CityUHK Science Patent Challenge 2025-26
The 4th CityUHK Science Patent Challenge: learn about intellectual property, win a chance to own a patent and be a real inventor!
Eligibility:
- Contestants: Full-time secondary school students in Hong Kong and Macau.
- School-based submission: Each school can submit at most two entries.
- School-based entry: Each entry can be either on an individual basis or a team basis with a maximum of 8 students per team.
- Invention: Original idea that hasn’t been publicised and is possible for a patent application. Those who have participated in previous rounds of the CityUHK Science Patent Challenge or other competitions may submit an entry if the new submission is either:
- A completely new invention idea, or
- A significantly enhanced version of a previous invention, incorporating new elements, concepts or components
- To learn more about patents and what is possible for a patent application, teachers and students are highly recommended to attend the information session and intellectual property workshop offered by the College of Science (“CSCI”), City University of Hong Kong (“CityUHK”).
Timeline:
| 01 | 26 September 2025 |
Date: 26 September 2025 (Friday) |
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| 02 | 18 October 2025 |
Date: 18 October 2025 (Saturday) |
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| 03 | 21 October – 31 December 2025 |
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| 04 | 16 January 2026 |
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| 05 | 14 March 2026 |
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Assessment Criteria:
- Innovation
- Feasibility
- Impact
- Presentation
Enquiry:
csci.office@cityu.edu.hk / 3442-7765
Terms and Conditions
A. Submission
- All submission(s) must be sent via the online submission platform no later than 16 January 2026 HKT23:59.
- Any submission containing elements of threatening, abusive, obscene, offensive, or otherwise inappropriate content will not be considered by CityUHK. CityUHK reserves the right at its sole discretion to disqualify any submission if it is of the opinion that such submission is inappropriate or contrary to the spirit or intention of the Competition.
- All submission(s) must be original and should not have been published, presented, or awarded in other competitions, exhibitions, or public platforms. If an invention or idea has been disclosed in any form before, it must be refined by incorporating new elements, concepts, or components that significantly enhance or differentiate it from the original version. CityUHK reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to disqualify any submission it deems insufficiently modified or lacking in originality, or that does not align with the spirit or intention of the Competition.
B. Patent
- The School should procure that Contestants have read the information on patents published by the Government of the HKSAR (https://www.ip.gov.hk/en/types-of-ip/patents/what-is-a-patent/index.html).
- CityUHK will instruct a patent attorney of its preference to file an application for one Hong Kong Short Term Patent (“Patent”) for the invention of each of the Gold and Silver winning teams of the Competition.
- Application for the Patent will be filed in the name of the School, that is, the School will effectively be the applicant or owner of the Patent. In order to ensure that the School is the rightful owner of the invention, it must ensure that the invention is assigned by each of the Contestants to the School.
- The Schools of the Gold and Silver winning teams are expected to seek an agreement with each of the Contestants (and their guardians if applicable) to assign ownership of the invention to the School, and a confirmatory assignment between the School and each of the Contestants (and their guardians if applicable) before an application for a Patent is made. The School shall be responsible to take all necessary steps and do and execute any act, document and thing for the purpose of applying for the Patent.
- The School has the right to decide whether to file a patent application. If the School decides not to file a patent, Contestants from the School will not be eligible for full fee sponsorship for the application of a Hong Kong Short-term Patent and for the consultation of patent attorney if they received a Gold or Silver award of the Competition.
- CityUHK does not guarantee the successful granting of the Patent, which is regulated by the Hong Kong Intellectual Property Department. Under no circumstances should CityUHK be held responsible or liable should the application fail.
- Once the Patent is granted, CityUHK will hand over the control of the Patent to the School. The School will be responsible for the administration and maintenance of the Patent at its own expense, and may instruct any patent attorney to take any further action as it sees fit.
- CityUHK retains the rights to disqualify the School or any of its Contestants from the Competition at any time. For example, (i) in the sole discretion of CityUHK, the School or any of the Contestants has violated any term in these Terms and Conditions; or (ii) after taking into account the prevailing circumstances and in its sole discretion, CityUHK determines that it is not possible or practicable to file an application for Patent; or (iii) failure to make a submission to CityUHK on time; or (iv) the School or any of the Contestants failing to comply with the instructions of the staff or representatives of CityUHK. The determination by CityUHK is final and not subject to appeal.
C. Others
- The School shall ensure that all information provided by the Contestants is genuine and correct, and the submissions are original work and free from any third party ownership interests.
- CityUHK is not responsible for any confidentiality issues that may occur before, during and/or after the Competition.
- The School shall procure the Contestants to sign or enter into agreements on confidentiality, if any submission is shortlisted for the final pitch.
- CityUHK reserves all the rights and has the full authority to make final decisions in all matters related to the Competition without prior notification.
- The School shall not, and procure that the Contestants shall not, use the name, logo, trade or service marks and trade name of CityUHK or any CityUHK’s employees in any advertising or promotional activities without the prior written consent of CityUHK.
- The School shall procure consent from the Contestants that CityUHK and its representatives may take photographic or video footage of the Contestants during any activities related to the Competition, including but not limited to the information session, workshops and awards presentation ceremony. These materials may be used by CityUHK for purposes related to the Competition, or for other educational, promotional, or publicity purposes.
Personal Information Collection Statement
CSCI undertakes to observe the spirit of the data protection principles and to comply with the requirements of the Personal Data (Privacy) Ordinance of Hong Kong. Please refer to this site for details.
CSCI may use the contact information collected here to share the CSCI e-newsletter and promote CSCI programmes/activities with you. You have the right to request an update or removal of personal data you have provided to CSCI. Please contact us via email csci.office@cityu.edu.hk if you have any enquiries or requests.
Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)
- General Information
- Information Session & Intellectual Property Workshop
- Online Consultation Sessions
- Submission
- Final Pitch
- Awards
General Information
You may read the information on patents published by the Intellectual Property Department at https://www.ipd.gov.hk/en/patents/index.html.You are also welcome to attend the information session and an intellectual property workshop offered by the College of Science (“CSCI”), City University of Hong Kong (“CityUHK”).
Public disclosure of a pending invention can sometimes destroy patent rights. Therefore, contestants should carefully protect their ideas at all times until the patent is granted. As a protective measure, all contestants of the shortlisted entries are required to sign a non-disclosure agreement (NDA) before the Final Pitch, and to undertake to keep strictly confidential all information, know-how and secrets obtained or received during the course of the Final Pitch, and shall not disclose the same to any third party by any mean.
If you/your team did not win a Gold or Silver Award in the previous rounds of CityUHK Science Patent Challenge and have not published your invention idea in other competitions, you/your team must enhance your invention, e.g, incorporating new elements, concepts or components to the original invention idea, and you/your team can submit the application again. Alternatively, you/your team are also welcome to submit a new invention idea that is distinct from the previous submission.
If you/your team won an award in the previous rounds of CityUHK Science Patent Challenge, then you/your team must submit a new invention idea that is distinct from the previous submission to join CityUHK Science Challenge 2025-26.
If you/your team has previously won an award in other competitions or published your invention, to be eligible to join CityUHK Science Patent Challenge, you/your team must significantly enhance your original invention, e.g. incorporating new elements, concepts or components to the original invention idea, to create a version that is patentable. Alternatively, you/your team are also welcome to submit a new invention idea that is distinct from the one that has previously won an award in other competitions.
Information Session & Intellectual Property Workshop
Students and teachers are recommended to attend the information session on 26 September 2025 at City University of Hong Kong in order to receive first-hand information about the Competition.
Students and teachers are strongly recommended to attend the intellectual property workshop on 18 October 2025 at City University of Hong Kong if they haven’t attended before. The workshop covers topics such as idea origination, the invention process, and patents. Attendees would also be provided with details on the requirements for their entries. All attendees would receive a certificate upon successful completion of the workshop.
The information session and the intellectual property workshop would be conducted in Cantonese (with presentation materials in English).
Online Consultation Sessions
Online consultation sessions are optional but are highly recommended for individuals/teams who already have invention ideas in mind. The consultation sessions will be offered from 21 October to 31 December 2025 via Zoom. The first consultation session allows you to receive preliminary feedback, refine your idea and seek further comments in a follow-up session if needed. The registration link will be available on the competition webpage in mid-October 2025.
Each consultation session will last about 30 minutes, depending on the questions that you might have about your invention idea.
To maximize the effectiveness of the session, we recommend that you/your team prepare a brief introduction of your invention idea in advance. This preparation will facilitate a more productive discussion during the consultation session.
Each individual/team may register for up to two consultation sessions. If the requests are overwhelming, priority will be given to teams that have not attended any consultation before.
Submission
The submission is on a school basis. Please talk to your school teacher and see if your school can submit an entry for you/your team.
Each school can only submit at most two entries.
The Mentor Teacher will submit the students’ invention ideas in the format of a PowerPoint deck (max. 20 slides) or a Video (max. 5 min). The PowerPoint or video must be in English and original. It must clearly explain and demonstrate the operation of the invention with a focus on the innovation. A prototype can be included if deemed appropriate, but it is not a must. Your invention idea will be presented to the selection panel for evaluation. An online Zoom meeting will be set up with the inventor(s) for further clarification with all or part of the panel members, if deemed necessary.
Basically, your invention ideas can relate to anything, but they must be patentable. The school shall ensure that all information provided by the contestants is genuine and correct, and the submissions are original work and free from any third-party ownership interests. School representatives can learn more about patents at the intellectual property workshop on 18 October 2025.
Final Pitch
The Final Pitch will be held at City University of Hong Kong.
The Final Pitch will be conducted in English (for both oral presentation and visual materials).
Depending on the quality of the entries, around 8-12 entries will be shortlisted for the Final Pitch.
The College of Science will announce the shortlisted entries for the Final Pitch by early February 2026.
In the Final Pitch, each shortlisted team will be given 10 minutes to present their invention in front of the judging panel, followed by a Q&A session. Each team should prepare a PowerPoint deck including the key contents: (a) identification of the problem, (b) specifications of the invention idea, (c) novelty of the invention idea, and (d) drawings/ photos. The contestants may also make use of other presentation materials, such as a prototype, as deemed appropriate, but it is not a must.
Awards
The Gold and Silver Award winning teams will be provided with a full fee sponsorship for the application of a Hong Kong Short-term Patent and for the consultation of patent attorney. However, CityUHK does not guarantee the successful granting of the Patent, which is regulated by the Hong Kong Intellectual Property Department.
The College of Science will instruct a patent attorney to file an application for one Hong Kong Short-term Patent for the invention of each of the Gold and Silver Award winning teams. The winning teams shall work with the patent attorney to take all necessary steps and do and execute any act, document and thing for the purpose of applying for the Patent.
For the Gold and Silver winning teams, the application for the patent will be filed in the name of the school, hence the school will effectively be the applicant or owner of the patent while the contestants will be the inventors. In order to ensure that the school is the rightful owner of the invention, the invention must be assigned by each of the contestants to their school.
Winners of CityUHK Science Patent Challenge 2024-25
Beating the strong teams, three F.3 girls from St. Stephen’s Girls’ College crowned the Gold Award at the Final Pitch of the CityUHK Science Patent Challenge 2024- 25 held on 15 February.
Facing our five judges: Mr. Ricky Chan, Executive Deputy Chairman of Federation of Hong Kong Industries; Professor Duncan Leung, Professor of the Institute of Chinese Medical Sciences from the University of Macau and an alumnus of CSCI’s Department of Chemistry; Professor Xin Wang, Dean of CSCI; Professor Ray Cheung, Associate Provost (Digital Learning) of the Office of the Provost and Deputy President; and Professor Chin Foo Goh, Director of CityUHK’s Knowledge Transfer Office; the shortlisted teams presented their innovative ideas and encountered challenging questions on stage.
Below is the full list of winners (in alphabetical order of the school names for the same award):
Gold Award: St. Stephen’s Girls’ College
Silver Award: DSC International School, Heung To Secondary School (Tseung Kwan O)
Bronze Award: Hong Kong Baptist University Affiliated School Wong Kam Fai Secondary and Primary School, Hong Kong International School, Queen’s College Old Boys’ Association Secondary School
Merit Award: Diocesan Girls’ College, Queen Elizabeth School Old Students’ Association Tong Kwok Wah Secondary School
Congratulations to all the winners!
Winners of CityU Science Patent Challenge 2023-24
At the final pitch on 17 February 2024, shortlisted teams presented their innovative ideas on stage to our five judges: Mr. Ricky Chan, Executive Deputy Chairman of Federation of Hong Kong Industries; Mr. Olivier Cotard, Founder and Managing Director of 3C Ventures Limited; Professor Raymond Chan Hon Fu, Dean of CSCI; Professor Michael Tse Chi-kong, Associate Vice-President (Innovation) and Director of CityU Academy of Innovation; and Professor Kenneth Leung Mei Yee, Associate Dean (Research and Postgraduate Education) of CSCI.
The impressive performances of the teams made it challenging for the judging panel to decide on the awards. Here's the full list of winners (in alphabetical order of the school names for the same award):
Gold Award: Lung Kong World Federation School Limited Lau Wong Fat Secondary School
Silver Award: Diocesan Girls' School, St. Stephen's Girls' College
Bronze Award: German Swiss International School, Heung To Secondary School (Tseung Kwan O), Queen's College Old Boys' Association Secondary School, St. Stephen's Girls' College
Best Presentation Award: German Swiss International School
Congratulations to all the winners!
CityU Science Patent Challenge Press Conference (15 September 2023)
The Gold Award-winning team from Diocesan Girls’ School and the Silver Award winners from Heep Yunn School and Po Leung Kuk Ngan Po Ling College successfully obtained their Hong Kong short-term patents, with professional support from a patent attorney appointed by the College. For more details, please click here.
Winners of CityU Science Patent Challenge 2022
Secondary school students were invited to join the first CityU Science Patent Challenge 2022 by proposing creative and feasible ways to solve real life problems.
At the final pitch on 18 February 2023, shortlisted teams took the challenge to present their innovative ideas on stage to the judging panel composed of Professor Chun-Sing Lee, Dean of the College of Science, Professor Jianping Wang, Assistant Provost (Strategic Planning and Quality Assurance), Professor Shuk Han Cheng, Chair Professor of Molecular Medicine, and Mr. Jason Chiu, Chairman of Hong Kong Startup Council under Federation of Hong Kong Industries.
We are pleased to announce the winners of the competition (in alphabetical order):-
| Gold Award: | · Diocesan Girls' School |
| Silver Award: | · Heep Yunn School · Hoi Ping Chamber of Commerce Secondary School · Po Leung Kuk Ngan Po Ling College |
| Bronze Award: | · Pope Paul VI College · St. Paul's School (Lam Tin) · Wah Yan College Kowloon · Yew Chung International School - Hong Kong |
Congratulations to all the winners! Last but not least, we wish to express our gratitude to all the judges of the competition, and thank all the participants who helped make it a success.