Eligibility: For First Year To Final Year Undergraduate Students Only

Suggested Project Duration: Between 6 weeks to 6 months.

Type of Research: Your project can be empirical/theoretical, individual/group, academic/community, local/global, with ideally a transdisciplinary emphasis that approaches a challenge from multiple perspectives. Choose the research and presentation format that most moves you forward on your own projects of importance.

Approval Criteria: Proposals will be reviewed by the Common Core on the basis of creativity, feasibility, and potential for impact, and must be transdisciplinary.

Application Vetting: You project will not be accepted if:

• Your project duplicates, or is too closely aligned, with your Final Year Project or any assessments for course work

• Your project has already received another source of funding

• Your application form is incomplete. (Please be reminded to sign and ask for your Faculty Mentor’s signature.)

• Your project cannot be completed within 6 months.

Approval Outcome: Common Core will inform the applicants whether their proposals have been accepted, rejected, or a revision.

• Please read through the University’s Policy on Research Integrity and utilize the Sample Consent and Related Forms (for Ethical Approval) when necessary.

• All students will deliver a poster presentation (either virtually or physically) for the Common Core and others upon the end of projects

• The above completion report should include a clear project financial breakdown, with receipts (original copies) of individual expenses items attached. A template of completion report will be provided by the Common Core.

• Students can use the grant to cover expenses. The following are examples and categories that may be APPROVED on a case-to-case basis:
  
  

  Projects conducted in Hong Kong: research materials, certain types of equipment, printing, travelling to remote research fields sites within Hong Kong, and poster and presentation materials.

  Projects conducted outside Hong Kong: research materials, certain types of equipment, printing, local travel for research outside Hong Kong, poster and presentation materials, economy return airfare, accommodation (room cost only), small subsistence allowance (not more than $100 per day) including meals and other necessary costs of travelling.
  
  *Please note that the above items are paid on a reimbursement basis. Claims without proper receipts will not be entertained. 

• Examples of expenses that CANNOT be covered include:

  Projects conducted in Hong Kong: entertainment or accommodation expenses; any form of salaries and wages for helpers; journal publication fees; any form of reward/ prizes (including to participants of a survey); hardware and software that can be accessed through HKU or other channels with no charges imposed; and other forms of equipment purchases except under special circumstances

  Projects conducted outside Hong Kong: Quarantine hotel; PCR test; entertainment; souvenirs; any form of salaries and wages for helpers; journal publication fees; any form of reward/ prizes (including to participants of a survey); hardware and software that can be accessed through HKU or other channels with no charges imposed; and other forms of equipment purchases except under special circumstances

• Travel-related funding should be used for undertaking the research, instead of for travelling to conferences.