Hong Kong and Macau) [优秀青年科学基金 (港澳)] exclusively for Hong Kong and Macau.  This means NSFC fund will cross border for the first time.

Preliminary details we gathered from a seminar held in Zhuhai yesterday were as follows, all details are subject to confirmation by NSFC in due course.

The Excellent Young Scientists Fund (Hong Kong and Macau) supports young scholars with achievements in basic research to conduct research in areas of their own choice.  It plans to grant 25 projects for Hong Kong and Macau in total, with maximum funding of RMB1.3 per project for 3 years.  Proposals can be in Simplified Chinese or English (though everything in the grant system is in Chinese).  Please refer to past application templates [here] for reference.  Online system is scheduled to open for applications from March 21 until early-mid April.

Those who meet the following requirements are eligible to apply:

·                Full-time staff in HKU regardless of nationality;

·                Able to work in HKU for no less than 9 months per year;

·                Under the age of 38 (for male, born on or after January 1, 1981) or 40 (for female, born on or after January 1, 1979) by January 1 of 2019.

There are no restrictions to the number of ongoing NSFC or NSFC/RGC projects one is holding via Hong Kong, SIRI or ZIRI to apply for this Fund.

The following are not eligible:

·       Postdoctoral Fellows and Postgraduate students;

·       Former awardees of the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars (国家杰出青年科学基金) or the Excellent Young Scientists Fund (优秀青年科学基金).

More to follow once we hear formally from the NSFC. We encourage eligible colleagues to start preparing proposals now.