CityU secures HK$7 million in research grants from major mainland research fund
City University of Hong Kong (CityU) has achieved outstanding results in the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) Research Grants Competition 2011, with 13 projects awarded more than RMB$5.8 million (equivalent to HK$7 million). Directly under the State Council, NSFC is a public institution set up to promote and finance research projects in China.
Thanks to the concerted efforts of our faculty and staff, our success rate is 38% higher than the overall average. CityU’s participation in the competition is also substantially higher than last year, with applications increasing by more than four-fold. Approved research projects cover business systems, energy management and sustainability, advanced materials, and life sciences, among others.
Professor Gregory Raupp, Vice-President (Research & Technology) and Dean of Graduate Studies, said the success in the bidding exercise exemplifies CityU’s continuous efforts in seeking funding for our research mission. “We have demonstrated once again our ability to compete at the highest levels in research. Our diverse portfolio of successful proposals shows that we are working hard to leverage our established and emerging strengths for research that will benefit both Hong Kong and the mainland as a whole,” Professor Raupp said.
The projects that received funding include:
| Principal Investigator (Department) | Project Title |
| Dr Zhang Wenjun (Department of Physics and Materials Science) | Doping and High-temperature Semiconductor Characteristics of Heteroepitaxial Cubic Boron Nitride Films |
| Professor Liew Kim-meow (Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering) | Mechanical Study of Microtubules in Cell Cytoskeleton |
| Dr Zhou Wen (School of Energy and Environment) | The Decadal Variability of Persistent Drought over South China and its Association with Water Vapor Transport Anomalies |
| Professor Deng Xiaotie (Department of Computer Science) | Sponsored Search Auction Market Equilibrium and Pricing Algorithms |
| Professor Li Ying (Department of Biology and Chemistry ) | Electrical Vagal Stimulation Modulate Visceral Pain |
| Dr John Lin Zhang (Division of Building Science and Technology) | Analysis and Enhancement of Energy Performance of Stratum Ventilation |
| Dr Yang Zhilin (Department of Marketing) | Antecedents and Consequences of Embedded Ties as a Governance Strategy in Marketing Channels: A Longitudinal and Dyadic Study |
| Professor Ma Jian (Department of Information Systems) | Research on Personalized Recommendation Methods in Research Communities |
| Professor Ma Jian (Department of Information Systems) | A Social Approach to Normalization of Research Keywords |
| Dr Cheng Jinping (Department of Biology and Chemistry) | Toxicity and Mechanisms of Silver Nanoparticles in Zebrafish and Embryos |
| Dr Li Jensen (Department of Physics and Materials Science) | Transformation Optics with Surface-wave Structures and Photonic Crystals |
| Dr Wang Jianfeng (Department of Civil and Architectural Engineering) | Development of a Micromechanics-based Predictive Model for Interphase Systems via a Critical State Soil Mechanics Approach |
| Dr Lu Ye (Department of Management Sciences) | Optimal Policy for an Inventory System with Convex Ordering Cost and a Fixed Cost |
Media enquiries: Scarlett Leung, Communications and Public Relations Office, CityU (3442 6807 or 9460 3099).