The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) is committed to fostering outstanding young researchers and enhancing their innovative research capabilities to address urgent societal needs. 11 PolyU projects have been awarded funding under the Research Grants Council (RGC) Junior Research Fellow Scheme 2026/27, which supports promising postdoctoral researchers to pursue impactful projects at a pivotal stage of their careers.
Led by PolyU senior researchers, the awarded projects span diverse, forward-looking fields, including energy storage and advanced materials, artificial intelligence, port operations, and doctoral education. These initiatives not only expand the frontiers of knowledge but also tackle critical challenges in sustainability, digital transformation and talent development.
The RGC Junior Research Fellow aims to provide supports to promising local and non-local postdoctoral researchers at UGC-funded universities at a pivotal time in their very early careers. In each round of the yearly exercise, the scheme funds 60 researchers for a period of 24 months to conduct postdoctoral research on a full-time basis at a UGC-funded university, with an optional extension of the postdoctoral stage for up to 12 months upon request.
List of awarded PolyU projects:
| Principal Investigator | Project Title |
|---|---|
| Prof. HU Guangwei Interim Dean of Faculty of Humanities and Chair Professor of Applied Linguistics of Department of English and Communication |
Advancing Professional Doctoral Education in Hong Kong: Supervision, Academic Socialisation, and the Practice-Research Nexus |
| Prof. WANG Shuaian Professor of Department of Logistics and Maritime Studies |
From Prediction to Operation: Data-Driven Port Operations in Hong Kong Port |
| Prof. CHUNG Chi-yung Head of Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering and Chair Professor of Power Systems Engineering |
BEST: A Battery Energy Storage Toolbox Enabling Real-Time Health Monitoring and Lifespan Management |
| Prof. GE Jingjie Assistant Professor of Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology |
In-situ study on formation and catalytic mechanism of strong oxide-support interactions towards carbon-based small molecule catalytic conversion |
| Prof. CHEN Changwen Interim Dean of Faculty of Computer and Mathematical Sciences, Chair Professor of Visual Computing of Department of Computing |
From Conversational to Agentic AI: Interactive Multi-modal Content Understanding and Generation |
| Prof. LI Mengying Assistant Professor of Department of Mechanical Engineering |
Optical fiber photoelectrodes unlock next-generation zinc-air batteries |
| Prof. Joselito Macbuhay RAZAL Professor of School of Fashion and Textiles |
Elucidating the Mechanistic Pathways in MXene Fibre Formation towards Functional Textiles |
| Prof. ZHAO Qi Associate Professor of Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering |
Intelligent characterization of lunar regolith: an in-situ testing-driven deep learning approach |
| Prof. WANG Zuankai Associate Vice President (Research), Dean of Graduate School, Kuok Group Professor in Nature-Inspired Engineering, and Chair Professor of Nature-Inspired Engineering of Department of Department of Mechanical Engineering |
Developing Trap-jaw Ant-inspired Robotic Gripper for Controllable Ultrafast Manipulation |
| Prof. WONG Wai Yeung Raymond Dean of the Faculty of Science, Clarea Au Professor in Energy and Chair Professor of Chemical Technology of Department of Applied Biology and Chemical Technology |
Highly efficient NIR-II-emitting LnIII/CuI nanoclusters |
| Prof. YANG Guang Assistant Professor of Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering |
Fabrication of high-efficiency and high-stability solution-based perovskite/ chalcogenide thin-film tandem solar cells |
