As strategic partners, The University of Sydney (Sydney) and The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) are committed to achieving impact through collaboration in research and education.
The Ignition Grants support researchers from CUHK and Sydney to facilitate and support collaborative projects that develop multidisciplinary cutting-edge research to create academic and societal impact. These grants are designed to provide researchers, in particular early- and mid-career researchers, with the opportunity to work with Sydney, which is among CUHK’s strategic partners in developing joint research projects.
In this round, up to five proposals in the areas of Climate, Environment, Health, or Sustainability will be funded. The proposals should foster multidisciplinary collaboration that advances research and provides sustainable solutions to the proposed challenges. New and innovative proposals aligning to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and combining expertise across humanities, social sciences, sciences, engineering, and medicine are strongly encouraged. Preference is given to applications involving new collaborations.
It is expected that all funded projects will evolve into larger scale projects, sustained by leveraging external funding. Each successful application will receive up to AUD 20,000 from Sydney and HKD 110,000 from CUHK for a total of approximately AUD40,000 or HKD220,000.
Programme Guidelines and Forms
Applicants can access the programme guidelines, online application form, endorsement form, expenditure report (for CUHK funding) and amendment request form from the following links:
Unobtrusive Multimodal Smart Mat System for Sleep Apnea Detection and Sustainable Sleep Health
Prof. Xiangyu Yue, Dept. of Information Engineering
Dr. Fengji Luo, School of Civil Engineering
Vision-Language Model Enabled Disaster Resilience Enhancement Framework for Integrated Urban Energy and Road Networks
Prof. Jun Yu, Dept. of Medicine & Therapeutics
Prof. Mark Molloy, School of Medical Sciences
Oral microbiome as a non-invasive diagnostic for early detection of colorectal neoplasia
Prof. Benoit Thibodeau, Dept. of Earth & Environmental Sciences
Prof. Ziggy Marzinelli, School of Life & Environmental Sciences
How ecological heterogeneity and connectivity shape key ecosystem services in coastal ecosystems
Prof. Michael Pittman, School of Life Sciences
Prof. Maria Byrne, School of Life & Environmental Sciences
A Fluorescent First for Australian Reefs: Pioneering Portable Laser-Based Fluorescence Imaging to Combat Coral Decline and COTS Outbreaks
CUHK PI
USyd PI
Project
Prof. Eric Poon, Dept. of Sports Science & Physical Education
Prof. Rhonda Orr, Sydney School of Health Sciences
Combating Global Childhood Physical Inactivity Crisis: A Pilot Community-based Healthy Lifestyle Programme with Children & Their Families
Prof. Jacque Ip, School of Biomedical Sciences
Prof. Markus Hofer, School of Life & Environmental Sciences
Defining the Role of Microglia in a Novel Mouse Model for Autism Spectrum Disorder
Prof. To Ngai, Dept. of Chemistry
Prof. Gregory Warr, School of Chemistry
Paints that Improve Passive Radiative Cooling for Urban Environments
Prof. Ting Fung Chan, School of Life Sciences
Dr. Rosalind Deaker, School of Life & Environmental Sciences
Molecular Indicators of Improved Symbiotic Nitrogen Fixation in Legumes for More Sustainable Crop & Pasture Production
Prof. Jerome Hui, School of Life Sciences
Prof. Budiman Minasny, School of Life & Environmental Sciences
Developing New Sequencing Methods to Reveal Soil Biodiversity
Prof. Chin Ming Hui, Dept. of Psychology
Dr. Echo Yuan Liao, The University of Sydney Business School
How DEI Commitment Statements Influence Managers’ Adoption of Inclusive Practices
CUHK PI
USyd PI
Project
Prof. Shing Shin Cheng, Dept. of Mechanical & Automation Engineering
Dr. Andre Kyme, School of Aerospace, Mechanical & Mechatronic Engineering
An MRI-compatible Steerable Neurosurgical Robot with Real-time MRI-guided Brain Tumour Localisation and Instrument Tracking
Prof. Kai Yu Raymond Tong, Dept. of Biomedical Engineering
Prof. Alistair McEwan, School of Electrical & Information Engineering
Soft Robotics for Improved Standing, Stepping and Walking in Infants
Prof. Yifan Zhang, Dept. of Economics
Dr. Russell Toth, School of Economics
The Impacts of High-Skill Return Migrants on Firms in China
CUHK PI
USyd PI
Project
Prof. Shui Yee Sharon Leung, School of Pharmacy
Dr. Hien Duong, Sydney School of Pharmacy
Inhaled Therapy for Chronic Lung Infections Using a ‘Triple-Hit’ Nano-in-Microparticle Formulation
Dr. Suk Ling Ma, Dept. of Psychiatry
Prof. Mark Dadds, School of Psychology
Mapping the Functional Significance of the Human Oxytocin Receptor Gene
Dr. Valerie Pereira, Dept. of Otorhinolaryngology, Head & Neck Surgery
Dr. Cate Madill, Speech Pathology
Bridging the Gap: Using an Online Learning Platform (Bridge2Practice) to Understand Differences in Auditory-Perception & Clinical Communication between Chinese & Australian Speech Pathology Students
Prof. Yuan Xu, Dept. of Geography & Resource Management
Prof. Tiho Ancev, School of Economics
Evaluation of the Environmental Effectiveness & Economic Efficiency of Incentive-based Instruments for Pollution Control in China & Australia
Prof. Ni Zhao, Dept. of Electronic Engineering
Prof. Wojciech Chrzanowski, Sydney Pharmacy School
Sense-and-dispense – Breaking Barriers in Cancer Pain Treatment Using Iontophoretic Tattoo-like Cannabinoids Delivery Systems
Further Information
For further information please contact the Program Coordinators:
Sydney Patrick Wang
Senior Global Research Partnerships Officer
Office of Global & Research Engagement
Email: ip.ipdf@sydney.edu.au
