Hong Kong think tank proposes mega science hubs for city amid dearth of joint research projects
- Massive R&D investment should start with HK$1 billion annual injection into a new biomedical site, says report
- New facilities will ‘bolster cutting-edge research’, but an entrepreneur fears they will poach talent from start-ups
A network of mega science hubs backed with large sums of cash is needed to address the shortage of joint research projects in Hong Kong, says a think tank founded by the city’s first chief executive Tung Chee-hwa.
The city should start with an institute for biomedical research, a field in which Hong Kong has an edge, funded by HK$1 billion (US$128 million) every year, according to a report published on Tuesday by Our Hong Kong Foundation.
The foundation said Hong Kong could draw inspiration from Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University, which joined forces in 2004 to establish the Broad Institute in support of joint research on biomedical science across several fields and institutions.
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There had been insufficient interdisciplinary and collaborative research across different bodies in Hong Kong, the think tank said, as it quoted figures showing how further ahead rivals such as Singapore were in this area.
“Hong Kong should establish mega research institutes which would create more stable research opportunities and allow more large-scale research collaborations across disciplines and institutions to take place,” the report said.
The report said these mega institutes would provide promising career paths to attract top global talent and emerging local researchers.
Professor Tsui Lap-chee, president of the Hong Kong Academy of Sciences and a world-renowned expert in molecular genetics, said the idea of setting up such facilities was supported by the heads of five local universities.
Tsui, also a former vice-chancellor of the University of Hong Kong, advised the foundation on its research report.
“Pulling up researchers from various institutions and disciplines under the roof of a mega institute could facilitate exchanges on cutting-edge research,” he said.
“It could also minimise unnecessary competition among academic institutions.”
But Rex Sham Pui-sum, co-founder of Hong Kong-based Insight Robotics, said he was concerned that lucrative salaries expected to be offered by the mega research institutes would poach researchers from start-up companies.
Sham’s company designs wildfire-detecting robots and aerial surveillance systems.
According to the research report, there were only 3,400 researchers per one million of Hong Kong’s population, just half of Singapore’s ratio.
The ratio of research postgraduate students to professors in Hong Kong is only 2.4 to 1, much lower than of 4.1 to 1 in Britain.
The foundation called on the government to increase the number of research postgraduate students.
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Chief Executive Carrie Lam Cheng Yuet-ngor has promised bigger investment in innovation technology to reinvent Hong Kong’s economy.
In her maiden policy address in 2017, she set aside more than HK$10 billion for university research funding, as well as additional tax cuts to encourage companies to invest in research and development.
Financial Secretary Paul Chan Mo-po set aside an extra HK$50 billion in last year’s budget to promote innovation and technology development.
The foundation said existing research and development funding institutions in Hong Kong were fragmented, resulting in the absence of an overarching strategy to guide funding allocations.
The report found the average processing time taken by the Innovation and Technology Commission to approve projects for its five research and development centres could between 158 and 222 days.
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Citing the experience of Britain’s Research and Innovation, the report recommended the steering committee on innovation and technology, a high-level committee chaired by the chief executive, to establish an overarching research and development foundation.
The new foundation would provide higher-level strategies and advise on prioritised areas to help determine research and development funding allocations.
A spokesman for the Innovation and Technology Bureau said the government would study the report in detail and consider whether and how the recommendations could be taken forward, taking into account the strengths and unique circumstances of Hong Kong.
“The government has implemented a wide range of measures aiming to strengthen various aspects of Hong Kong’s innovation and technology ecosystem, including promoting international R&D collaboration,” the spokesman said.
