Nomination Period: 16 June 2025 - 15 August 2025     [Download Guidelines] [Download Nomination Form]

1. The purpose of the Early Career Researcher Award (ECRA) is to acknowledge, reward, and promote excellent performance and achievement in research on the part of early career researchers at the College.

2. Details of the Award

1. A maximum of three awards will be granted in each academic year.
2. Each award includes a cash award of HK$6,000 and a certificate, and a one-off additional grant of $5,000 for research related activities* to be claimed no later than 12 months following the date of award. The unclaimed additional grant is not allowed to be carried forward to future years. The name of awardee(s) will be posted on the website and announced via email to all staff.

* Research related activities refer to publication fees for academic journals, fees for professional editing and consultation, purchase of licenses or software for research, as well as expenses to present or publish papers in academic conferences as sole or principal author/ investigator.

3. Eligibility of the Award

1. All current full-time academic staff of TWC, who are at the rank of Assistant Professor or below.
2. Currently pursuing a PhD or doctoral degree, or within five years after completion of PhD or doctoral degree.
3. Candidates who are recipients of the same award in the previous year or who have ever received the Research Excellence Award will not be eligible

4. Assessment Criteria

4.1 The nominees need to demonstrate excellence for at least one of the following criteria:

1. having at least six papers published in international peer-reviewed journals (as first or corresponding author), with the journals ranked in the top 50%** among all journals of the relevant subject field (at least three papers published after joining TWC); or

   ** Based on the Scopus® citation database, Journal Citation Reports^TM under the Clarivate Web of Science database (formerly ISI® Web of Knowledge) or Google Scholar database etc.

2. successful receipt of external grants in the capacity of principal investigator after joining TWC.

4.2 The following additional criteria will also be considered:

1. demonstration of research scholarship by making a reasonable contribution and/or impact to local or international community; and/ or
2. recognition of scholarly work in the last 3 years (e.g., as reviewer of international peer-reviewed journals or member of editorial board, holders of research related awards, etc).

5. Nomination Procedures

1. Nominations can be made by supervisor or academic staff through submitting a nomination form. Each nomination must have the consent of the nominee. Self- nominations are also welcomed.
2. Each nominee should submit the completed and duly signed nomination form, a brief staff profile, a summary of their research with supporting evidence, and the best six representative publications# (if applicable) for panel’s consideration. The nominees may be invited to provide additional information and/ or attend a meeting with the Selection Panel to further substantiate their achievements in relation to the criteria for award. 
   # Please refer to Paragraph 4.

6. Composition of The Selection Panel

In the event that a member of the Selection Panel is also a nominee for an award, she/ he will be excused from the selection panel and a new member will be nominated. The Terms of Reference of the Selection Panel are as follows: 

1. To consider and review the nominations for the ECRA; and
2. To select awardee of ECRA and recommend to the Research Committee (RC) for recommendation.

Upon receipt of selection results of the Selection Panel, RC should consider, endorse, and make recommendations to Academic Board (AB) for final approval.

7. Awardee(s) will be invited to share experience with other staff members to promote best practices in research.

8. Nomination form is downloadable from the Research Office (RO) webpage and/ or Staff Portal.  All nominees are required to take note of the following:

1. All current full-time academic staff of TWC, who are at the rank of Assistant Professor or below and within five years after completion of PhD or doctoral degree are eligible for nomination.
2. Candidates who are recipients of the same award in the previous year or who have ever received the Research Excellence Award will not be eligible for nomination.
3. Nominees are required to submit the following documents to the RO, Secretariat of the RC, via email at [email protected] by the stipulated deadline:
   1. The completed and duly signed Nomination Form;
   2. A brief staff profile;
   3. A brief summary of the Nominee’s research together with evidence/ supporting documents demonstrating his/ her achievement in research;
   4. Best six representative publications (if applicable); and
   5. Additional information, if applicable

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