Research assessment in Hong Kong

A system of research assessment was developed and implemented inHong Kong during the period from 1991 to 1994 as an input to theassessment of the public recurrent funding allocations of theterritory's higher education institutions and as an extension ofthe University Grants Committee's other quality assuranceactivities. Refinements were subsequently introduced for the nexttwo assessment exercises in 1996 and 1999. This paper describesthe evolution of the process, identifies some significantdifferences from that in the UK on which it was modelled, andevaluates the 1999 research assessment exercise, in particularthe application in that context of the Carnegie Foundation'sdefinitions of research and research-related scholarlyactivities, viz. the scholarships of ``discovery, integration,application and teaching''.