The School of Engineering (SENG) has seen the excellence of its research further recognized through the results of significant assessment and funding exercises carried out recently.

 

The School received outstanding results in the major Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 2014, conducted by international experts on behalf of Hong Kong’s University Grants Committee (UGC). The RAE aims to assess the research quality of the eight UGC-funded institutions in Hong Kong and to delineate their areas of relative strengths and weaknesses. It covered a six year period from 2007-13, and involved a criterion-referenced assessment against quality levels defined by international standards, as stated by the UGC. On average, over 73% of the School’s research activities were rated world-leading (four stars) or internationally excellent (three stars). With regard to four star plus three-star results, Civil Engineering, Computer Studies/Science, Electronic Engineering and Mechanical Engineering achieved the best performance among all universities in Hong Kong.

 

In the highly selective and prestigious Theme-based Research Scheme, under the UGC’s Research Grants Council, two of the School’s projects were approved in 2015-16. This brings the total to four projects in the five annual rounds announced to date. Overall funding comes to more than HK$110 million. Projects approved under this competitive scheme focus on research of strategic importance to the long-term development of Hong Kong and contribute to advances on grand challenges. They encourage collaboration among different institutions in Hong Kong and multidisciplinary research (see "Unearthing the Cleverness of Soil" and "Finding a Smarter Route to Urban Water Supply Systems" for more on SENG’s 2015-16 projects).

 

Under the Research Grants Council’s Earmarked Research Grant, the School saw General Research Fund support rise over 18% to HK$49.18 million in 2015-16, up from HK$41.45 million the previous year. This was the largest amount for this type of funding among engineering schools in Hong Kong, representing 27% of the total share for engineering.