OAL The Chinese University of Hong Kong eNewsletter

As one of the youngest members of the Worldwide Universities Network (WUN), the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) has taken an active role in the Network through participation in over 30 projects covering all four Global Challenges in collaboration with all WUN members. A majority of these projects are supported by the WUN Research Development Fund (RDF), a scheme that provides seed funding to kick-start research collaborations among WUN members. So far, a total of five projects led by CUHK have been awarded by RDF with a value of HK$620,000, and 24 CUHK researchers are involved in 17 projects led by other WUN members. Topics of these projects include environment conservation, food security, migration, health literacy, autism, and higher education.

Prof. Lawal Marafa in the Department of Geography and Resource Management who won a RDF award in 2012 for his "Adopting REDD+" project said that the grant had enabled him to expand his research network and set in motion a series of research initiatives that he would not have been able to do so alone.

The WUN RDF 2014 is now open for applications. This year, proposals in the following areas and having relevance to Big Data will be given higher priority:

Responding to Climate Change: Migration/resilience; Climate/health co-benefits in cities; and Over- and under-nutrition, food security, and food systems.
Public Health (Non-Communicable Diseases): Health of family and migrants across the life course; Resilience of adolescents in different cultural contexts; and Schools as a setting for reducing risk factors associated with Non-Communicable Diseases.
Global Higher Education and Research: Access and equity in higher education; and Economic and social outcomes of diversity and globalisation.
Understanding Cultures: Global migration and population; Generations in global context; and Chinese culture in the world (in connection with the WUN Global China Group).

CUHK researchers who are interested in applying may click here for further information (Deadline for internal application is Friday, 19 September 2014, 5:00pm).