Many academics have conducted policy research with the aim to bring about real social impacts, such as influencing policy directions and bringing about service development of the government and relevant stakeholders. However, the process of effecting change is usually full of challenges.

CityU’s Research Centre for Sustainable Hong Kong (CSHK) and Department of Public and International Affairs (PIA) co-organised a seminar entitled ‘Challenges and Insights in Conducting Policy Research in Hong Kong’ on 17 May 2023. Prof Alice CHONG Ming-lin, who is a Research Professor from the Caritas Institute of Higher Education and a former Professor at CityU CLASS, was invited to be the speaker to share her research journey with attendees. 

Winning more than 60 grants over the years, Prof Chong has published over 200 journal articles/conference papers on ageing, care-giving and related social policies. She was formerly professor of social work at CityU before joining the HKSAR Government during 2019-2022 conducting policy research with the Labour and Welfare Bureau. She is also active in professional practice and has served on the boards of several NGOs. She was awarded the Medal of Honour by the Government for her community service, and winner of UGC Teaching Award.

In this seminar, she shared her experience in conducting policy research in academia and the government, addressed the challenges when conducting policy research and gave some great insights on how to utilise policy research to bring about social impacts. She also provided professional opinions on gaining the support of relevant government bureaus/departments and other stakeholders.

Afterwards, Prof Chong thoroughly discussed a wide variety of policy research related issues with the audience, such as identifying the key stakeholders and allies in policy research, what the government is looking for in policy proposals and nurturing the next generation of policy researchers in Hong Kong.