BOCHK Science and Technology Innovation Prize FAQs
A. About the Foundation of the Prize
A-1 How was BOCHK Science and Technology Innovation Prize founded?
The BOCHK Science and Technology Innovation Prize (STIP), established by the Hong Kong Alliance of Technology and Innovation and title sponsored by the Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited, is a non-governmental merit-based award. The Greater Bay Area Association of Academicians, Hong Kong Applied Science And Technology Research Institute Company Limited, Hong Kong Cyberport Management Company Limited, Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation, Hong Kong Productivity Council, The Hong Kong Academy of Sciences, Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, City University of Hong Kong, The Hang Seng University of Hong Kong, The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Hong Kong Baptist University, The Education University of Hong Kong, The Hong Kong Polytechnic University, Hong Kong Metropolitan University, Hong Kong Shue Yan University, and Lingnan University are supporting organisations of STIP.
A-2 What are the purposes of STIP?
The STIP rewards outstanding scientists and research teams for their significant achievements in scientific and technological innovation and transformation in Hong Kong, which is committed to encourage researchers and innovators to aim at the forefront of world science and technology, to meet the country's major strategic needs, to impact economic development, and to improve peoples’ livelihood.
B. About BOCHK Science and Technology Innovation Prize
B-1 What are the focuses and eligible fields of STIP?
SITP established FIVE key and eligible fields in response to the nine Strategic Emerging Industries proposed by the nation’s 14th Five-Year Plan and in line with the initiatives that the Hong Kong SAR government focuses on. They are Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Life and Health, New Materials and New Energy, Advanced Manufacturing, and FinTech.
B-2 What is the value of STIP and where does the Prize fund come from?
STIP is title sponsored by The Bank of China (Hong Kong) Limited and pledges HKD 10 million annually. That is HKD 2 million for each field (pre-tax).
B-3 How can the Prize money be used?
There is no restrictions on the use of the prize money of STIP. Awardees have full discretion over the use of prize money.
B-4 Is the STIP awarding one person or a group of people? Will the Grand Prize be shared with group members if awarding the group?
Both scientists and research teams are the awarding targets of STIP. If a team is nominated, the members shall be no more than 5 people; If a team wins the Prize, the prize money will be shared by team members, and each member will receive a trophy and a certificate of honour.
B-5 Is the STIP given annually?
Yes, it's an annual Prize.
C. Eligible Nomination
C-1 What are the nomination requirements?
(1) Awardees should support the Basic Law of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China and hold high social morality and professional ethics.
(2) Technological innovation or scientific research work that is subject of an award should have been primarily completed in Hong Kong.
(3) The candidates should in principle be under the age of 50 at the deadline of nomination, but the age limit can be extended to 55 for exceptional candidates.
(4) Those who have already won this prize will not be considered within 5 years.
D. Nominator
D-1 What are the roles and responsibilities of a Nominator for STIP?
(1) Nominating outstanding scientific workers and research teams, whose technological innovation or scientific research work that is subject of an award should have been primarily completed in Hong Kong, in the fields of Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Life and Health, New Materials and New Energy, Advanced Manufacturing and FinTech.
(2) Submitting the nomination using our nomination portal (www.stip.hk). In the nomination form, Nominators will be asked to provide inputs on how the nominated scientific and technological innovation fulfills the review criteria, namely scientific and technological innovation achievements, the transformation of the achievements, social and economic benefit and value of scientific and technological innovation.
D-2 Who is eligible to become a Nominator? Does the nominator have to be a professor or researcher?
Anyone can be a nominator. Scientists, and entrepreneurs and senior managers from scientific and technological institutions are particularly welcome.
D-3 Can a company or institution be a nominator?
The nominator must be an individual. A company or institution cannot be the nominator, unless it is invited to nominate by the STIP.
D-4 How many people can be nominated at maximum?
A nominator can nominate up to 1 person or 1 team (team members shall not exceed 5) per year.
D-5 As a Nominator, can I nominate someone from my own organisation, or must I nominate someone from elsewhere?
Both are acceptable.
D-6 Can I self-nominate?
Self-nominations are not accepted for STIP.
D-7 What if I am a nominator and another person nominates me in parallel?
That is acceptable as long as you are not nominating yourself.
D-8 Can I use the nominator account registered last year for the nomination of this year?
Yes, you can nominate for this year with the account you registered last year.
E. Nominee
E-1 Is it possible to nominate a person/team who has already been recognized by other awards?
Yes, and such nominations are encouraged if they meet the criteria of STIP. Prior recognition from other organisations or institutions has no bearing on the eligibility of a nomination.
E-2 Can I nominate an organisation, an institution or a company or does it have to be an individual?
A Prize may be awarded to a group of scientists or an individual scientist. The number of recipients shall be no more than five for a group. Science is collaborative in nature, and breakthrough discoveries are frequently the result of a team’s collective efforts. As such, we have decided to honour all key contributors. We are more interested in the team of scientists who are directly engaged and contribute to the project, rather than the institution itself.
E-3 For some scientific innovations, occasionally there is more than one organisation, even involved in multiple institutions and companies. Can the nominator make an overall nomination for these people, who come from different organisations, institutions and companies?
Yes. The nominator can identify no more than five essential contributors for the scientific and technological innovation from different organisations, institutions and companies, and make an overall nomination by nominating a team.
E-4 Should I contact the nominee so that he/she will not be nominated multiple times by other people?
We value the perspectives of multiple nominators and accept a nominee nominated multiple times.
E-5 Does the nominee have to be a Hong Kong permanent resident?
No. There is no such a restriction. We hold each nomination in the highest regards, and as such, we encourage all nominations regardless of the nominee(s)’ country of origin, background , religious belief or social status. But please note that one of the nomination requirements is that technological innovation or scientific research work that is subject of an award should have been primarily completed in Hong Kong.
F. Nomination Process
F-1 How do I choose if my nominated research spans more than one eligible field? Can I select multiple fields?
You can select one field in which the nominee has more advantages. Multiple choice in eligible fields is not acceptable for STIP.
F-2 What documents are required for the nomination?
We require personal information about the nominator and nominee(s), nomination reasons, two third-party letters of recommendation, nominee(s)’ curriculum vitae and a list of best ten pieces of work with supporting materials.
F-3 What level of detail should the nomination form contain?
You can access the nomination form on our online portal. We strongly recommend you do that before starting to prepare your nomination materials. Please note that some answer boxes have a word limit or file upload limit. Nonetheless, we shall emphasize that the nomination’s most critical components are the significance of the nominated technologies/innovations and their impact.
F-4 What are the supporting materials that the nominator should upload?
You can upload up to 10 files regarding the best 10 pieces of work of the nominee or other supportive files that you believe would strengthen your nomination. The supporting materials are valuable for our Review Committee in the decision-making process.
F-5 Who can provide the reference letters? Do the referees have to be scientists?
The reference letters shall come from two endorsers (beyond the nominator) who know the nominee’s work very well. The referees do not have to be scientists, but we hope that the recommendation letters can have a clear and credible description and evaluation of the nominee's scientific and technological achievements and its impact, which will be extremely helpful to us.
F-6 Is the nominator required to inform the nominee and have his/her consent for the nomination?
We keep the information about the nominations confidential, and encourage the nominators to keep their nominations confidential as well, on which however, we do not have a specific requirement. It is at the nominator's discretion to contact the nominee to ask for their consent.
F-7 Once a nomination is submitted, how many years will it be kept for consideration, or does it have to be resubmitted every year？
The nomination form must be resubmitted every year during the nomination period.
F-8 Are nomination materials subject to approval by the nominator’s institution?
There is no such a requirement.
G. Review Process
G-1 Who will conduct the review work?
The Review Committee is the implementing agency of review for STIP. It shall be responsible for performing the review role, and selecting the final candidates for approval by the Board. The Review Committee will set up several panels according to awarding fields; and consist of experts with great academic, specialist or professional standing and high integrity.
G-2 How will the review work be implemented?
The review process consists of three phases, including pre-selection, pre-review and final review. Pre-selection shall be conducted by the Secretariat for conducting due diligence to ensure the completeness of nomination form. Pre-review shall be conducted by review panels to produce a short list. Final review shall be conducted by the Review Committee to make a decision on awardees for approval by the Board.
G-3 What are the review criteria？
We will focus on scientific and technological innovation achievements, the transformation of the achievements, and the social and economic value created.
G-4 Will nominators be contacted for clarifications during the review process?
If there is a need, we may contact the nominator.
H. Conflict of Interest & Confidentiality
H-1 Is there any guideline on identifying and managing potential conflict of interest in stakeholders?
Disclosures and Abstentions between reviewers and candidates are stated thoroughly in The Article 18 of BOCHK SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY INNOVATION PRIZE Charter: Members of the Review Committee are required to disclose any potential conflict of interest before conducting the review. Conflicts of interest may include but not limited to, colleagueship, teacher-student relationship, familial ties, collaboration for project or publication (within five years of the last collaboration), business partnership, rivalry, nomination, or recommendation. If any familial ties exist between the reviewers and candidates, the reviewers will abstain correspondingly. The Review Committee will decide on the specific implementation of any abstention.
Additionally, we encourage the nominator to state the relationship between him/her with the nominee while filling in the nomination form, which will help us understand the reason for the nomination.
H-2 Can you make the nomination list public?
We do not make the list of nominations public. This is a standard procedure for many global prizes.
H-3 Are nominators’ identitities kept anonymous? Are nominators permitted to contact nominees to obtain additional information for the nominations?
We place a high value on confidentiality and will keep the identities of all nominators and nominees anonymous. You can contact the individual or the group of scientists you are nominating to obtain additional information.
