New Achievements in HKUST(GZ)’s 2023 NSFC Project Approval
The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC) announced the results of the accepted 2023 NSFC projects on August 24. The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology(Guangzhou) was awarded 37 funded projects, covering mathematics and physics, chemistry, engineering and materials science, information science, etc., which has achieved a breakthrough in both the quality and quantity of project approval. The University has submitted 84 project proposals, and 37 projects have been approved, with an approval rate of 44.05%, an increase of 10.15% over last year. Among them, 26 Young Scientists Fund projects and 11 General Programs have been approved, with an approval rate of 54.17% and 40.74%, respectively. According to 2022 NSFC data, the 2022 national approval rate of Young Scientists Fund projects is 17.29%, and the national approval rate of General Programs is 17.56%.
The National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC), the main channel to support basic research in China, supports and promotes the high-quality development of basic research in China and has made significant contributions to the comprehensive cultivation of China’s innovation capability. HKUST(GZ) recruits outstanding scholars from all over the world to carry out basic and applied basic research by combining free exploration with organized scientific research, focusing on the world’s scientific and technological frontier, the main economic battlefield, the major needs of the country, and the life and health of the people. Therefore, the University encourages scientific research teams to actively apply for and undertake NSFC projects, and provides principal investigators with a variety of practical and effective training and orientation covering the whole cycle, to assist principal investigators in submitting high-quality project proposals that reflect their scientific research capabilities to the NSFC Committee.
The preparation for the 2023 NSFC project application started last October, and the Research Department (RD) organized a series of training and orientation. Last October, RD invited experts with rich experience in evaluation to conduct one-on-one training and guidance sessions to help faculty members become familiar with the project application requirements and the key points of proposal writing. Last November, RD introduced the government science and technology funding system to all faculty members and research staff, which stimulated the enthusiasm of applying for NSFC projects by analyzing the strategic layout and significance of national science and technology projects in depth. On January 16, RD organized a sharing session on the application experience of the NSFC, inviting applicants of the University who were successfully funded in 2022 to share their valuable experience.
This February, RD invited all research affairs liaisons from the Hubs and Thrusts to the formal review exchange meeting. At the meeting, RD shared the key points of the formal review and conducted multiple rounds of the formal review for each project. In the end, the 84 submitted proposals were 100% passed the formal review and accepted by the NSFC.
NSFC is one of the Chinese scientific community’s most important basic research funding programs. With the efforts of our faculty members, the number of submitted NSFC projects and the approval rate in HKUST(GZ) have steadily increased this year, fully reflecting the overall improving trend of the University’s scientific research capability. In the future, RD will organize and support the application of 2024 NSFC projects, and continue to organize activities such as mobilization and experience-sharing sessions. At the same time, RD will also work closely with Hubs, Thrusts, and other academic and research institutions to collect related data, constantly optimize the application process, improve work efficiency, and prepare for the NSFC projects application next year.
