25 pct of research projects of 8 Hong Kong universities "world-leading": report

HONG KONG, May 24 (Xinhua) -- A report showed that 25 percent of the research projects of eight local universities funded by Hong Kong's University Grants Committee (UGC) were "world-leading" and a further 45 percent were internationally excellent.

The results were released in the UGC's latest research assessment conducted by 361 international scholars and research end users, about 70 percent of whom were non-local scholars from around the world.

The assessment covered about 16,000 items of research output, 340 research impact case studies and 190 research environment submissions on 13 areas.

"The remarkable performance is testimony to the internationally recognized research quality of Hong Kong," Carrie Lam, chief executive of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region (HKSAR), said Monday.

Lam believed the results also show Hong Kong's strong capability in basic research, which will support Hong Kong's development in various areas and attract talents from overseas and the mainland.

The HKSAR government has been actively supporting research work of the higher education sector, injecting 20 billion Hong Kong dollars (about 2.58 billion U.S. dollars) into the UGC's Research Endowment Fund and setting up the Research Matching Grant Scheme worth 3 billion Hong Kong dollars (386 million U.S. dollars).

An R&D platform, called the InnoHK Clusters, is being built at the Hong Kong Science and Technology Park to attract world-class scientific research institutions and technology enterprises to Hong Kong.

The first batch of about 20 research centers have completed the renovation of their laboratories and commenced operation progressively.