Research Endowment Fund

First established in 2009 with an injection of $18 billion to provide stable research funding for the eight institutions funded by the University Grants Committee (UGC) through the Research Grants Committee (RGC), the Research Endowment Fund (REF) now has a total injection of $23 billion, including $3 billion dedicating to support the self-financing degree sector to enhance academic and research development. 

Three Funding Schemes are available for the local self-financing degree sector:

Faculty Development Scheme (FDS)
Institutional Development Scheme (IDS)
Inter-Institutional Development Scheme (IIDS)

Please refer to the following website for more details.
https://www.ugc.edu.hk/eng/rgc/funding_opport/