Annual Report on Research Activities 2002-2003
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Lingnan University Digital Commons @ Lingnan University Annual Report on Research Activities to Research Grants Council Office of Research Support 2003 Annual report on research activities 2002-2003 Lingnan University (Hong Kong, China) Follow this and additional works at: https://commons.ln.edu.hk/research_annual_report Recommended Citation Lingnan University (2003). Annual report on research activities 2002-2003. Hong Kong: Lingnan University. Retrieved from http://commons.ln.edu.hk/research_annual_report/2 This Book is brought to you for free and open access by the Office of Research Support at Digital Commons @ Lingnan University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Annual Report on Research Activities to Research Grants Council by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Lingnan University. Annual Report on Research Activities 2002-2003 Report 1 – Overview ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Report 1: Overview undergraduate and postgraduate education. The University’s research activities permeate its With a mission to become an internationally- teaching programmes, and enrich the learning recognized liberal arts university with Hong experiences for undergraduate as well as Kong characteristics, Lingnan has charted a postgraduate students. We encourage course of developments, improvements and academic colleagues to engage in collaborative changes in many areas to achieve its goals. research projects under the aegis of our Against a background of funding cuts and research centres and institutes, and to develop reductions in student numbers, we have research clusters. We hope we may thus managed to develop and improve in many improve collegiality and respond to the scholarly aspects in the past few years. The results of aspirations of our staff members. the Research Assessment Exercises (RAEs), which are conducted periodically by the The University’s research policy is designed to Research Grants Council, illustrate the optimize the use of research funds through remarkable journey that the University has quality enhancement, focused development and made in this area of its work. The collaborative endeavour. Quality enhancement institution-wide research performance index is achieved through faculty appointment and rose significantly from 12.32% in 1994 to continuing improvement of its existing staff 22.80% in 1996 and 38.85 % in 1999, even profile. Focused development is achieved as though the UGC had adopted a higher threshold a result of identification of areas of excellence standard in the 1999 RAE than those for 1994 and the recruitment of faculty to build up and 1996. According to a recent Internal RAE strengths in these areas. Collaborative conducted by the University using the same or endeavour is fostered by establishing research similar threshold standards of UGC 1999 RAE, centres that provide both research support and the Research Index as a whole was 67.90%, coordination. which had already surpassed the target rate of 60% as set out in the University’s Strategic Plan To ensure that faculty members will be given for 2003-2010. Of our staff, 42.86% had an adequate opportunities to engage in research overall score of “1” (meaning fully “research and development activities as well as a active”) as compared to only 25.64% in the concentrated period for writing, the University 1999 UGC RAE. has expanded the current study leave scheme by awarding a maximum time-off period from Institutional Policy on Research 6-month (on full pay) to 12 months (staff to We are committed to excellence in teaching and receive 9/12 of his/her normal salary) since the believe that quality research is as important as, academic year 2001-2002. This will allow if not more so than, teaching, at a liberal arts academic staff, through re-arrangements of university. The need to find an appropriate teaching schedule and utilization of summer balance between research and teaching was vacation, to be released from teaching and also emphasized by the last TLQPR Panel. administrative duties to concentrate on Research activities at Lingnan to a large extent research/study/writing full time. Altogether, ten support and enrich teaching. The synergy academic members from six departments, each between teaching and research helps to link for six months, were released in 2002-2003. research strengths to excellence in ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 1 Annual Report on Research Activities 2002-2003 Report 1 – Overview ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ Organization of Research Funding and During the year under review, the financial Usage of Direct Allocation Grants resources which the University has been able to commit to staff development was HK$1.17 The Research and Postgraduate Studies million. For members of the academic staff, Committee (RPSC) is charged with the these grants were primarily for attending formulation of policies for the promotion, overseas conferences. A total of 92 academic conduct, supervision and funding of research in papers were presented, through which staff the University. It decides on all internal have been, and will continue to be able to, funding allocations and monitors progress of share the results of their research with local or research projects on various grants. overseas specialists, and to receive the Research Panels at the Programme level feedback they require before making the undertake initial assessment of applications for research more generally available in a research grants and make funding published form. recommendations to the RPSC. The Office of Research and Staff Development (ORSD) Inter-Institutional Collaboration provides administrative assistance to the Committee in the management of allocated While at present inter-institutional collaboration grants to ensure that all funding and budgetary exists mainly at the individual level, a system procedures are properly followed. has been set up by Programme-based Research Institutes/Centres to channel The University aims to support as many resources into special areas of research and to worthwhile research projects as possible where develop important links with local, regional and reasonable research thresholds are attained. overseas institutions for academic exchanges, Internal research grants are allocated on the conference and other collaborative activities. basis of competitive bids. Each application is Research clusters have been set up under each evaluated on the basis of its academic merit, Institute/Centre to encourage participation by as feasibility within the indicated time frame, many faculty members as possible. The budgetary appropriateness, and the track record International Joint-Research Programme has of the investigator(s). been running successfully, through which distinguished scholars from outside Hong Kong In 2002-2003, a sum of HK$2.5 million was are invited to team up with research fellows at available for allocation by the RPSC. The various centres/institutes to work on topics of Committee was able to support 49 research mutual interest. Subsistence allowances are projects involving about 30% of the academic provided for these partners to make a short trip staff. As in the past, the RPSC allocated 35% to Hong Kong to enhance collaboration. of its research budget directly to Academic Scholars currently engaged in the joint Programmes as a start-up grant to support programme include Professor Oded Stark from projects costing up to HK$30,000 each without the University of Oslo, Professor David Round referral to the Committee for approval. The from the University of South Australia and Dr titles and grants for those projects funded from John Barkdull from Texas Tech University. the University’s Block Grant and the RGC’s Direct Allocation Grant are set out in Reports 2A Each year the University sets aside a sum of and 2B respectively. Projects supported from about HK$180,000 to finance two-way private sources are listed in Report 2C. academic-exchange activities between ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ 2 Annual Report on Research Activities 2002-2003 Report 1 – Overview ______________________________________________________________________________________________________________ institutions of higher learning on the Chinese students (admitted in 1995 to 1997) were mainland and Lingnan. In 2002-2003, a total respectively 75%, 66.7% and 87.5%. The of fifteen incoming and one outgoing visits were completion rate for the 1998 cohort was 100%. supported by this Academic Exchanges with Over the seven years since 1995, only seven China Scheme. Visiting institutions include full-time students have withdrawn from their Peking University, Tsinghua University, Fudan studies. The attrition rates of our part-time University, Capital Normal University, students, however, remain relatively high. Northeastern University, Chinese Academy of Experience at other institutions also indicates a Social Sciences, among others. lower completion rate for part-time students, which may be due to their full-time job and other Postgraduate Research Work commitments. In the area of postgraduate research work, Our students’ thesis are generally of very high Lingnan is able to develop a good pool of quality and have received very favourable research students