The Croucher Foundation is a private trust set up by the late Noel Croucher, one of the founders of the Hong Kong Stock Exchange and a British businessman in Hong Kong for over 70 years. It is a private, independent foundation based in Hong Kong without affiliation to any organisation.  It derives income entirely from its own global investments and does not accept donations or support from any government.  In 2006, the Croucher Foundation Limited has been formed as a separate entity to take over all the grant-making responsibilities of the Foundation.  Unless otherwise stated, all the grants introduced on this website are offered by the Croucher Foundation Limited.

The Foundation is governed by a Board whose present Chairman is Professor Y.W. Kan, FRS. Its main office is in Hong Kong.

The Foundation specializes in promoting the standard of natural science, technology and medicine in Hong Kong through awards and grants to scientists based in and serving Hong Kong. The work of the Foundation has been conducted with the support of panels of international experts invited to assess the scientific values of individual projects.

To facilitate Hong Kong's relations in science with mainland China and internationally, the Foundation has partnership agreements with scientific bodies including the Chinese Academy of Sciences, DAAD in Germany; and CNRS, INRIA and Institut Pasteur in France.  These partnerships generate collaborative activities funded by the Foundation, which also provides exploratory occasional grants for exchanges with countries ready to take an interest in working with Hong Kong, such as the Czech Republic.

Types of Support

The regular grants programme operated by the Croucher Foundation Limited include the following:

• Scholarships, Fellowships and Research Studentships for doctoral and postdoctoral level studies in Hong Kong and abroad;
• Senior Fellowships for in-service researchers and teachers in universities;
• Sponsorship of international conferences and symposia held in Hong Kong;
• Visitorships for Mainland Chinese scientists to undertake six-month attachments in tertiary institutions in Hong Kong;
• Advanced Study Institutes which provide opportunities for senior scientists to exchange views on highly focused scientific topics in one-week intensive sessions with presentations made by leading international scientists;
• The CAS-Croucher Funding Scheme  to facilitate collaborative research between Hong Kong scientists and Chinese mainland scientists under the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Grants must normally be held in Hong Kong, with the exception of scholarships and fellowships, which are tenable outside Hong Kong.

The Foundation makes grants to specific programmes but does not provide open-ended donations.  It believes it is important to develop highly qualified scientists as a pre-condition of scientific and technological development.  Strategically, the scholarship and fellowship programmes target young scientists in their formative years, encouraging lifelong careers in science; the senior fellowship programmes provide for senior scientists who wish, by taking sabbatical leave, to focus on research; visitorships, conference sponsorship and special project grants provide opportunities for international exchange.  The Foundation does not, however, favour programmes which should be funded by Government, to avoid duplicating roles.

Last Modified: 03/10/2007

Copyright (C) 2007 Croucher Foundation. All rights reserved.