Hong Kong's University Grants Committee （UGC ） announced Wednesday  it would grant a total of HK$99.8 million （US$12.79  million ） to three research programs to enhance Hong  Kong's academic research abilities,according to today's  People's Daily.

    Announcing the selection results of the second  round of its Areas of Excellence（AoE ） scheme, the  UGC said that over the next five years, the funds  would go to Molecular Neuroscience： Basic Research  and Drug Discovery； Chinese Medicine Research and  Further Development ； and Molecular Technology for  Drug Discovery and Synthesis.

    The three research programs will be undertaken  solely or jointly by the Hong Kong University of Science  and Technology（HKUST ）, the Chinese University of  Hong Kong （CUHK）, the City University of Hong Kong  and the Hong Kong Polytechnic University（ HKUST）。

    "Through the scheme, the UGC wants to encourage  institutions to put their strengths together and build  up 'Areas of Excellence' for Hong Kong," said Alice  Lam, UGC Chairman.

    The AoE scheme is an initiative launched by the  UGC in 1998 with the objective of enabling development  in research areas where Hong Kong has particular potentials  and where Hong Kong can develop a competitive edge  internationally.

    In the first round Areas of Excellence scheme,  the UGC funded three projects with a total of HK$126  million （US$16.15 million） for a period of five  years.