International Funding Opportunities /

CUHK-Chula Research Fund 2025 Call

The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) and Chulalongkorn University (Chula) have identified each other as strategic partners to foster deep collaborations in research and education.

The CUHK-Chula Research Fund aims to provide faculty members of the two universities with initial financial support for collaborative research explorations with the potential to create new or expanded research partnerships, develop cutting-edge scholarship to create academic and societal impact, and attract external funding.

These seed grants will help support early-stage research projects or capacity-building efforts to create and sustain long-term collaborations and secure extramural funding. Applicants may propose new partnerships to explore and develop research collaborations, including organizing meetings and workshops and/or establishing research infrastructure for gathering preliminary data to develop a research idea (e.g., feasibility, pilot, and proof-of-concept studies) that may result in joint publications and enable subsequent applications for external funding. Alternately, applicants may expand an existing partnership if the research project explores new directions or aims at capacity-building and requires further development to attract future funding. Proposals should be sustainable in the long term with a plan for engagement that includes the details for sustainable external funding and publication outputs.

We invite proposals from researchers in all disciplines at CUHK and Chula. In this round, up to five (5) proposals will be funded [each with two Principal Investigators (PIs): one from CUHK and one from Chula). Each successful proposal may receive funding up to the equivalent of HK$100,000/THB400,000 (with CUHK contributing HK$50,000 and Chula contributing THB200,000). Each institution’s contributions will be used exclusively to fund its own researcher and their research expenses and will not be commingled. The award of any funds from either institution will be subject, in each case, to the internal processes and procedures of such institution.

Important Dates:

  • Applications Open: 24 January 2025
  • Applications Close: 31 March 2025 (23:59, HKT / 22:59, THA)
  • Successful Applicants Notified: May 2025
  • Project Period: June 2025-May 2026
  • Final Reports Due: 31 August 2026

Fund:

Up to the equivalent of HK$100,000/THB400,000 (with CUHK contributing HK$50,000 and Chula contributing THB200,000)

Duration:

Funding should be expended over 12 months between June 2025 to May 2026.

Research Areas:

All disciplines

Eligibility:

Applications are open to eligible academic staff from all disciplines at CUHK and Chula. The PIs at both universities must hold full-time employment and are required to remain in university service for not less than a year upon completion of the proposed project. At CUHK, academic staff members ranked at Research Assistant Professors or above are welcome to apply.

Application Submission:

  1. All applications must be jointly submitted via an online application system by a PI from CUHK and a PI from Chula with an abbreviated Curriculum Vitae (not more than two pages) from each PI. There should be at least one other research staff member (i.e. not PhD student) from each institution to be involved in the proposal, besides the PIs.
  2. Graduate students, post-docs, and research assistants/associates are not eligible to apply as PIs, but they are welcome to be part of the research team.
  3. A copy of the questions included in the online application form is available here.
  4. All applications require the endorsement by the relevant Chula Deans/Directors/Heads of Faculties/ Schools/Colleges/Institutes and CUHK Heads of Departments/Units and Faculty Deans/Directors of Institutes. The PIs from both universities must complete the endorsement forms and have them uploaded to the online application system. Please click here to download the CUHK endorsement form and click here to download the Chula endorsement form.
  5. Only complete submissions will be considered.
  6. Late applications will not be considered.

Supporting and Relevant Documents:

  • Sample Application Form (for reference only): Please click here to download.
  • Project Budget Template: Please click here to download the template.
  • Guideline: Please click here to download.

For more information:

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