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2 RESEARCH ON THE RISE
Message from the
Vice-President
The heart of Lingnan’s endeavours, and our research, have practical importance for government and social policy in Hong Kong, mainland China and beyond.
Apart from our outstanding teaching and learning, and our internationalisation efforts being brought to a new height, the many research and knowledge transfer (KT) achievements outlined here will leave you in no doubt why Forbes included Lingnan University in its list of the “Top 10 Liberal Arts Colleges in Asia” in 2015. Whether judged by our track record in obtaining local and international funds for impactful research, partnership in the London-based Centre for Global Higher Education or the distinguished scholars we regularly attract, Lingnan University is making its mark as a world-class liberal arts institution of higher education.
I would like to call your attention to just a few indicators of our success in the past year. In the University Grants Committee’s 2014 Research Assessment Exercise, Lingnan had among its cost centres a percentage as high as 15% of its research output rated as 4-star (‘world-leading’), which put Lingnan in the 4th position of that subject area. Our success in obtaining highly competitive Research Grants Council (RGC) funding has also made some signi cant advancement. In the 2015/16 General Research Fund exercise, Lingnan ranked second among all the institutions with a success rate of 36.1% (sector-wide 34.9%). We took the top spot for Early Career Scheme applications, which are restricted to scholars at the start of their academic careers, with a remarkable 71.4% of proposals achieving success. There is also a clear upward trajectory in our research funding: the HK$6.8 million awarded in the 2015/16 exercise was more than double the fund we received in 2014/15. The diverse array of research this funding is making possible ranges in topic from policy optimization for product returns, attitudes toward top incomes, to helping traumatised children speak the language of art.
The KT concept lies at the heart of Lingnan’s research endeavours, many of which have practical importance to government and social policy in Hong Kong, mainland China and beyond. For example, an ongoing project is developing an e-learning pedagogy to close the rural-urban gap in educational attainment in China, while another is investigating weather index insurance to expand Ethiopia’s social safety net to protect vulnerable farmers. Lingnan also recently hosted a cyber security and digital forensics conference to highlight the information security issues facing individuals, organisations and governments in the Internet Age.
These achievements are just part of our extensive repertoire, as you will see in reading through these pages. I think you will agree that Lingnan is not only a liberal arts institution with a long and venerable history, but one with a deep commitment to research and scholarship and mission to provide the quality teaching and mentorship that students need to successfully meet the challenges of today’s globalised world.
Prof Joshua Mok Ka-ho
Vice-President
Chair Professor of Comparative Policy
A Top 10 Liberal Arts College in Asia (Forbes, 2015)
Research and Impact Newsletter April 2016