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The University of Manchester-CUHK Joint Research Seed Fund

(For CUHK and UoM faculty)

Deadline: 5:00pm GMT, 16 March 2026, Monday / 1:00am HKT, 17 March 2026, Tuesday

The University of Manchester (UoM) and The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK) are pleased to announce the eighth round of their joint research fund to support collaborative research initiatives between the two institutions. 

The purpose of the fund is to initiate or develop new research partnerships. Funds will be awarded to projects which encourage the building of networks of researchers and have clearly defined plans for future funding.

The proposed collaborative projects should present a balance between partnership-building activities and direct research, as appropriate, considering the key objectives of the funding opportunity. Projects can include:

  • Joint research activities: scoping, feasibility, or proof of concept studies
  • Travel and networking
  • Exchange visits
  • Skills training

The fund is open to applications from all research areas.

Programme Guidelines and Forms

Applicants can access the programme guidelines, application form, endorsement form and completion report form from the following links:

 

Awarded Projects

CUHK Faculty UoM Faculty Area; Title of Research
2026 Joint Research Fund
Prof. Jiji Zhang, Dept. of Philosophy Dr. Alan McWilliam, School of Medical Sciences Micro-Voxels to Macro-Causes: Mitigating Radiotherapy-Induced Cardiotoxicity with Causal Inference
Prof. Jian-Bin Xu, Dept. of Electronic Engineering Prof. Vladimir Falko, School of Natural Sciences Photonics-integrated Infrared LEDs and Photodetectors via van der Waals Heterostructures
Prof. Chester Lai, Dept. of Medicine & Therapeutics Dr. Zenas Yiu, School of Biological Sciences Epidemiology of Malignant Melanoma in Hong Kong and England
Prof. Man-ho Li, Dept. of Psychiatry Prof. Terry Hanley, School of Environment, Education & Development Cross-Cultural Youth Perspectives on the AI-Mental Health Interface
Prof. Eric Chung, Dept. of Mathematics Prof. Apala Majumdar, School of Natural Sciences Physics Informed Neural Networks for Multiscale Liquid Crystal Models
2024 Joint Research Fund
Prof. You (Willow) Wu, Dept. of Management Dr. Yajing Li, Alliance Manchester Business School Technology;

The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Entrepreneurial Financing
Prof. Sylvia He, Dept. of Geography & Resource Management Dr. Ransford Antwi Acheampong, School of Environment, Education & Development Environment & Sustainability;

Mobilising Evidence & Policy Impetus to Accelerate Transport Decarbonisation Transitions
Prof. Christina Cheung, Dept. of Anthropology Dr. Michael Buckley, School of Natural Sciences Environment & Sustainability;

Marine Palaeoecology of Hong Kong: A Pilot Archaeological Investigation
Prof. So Ho, Dept. of Medicine & Therapeutics Prof. Hector Chinoy, School of Biological Sciences Innovative Biomedicine;

International Utility of Liquid Biopsy for Inflammatory Myopathy Cancer Detection
Prof. Jiang Xia, Dept. of Chemistry, Faculty of Science Dr. Robin Curtis, School of Engineering Innovative Biomedicine;

Therapeutic Protein Phase Separation Behaviour: Recombinant Collagens & Antibody Fragments
Prof. Francis Tam, Dept. of Earth & Environmental Sciences Dr. Zhonghua Zheng, School of Natural Sciences Environment & Sustainability;

Dynamic Earth System Modelling for Informing Regional Urban Climate Adaptations
2021 Seed-corn Fund for Early Career Researchers
Prof. Laura Falkenberg, School of Life Sciences * Prof. Holly Shiels, School of Medical Sciences Environment & Sustainability;

Characterising Micro & Nanoplastics in Hong Kong’s Oysters
Prof. Elmer Ker, School of Biomedical Sciences & Institute for Tissue Engineering & Regenerative Medicine (iTERM) * Prof. Sarah Cartmell, School of Natural Sciences Innovative Biomedicine;

Studying the Mechanical Conditioning of Tendon-like Biomaterials
Prof. Jyh-An Lee, Faculty of Law Dr. Joseph Lee, School of Social Sciences Technology;

Digital Platform Governance: Security, Scalability & Sustainability
2020 Strategic Research Fund
Prof. Ting Fung Philos Chan, School of Life Sciences Prof. Patrick Cai, Dept. of Chemistry Environment & Sustainability;

Rhizobium Genome Refactoring for Climate-Smart Agriculture
Prof. Mee Kam Ng, Dept. of Geography & Resource Management * Prof. Cecilia Wong, School of Environment, Education & Development Environment & Sustainability;

Smart & Sustainable Planning: Towards an Integrated Spatial Approach
Prof. Shu Hang Patrick Yung, Dept. of Orthopaedics & Traumatology Dr. Leela Biant, Division of Cell Matrix Biology & Regenerative Medicine Translational Biomedicine;

Defining the Cellular Content of Human Hoffa Fat Pad in Health & Disease
2019 Seed-corn Fund
Prof. Zhenguang Garry Cai, Dept. of Linguistics & Modern Languages Dr. Bo Yao, Division of Neuroscience & Experimental Psychology Neuroscience;

The Embodiment of Language Syntax in the Brain
Prof. Man Nin Chan, Earth System Science Programme Prof. Martin Gallagher, School of Earth & Environmental Sciences Environment & Public Health;

Quantifying our Ability to Detect Airborne Pollens in Hong Kong
Prof. Jiang Xia, Dept. of Chemistry Prof. Jian Ren Lu, School of Physics & Astronomy Cancer;

Cell-specific Delivery of Designed Amphiphilic Peptides for Anticancer Treatment
2017 – 18
Prof. Liming Bian, Dept. of Biomedical Engineering * Dr. Jiashen Li, School of Materials Advanced Materials; Cancer;

Hierarchical Metal Bisphosphonate Nanoparticles Delivery System for Bone Cancer
Prof. Ting Fung Chan, School of Life Sciences Prof. Patrick Cai, Manchester Institute of Biotechnology Energy & Climate Change;

Collaborative Effort to Engineer Synthetic Yeast Genome for Producing Biobutanol
Prof. Li Zhang, Dept. of Mechanical & Automation Engineering Prof. Kostas Kostarelos, Faculty of Medical & Human Sciences Advanced Materials; Cancer; Micro- & Nanorobotics;

Magnetic Swarming Microrobots for Image Guided Therapy
2016 – 17
Prof. Tsz Shun Eric Chung, Department of Mathematics Dr. Masoud Babaei, School of Chemical Engineering and Analytical Science Energy & Climate Change;

Multiscale Modelling of Geothermal Energy Recovery from Fractured Porous Systems
Prof. Yuk Fo Derrick Lai, Department of Geography and Resource Management Dr. Gareth Clay, School of Environment, Education and Development Energy & Climate Change;

Characterising ‘Blue Carbon’ Dynamics in Subtropical Mangroves
Prof. Wai Sang Poon, Department of Surgery * Dr. Zsolt Zador, Faculty of Biology, Medicine and Health Neuroscience;

Improving Outcome Predictions in Neurosurgery Using Unstructured Admission CT Data
2015 – 16
Prof. Yuk Lun Alexander Lau, Hong Kong Institute of Integrative Medicine; Dept. of Medicine and Therapeutics Dr. Goran Nenadic, School of Computer Science Neuroscience;

Text Mining for Integrative Medicine Research in Neurological Disorders
Prof. Mee Kam Ng, Dept. of Geography and Resource Management * Prof. Cecilia Wong, School of Environment, Education and Development Future Cities;

Planning for Sustainable Urban Neighbourhood Change
Prof. Hongfeng Yang, Earth System Science Programme Prof. Giulio Di Toro, School of Earth, Atmospheric and Environmental Sciences Energy & Climate Change;

Seismicity Induced by Underground Injection and Extraction of Natural Gas

*  Left CUHK

 

Enquiries

Any queries should be directed to:

CUHK Coordinator: Olivia Kwok, Office of Academic Links

e: oliviakwok@cuhk.edu.hk, t: +852 3943 1315

UoM Coordinator: Helen Lusty, International Officer

e: international.partnerships@manchester.ac.uk, t: +44 (0)161 275 2217

 

Last updated in January 2026