Chinese New Year Greetings from Dean of Faculty

Dear Colleagues, Students, and Friends of FCE

I offer my sincere wishes for a joyful and prosperous Chinese New Year to you! May the Year of the Snake bring you wisdom, transformative growth, and abundant success!

Over the past year, the Faculty has strengthened our support for both academic staff and students. Several funding schemes have been launched or updated to assist Faculty members in their academic and research endeavours. These initiatives are developed to provide resources for interdisciplinary research, distinguished lectures, the acquisition of large equipment, and competitive research grants. There are also scholarships and bursaries available to attract and support high-calibre students. We encourage all Faculty members to visit the FCE intranet to explore and make good use of these opportunities.

As we enter 2025, I am delighted to share some heartening news about our academic staff’s research endeavours and exciting partnership with the industry. I am confident that 2025 will be a year of thriving success.

Prof. Xiang-dong LI
Dean of Faculty of Construction and Environment

PolyU President’s Awards and Faculty Awards for Outstanding Achievement 2024

The President’s Awards and the Faculty Awards for Outstanding Achievement are prestigious accolades designed to honour the exceptional contributions of our staff members. These awards, which include both individual and team categories, recognise excellence in the areas of Teaching, Research and Scholarly Activities, Knowledge Transfer, and Services.

Congratulations to all the distinguished individuals and teams awarded in the 2024 Awards for their remarkable achievements.

*Team leader for the group

FCE scholars garner over HK$29 million research funding to empower diverse research endeavours

The Faculty is excited to share some uplifting news about a diverse array of research funding recently secured by FCE scholars, totalling over HK$29 million. The funding support includes the Research Grants Council (RGC) Collaborative Research Fund and Research Impact Fund, the Green Tech Fund, and the Public Policy Research Funding Scheme. Recognition from these research funding schemes demonstrates FCE’s ability to attract and manage significant research projects, underscoring the Faculty’s academic leadership.

With the robust funding support, FCE will further boost its overall research capacity to bring tangible societal benefits.

Collaborative Research Fund 2024/25

The CRF supports multi-investigator, multi-disciplinary projects to encourage more research groups to engage in creative and high-quality cross-disciplinary/cross-institutional projects. There are three types of grants under CRF:

• Collaborative Research Project Grant (CRPG) aims to enhance the research output of universities in terms of the level of attainment, quantity, dimensions and impact;

• Collaborative Research Equipment Grant (CREG) enables the acquisition of major research facilities or equipment;

• CRF Young Collaborative Research Grant (YCRG) aims to support early-stage academic staff members in gaining first-hand experience in leading and managing collaborative research.

Research Impact Fund 2024/25

The RGC Research Impact Fund (RIF) aims to provide sustained support to local academics for conducting impactful and translational collaborative research projects and to articulate the potential for benefiting the wider community.

Green Tech Fund

The Green Tech Fund (GTF) provides focused funding support to research and development projects which can help Hong Kong decarbonise and enhance environmental protection.

LSGI forms strategic partnership with AMap to advance geospatial technologies and smart city development in GBA

On 16 December 2024, the Department of Land Surveying and Geo-Informatics (LSGI) formalised a strategic partnership with AMap, one of the leading map service providers in Mainland China, by signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

The partnership emphasises key areas including smart mobility, tourism, and urban infrastructure planning, aiming to enhance collaboration in research development and technology transfer within the Greater Bay Area (GBA).

LSGI and AMap will also explore educational and student training opportunities within the geospatial industry, thereby reinforcing the connection between academia and industry.

BRE connects with Royal Institution of Surveyors Malaysia Sarawak Branch to explore collaboration opportunities

The Department of Building and Real Estate (BRE) received a delegation from the Royal Institution of Surveyors Malaysia Sarawak Branch (RISM Sarawak) on 5 December 2024 to explore potential collaborations and strengthen the connections between the two institutions.

During the visit, BRE took the opportunity to showcase its diverse range of academic programmes. Following this presentation, a comprehensive discussion was held, focusing on several key areas: the differences in admissions and study patterns between Malaysia and Hong Kong, the various divisions within the surveying profession, and the requirements for becoming registered professional surveyors.

This visit provided BRE with valuable insights into the educational landscape and the surveying industry in Malaysia, enabling the department to better prepare its students for successful surveying careers at home and abroad.

Counsellor Fly-In Programme to strengthen ties with Mainland high schools

Committed to attracting talents from different parts of the world, FCE has been actively engaged in the University’s various initiatives to promote an in-depth understanding of our dynamic academic and campus life. On 12 December 2024, the Global Engagement Office (GEO) hosted the “Counsellor Fly-In Programme” and welcomed over 30 esteemed high school principals and teachers from Mainland China to our vibrant campus. Representatives from our four departments were stationed at the FCE consultation counter to interact with counsellors, showcasing the uniqueness of undergraduate programmes and educational opportunities available at FCE, and addressing counsellors’ questions.

The event offered an opportunity to deepen our association with the participating high schools from the Mainland and thus attract their outstanding students to join FCE and contribute to our pursuit of new heights in excellence and innovation.

Workshop on Strategies for China Grant Applications 

FCE has been sparing no effort in equipping its researchers with essential knowledge and skills to successfully secure funding for their research projects. On 8 January 2025, the Workshop on Strategies for China Grant Applications attracted around 70 participants who attended the workshop to share their opinions and questions on applying for major China grants.

Prof. Meng NI, Associate Dean (Research) of Faculty, gave an overview of the major China research schemes and FCE’s performance in recent years as he kick-started the workshop. Prof. Liang AN, Associate Professor of the Department of Mechanical Engineering (ME), Faculty of Engineering (FENG), was invited to share his experiences and insights on serving as a reviewer for screening research applications. Other invited speakers shared their respective successful experiences of writing proposals for some major China grants, empowering participants with strategies to apply for competitive funding and boost the Faculty’s research capabilities. Interested FCE staff can download the presentation decks from FCE Staff Intranet.

Welcome new staff to FCE