(For CUHK faculty members and HUN-REN research staff members)

Deadline: 17:59 CET / 23:59 HKT, 15th April 2026, Wednesday

The Office of Academic Links (OAL) is pleased to announce the launch of a new joint fund with the HUN-REN Hungarian Research Network (HUN-REN) to support collaborative research initiatives that will lead to longer-term, larger-scale, and impactful collaborations. HUN-REN, the lead administrative and coordinating body of Hungary’s national research network, is a special-status legal entity established to carry out public tasks in scientific research and innovation in the STEM and life science domains, primarily through its 15 research centres and institutes and over 100 research groups.

Up to five projects will be supported in this call. Each successful application will receive up to HKD 75,000 from CUHK and HUF 3,200,000 from HUN-REN for a total of approximately HKD 150,000. Proposals may include targeted research support such as the organization of thematically targeted joint events, symposia, workshops, seminars, lectures and presentations, and data collection.

Project Scope and Priorities

Priority will be given to proposals in areas of interest as defined by CUHK and HUN-REN from time to time. For this inaugural round, proposals in the following areas are invited:

a) Biomedical and Health Sciences: neuroscience, precision medicine, preventive health, longevity, early diagnostics, biomedical engineering, and cell and molecular biology.
b) Artificial Intelligence and Intelligent Systems: sustainable AI (systems, engineering, machine learning) and smart manufacturing.
c) Energy research: advanced battery and energy-storage technologies, renewable energy systems, grid integration and energy-management systems, circular material recovery and recycling for clean-energy infrastructure, sustainable materials, and decarbonization.

Proposals in other fields with good sustainability prospects are also welcome; all proposals should be interdisciplinary and involve team members from different disciplines.

Duration

The project duration is 12 months, from July 2026 to June 2027.

Guidelines and Forms

Applicants can access the guidelines for applicants, online application form, endorsement form (for CUHK PI), budget template and completion report template from the following links:

• Guidelines for Applicants
• Application Form
• Endorsement Form (for CUHK PI)
• Budget Template
• Completion Report Template

Enquiries

All queries related to this call for joint research proposals should be directed to:

Last updated in March 2026