2026-2027 GRF/ECS Funding Results - ACE Faculty's commitment to research excellence and innovation

Congratulations to our outstanding researchers! We're thrilled to announce that our faculty members have been awarded prestigious grants from the 2026-2027 General Research Fund (GRF) and Early Career Scheme (ECS) by the Research Grants Council. In terms of the number of grants and the amount of funding, CityUHK is ranked the top three in Civil Engineering, Surveying, Building & Construction, among other institutions for both GRF and ECS grants. The outstanding results once again demonstrated our Department’s commitment to research excellence and innovation.

The list of funded projects is as follows:

General Research Fund (GRF)

• Prof. LIEW Kim Meow: “Investigation into the Fire Performance of 3D-Printed Alkali-Activated Cement Composites” – 0.9M
• Prof. SUN Yongjun: “A novel compact radiative sky cooler enabling unidirectional heat transfer: harnessing nighttime cooling to enhance daytime performance” – 0.9M
• Prof. ZHENG Xing: “Understanding the interactive effects of vehicle-induced turbulence and roadside vegetation on vehicular pollutant dispersion in street canyons” – 0.9M
• Prof. TAN Giin Yu Amy: “Novel Micro-aerated Anaerobic Digestion (MAAD) to Surpass the Classical Limits of Nitrogen Removal and Bioenergy Harvesting: a performance and biomechanism study” – 0.7M
• Prof. JIAO Dengwu: “Magnetically Assisted 3D Printing Cementitious Composite Structures with Directionally Controlled Self-Sensing Properties” – 0.9M
• Prof. NG Shiu Tong Thomas: “A community-driven digital twin living lab framework to improve the efficiency and reliability of health and elderly care services” -0.9M
• Prof. LI Qiusheng: “Typhoon resilience of power transmission towers in Hong Kong under changing climate” – 1.2M
• Prof. XIAN Xiangping: “Performance of waste-based marine concrete subject to carbonation curing: Mechanical properties, microstructural development, durability, molecular dynamics simulation, and its engineering application” – 0.8M
• Prof. LUO Xiaowei: “Trustworthy Risk-Aware Teleoperation for Construction with Multimodal Large Language Model” – 0.9M
• Prof. DAI Jianguo: “Development of Roadside Barriers through Structural Re-use of FRP Composites Derived from Decommissioned Wind Turbine Blades” – 0.9M
• Prof. ZHENG Hao: “Nature-inspired design of high-performance building cantilever structures” – 0.9M

Early Career Scheme (ECS)

• Prof. HU Songhua: “From Sparse Traces to Complete Tours: AI-Enhanced Human Mobility Reconstruction Using Big Mobility Data” – 0.7M
• Prof. YIN Xianfei: “AI-Enhanced Multimodal Volunteered Geographic Information for Assessing and Maintaining Urban Stormwater System Under Extreme Weather” – 0.7M
• Prof. CHEN Timonthy Bo Yuan: “An AI-Enabled Multiscale Computational Platform for Evaluating Fire Performance of Flame-Retardant Mass Timber Compartments” – 0.6M

Join us in celebrating these brilliant minds and their dedication to pushing the boundaries of knowledge!