Last submission deadline: 31 October 2007

Only academic staff members whose conditions of employment meet all the following requirements are eligible for application of RGC grants as Principal Investigator (PI):

1. they have a full-time appointment in the institution proper of UGC-funded institutions;
2. they are in Staff Grades from 'A' to 'I' (i.e. from 'Professor' to 'Assistant Lecturer');
3. they are primarily engaged in and spend at least 80% of their time in degree or higher degree work at the institution proper; and
4. their salary is wholly funded by the institution proper.

Visiting staff will only be eligible if they have a full-time appointment in the institution proper covering at least one year or the duration of the project whichever is the longer. Staff supported by external research grants are however not eligible.

The following criteria should be used in considering competitive bids :

a. academic quality;
b. institutional commitment;
c. contribution to academic/professional development (where applicable);
d. potential for social, cultural or economic application; and
e. availability of, and potential for, non-RGC funding.

Items (b)-(e) above to be accorded equal weight, but all to be subject to (a). As regards item (e), members agreed that the availability of matching non-RGC funding (eg from industry or Government departments) should be taken into account. As regards item (a), members agreed that "e;academic quality"e; should cover :

i. scientific and scholarly merit of the proposal;
ii. qualifications and track record of the (principal) investigator(s);
iii. originality;
iv. feasibility within the time-scale of the proposal.