CUHK, CUHK-Shenzhen and Guangdong province signed a work plan on 21 May, agreeing to jointly contribute HK$90 million over the coming three years to promote intensive scientific research collaborations.

The agreement, aimed to accelerate the development of the Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area as a global technology and innovation centre, is an important milestone for CUHK and CUHK-Shenzhen, leveraging advantages of the “one brand, two campuses” model.

The memorandum of understanding signed by the three parties covers the following scopes of cooperation:

• In the three-year period from 2024 to 2026, the Guangdong Provincial Department of Science and Technology and CUHK-Shenzhen will each invest RMB10 million per year and CUHK will invest HK$10 million per year to form a seed fund pool to support joint scientific research collaborations between the two universities.
• Establishing innovation platforms, exploring the construction of joint laboratories in the fields where the two universities excel, and participating in science forums in the Greater Bay Area and hosting related international academic conferences in Hong Kong.
• The department welcomes the two institutions to apply for key-area research and development programmes of the province, major research projects in basic and applied science, natural science fund projects and other science and technology projects of the province. They will jointly conduct research to address major technical challenges.
• The two universities will share their brands and jointly bring in and cultivate high-level research teams from around the world, leveraging their assets to nurture talents to promote more extensive and in-depth research collaboration.

The signing ceremony, which took place on the CUHK campus, was witnessed by Wang Xi, Member of the Standing Committee of the Guangdong Provincial Party Committee and Vice Governor, Huang Mingzhong, Deputy Secretary-General of the Guangdong Provincial People’s Government, Zhu Kongjun, Secretary of the Education Work Committee of the Guangdong Provincial Committee and Party Secretary and Director-General of the Guangdong Provincial Department of Education, and Long Guangyan, Deputy Director of Hong Kong and Macao Affairs Office of Guangdong Province.

Professor Rocky S. Tuan, Vice-Chancellor and President of CUHK, signed the work plan with Mr Gong Guoping, Director of Department of Science and Technology of Guangdong Province, and Professor Xu Yangsheng, President of CUHK-Shenzhen.