Teaching Development Grants

Introduction

The Teaching Development Grants (TDG) scheme (the “Scheme”) aims to empower academic and teaching staff to enhance the quality of teaching and learning at the University. The Scheme’s primary emphasis is on fostering pedagogical innovation and advancing the scholarship of teaching and learning (SoTL).

As usual practice, the TDG continue to align closely and strategically with the University’s Overall Plan for the Teaching Development and Language Enhancement Grant (TDLEG), and its underpinning emphases and themes laid by the UGC and the University¹. In the triennium of 2025-28, the TDG will focus on the following areas:

• Enhancing flexible and adaptive curriculum through flipped and blended learning
• Advancing transdisciplinary education and personalised learning
• Designing and implementing authentic assessment
• Fostering holistic student support for personal growth and well-being
• Expanding experiential and service-learning opportunities
• Deepening contextualised and solution-based learning
• Raising student competence for reasonable and critical use of technologies

Permeating the above areas, several approaches are particularly valued:

• Integrating generative AI and educational technology into teaching and learning
• Involving students as partners
• Sustaining collaboration and partnerships
• Collecting evidence to gauge the effectiveness of pedagogical innovations

Application Timeline

In the 2025-28 triennium, the Scheme will invite proposals twice per academic year, with the details of the present call for proposals as follows:

• Proposal submission deadline: 31 December 2025
• Announcement of results: Mid-late February 2026

Under normal circumstances, approved projects should start within six months after the result announcement, i.e., between March and August 2026. Projects to be initiated later than August 2026 should be proposed in the next call for proposals scheduled for May/June 2026.

Funding Categories

The Scheme mainly supports projects which fall into two following categories:

Eligibility

All full-time academic and teaching staff at the University are eligible to be the Principal Investigators (PIs) and budget controllers of their own approved TDG projects. Other eligibility criteria shall include the following:

• UGC-funded students must be the primary target beneficiaries.
• An applicant can submit only ONE proposal with themself as the PI in each call for proposals.
• A PI shall not hold more than one TDG project concurrently.
• Applicants with previously granted and completed TDG projects in the PI role must have the final report submitted.
• Applicants for TDG (Seed Funding) should be in their first teaching position for three years or less.

Other staff members and students of the University, as well as external members, could be included as the Co-Investigators (Co-Is) of the project.

Application

1.   Application Template

The proposal should be developed using the standard template: TDG (Regular) or TDG (Seed Funding). All proposals must be endorsed by the PI’s affiliated Faculty/Department³.

2.   Proposal Submission

The completed and endorsed proposals should be submitted via this link by the end of 31 December 2025. Submissions should be made in Word or PDF format. Delayed submissions and submissions made through other channels will not be accepted.

3.   Ethical Clearance

The PI must submit their proposal to the Human (non-clinical) Research Ethics Panel of the Research Ethics Committee (REC) to obtain ethics/safety clearance. Formal project approval and project account opening will only be proceeded upon receipt of ethical clearance from the REC.

Use of Funding and Funding Categories

The approved funding should be strictly limited to the uses for supporting project delivery. No additional funding will be provided for the approved project, and it is the responsibility of the PI to ensure the project is completed within the approved timeframe and budget. A detailed budget and justifications for all expense items should be outlined in the submitted proposal. Please refer to the Guideline for the Use of TDG Funding when devising and executing the budget plan. 

Review and Criteria

Review of received proposals will be conducted by the TDG Panel based on the following criteria:

• Demonstrating strong alignment with the University’s strategic directions¹ and the TDG focus areas (2025-28) and contributing to student achievement of the HKBU Graduate Attributes.
• Addressing pertinent teaching and learning issues at HKBU through innovative pedagogical approaches, contributing to the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning.
• Being thoughtfully designed with feasible implementation plans and appropriate budgets, drawing on relevant expertise.
• Defining achievable outcomes with appropriate KPIs and supported by a robust mechanism for evidence-based evaluation and ongoing monitoring.
• Demonstrating strong potential for sustainability and future expansion, with effective means for disseminating project outcomes and deliverables.

While these aforementioned criteria remain to be the major factors leading to project approval, higher priority will be given to proposals of similar quality with the PI’s Department/Faculty contributing matching funds (e.g., 10% of the approved project amount) to their projects. This shall boost project ownership among the PIs and also ensure the sustainability of innovative pedagogies and practices beyond project completion.  Depending on the merit and needs of the proposed project, the amount of approved funding may differ from the amount requested by the applicant.

In general, the following cases are normally not supported by the TDG Panel:

• Projects with content foci deviating from teaching and learning enhancement (e.g., career guidance and training of skills to prepare for students’ job-seeking process)
• Projects that lack innovation (e.g., developing software which is similar to existing software available in the market or compiling existing materials)
• One-off activities with low impact and sustainability
• Projects similar to ongoing TDG-supported ones in the same or other departments
• A similar subject had been undertaken by the same academic/teaching staff before

Reporting Requirements

A final report must be submitted within three months after project completion. For TDG (Regular) projects that last for 18 months or longer, an interim report must be submitted within one month after the end of the first project year. Templates for the final and interim reports will be provided in due course.

Any major changes to the approved project require approval from the TDG Panel. Examples of major changes include deviation from the approved budget plan and changes to the project start and completion dates. Guidelines for seeking such approvals will be shared with PIs.

Enquiries

For enquiries, please email chtl@hkbu.edu.hk or contact Dr Louis CAI (ext. 7384) or Dr Theresa KWONG (ext. 8083).

¹ Including (a) TDLEG’s key areas and themes suggested by the UGC, (b) the Features of Good Practice highlighted in the Report of the third cycle of UGC-QAC Quality Audit of HKBU, (c) HKBU’s Institutional Strategic Plan (ISP) 2018-28, and (d) HKBU’s Planning Exercise Proposal (PEP) 2025-28 and UGC’s feedback.

² The ceiling is only for funding sought from the TDG scheme, on top of which Faculty/School or Departmental contributions are encouraged. Projects that request HK$20,000 or below should seek direct support from their corresponding departments (including Academies and Central Teaching and Learning Units).

³ Faculties” refer to Faculties and Schools collectively. “Departments” refer to Academies, Departments, and Central Teaching and Learning Units collectively.