Special Approval

The University has set out the eligibility requirement on PIs of external research grants. According to Clause 5.1 of CUHK’s Policy on Research:

Academic staff at Assistant Professor rank or Research Assistant Professor rank or above may serve as Principal Investigators of externally supported research awards. Other staff members, with the approval of the immediate supervisor and the Chairperson of the Research Committee may serve as Principal Investigators under special circumstances, provided that a named full-time academic staff member at Associate Professor rank or Research Associate Professor rank or above assumes responsibility for ensuring that the administration of the award conforms with the sponsor's requirements.

Therefore, if the grantor concerned accepts Postdoctoral Fellows/Research Assistants etc. being the PI, they can be PI of external research grants after obtaining special approval from the Chairperson of the Research Committee.

To seek special approval from the Chairperson of the Research Committee, please send the below documents to Grants Team, ORKTS for further processing:

(1) Support letter from the Department Chairman / School Director

• to state clearly whether the Department Chairman / School Director will support the staff to seek a one-off approval for a particular grant <Name of the scheme & title of the project>,

• to justify the staff’s research capacity and ability, and

• to specify whether the staff’s appointment period at CUHK will cover the proposed project period (if not, please justify why the staff is still supported to apply for the grant)

(2) CV of the applicant

• to cover PI’s qualification and research experience, i.e. research track record in publications and research projects

(3) Named academic staff member(s) at Associate Professor/Research Associate Professor rank to serve as Co-I(s) in order to assume responsibility for ensuring that the administration of the award conforms with the sponsor's requirements.

(4) In the letter, please specify that the Co-I(s) will fully support PI to oversee the project and ensure the successful completion of the project.