CEPU bridges research-policy divide

May 28, 2025

Valuable insights:

Prof Naubahar Sharif (left), reappointed as a member of the Chief Executive’s Policy Unit Expert Group, commends the CEPU’s engagement in informed policy-making.

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Voiceover:

The Government announced today the reappointment of 59 members of the Chief Executive’s Policy Unit, or CEPU, Expert Group. They include Prof Naubahar Sharif from the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology.

Prof Sharif explained why the CEPU’s engagement is extremely valuable in bridging research and policy-making.

Chief Executive’s Policy Unit Head Stephen Wong:

The CEPU visited the Institute for Public Policy at the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology. For us, it is important because part of our mandate is to engage with university professors, but really also a lot of these what we call university think tanks that actually try to convert some of the basic research into what is with impact to society, particularly with respect to public policy.

Chief Executive’s Policy Unit Expert Group member Prof Naubahar Sharif:

Without this connection with the CEPU, it is very difficult to understand what the requirements of Hong Kong society at large are. So the visit to the Institute for Public Policy was extremely beneficial to us because it gave us an idea about the level at which you are operating, how you are looking at strategic long-term policy-making and that in turn gave us an idea for ourselves of how we can contribute to the CEPU’s work.

It gave us more direction for the work we are doing and how we should be pitching our work to make a greater impact for the CEPU, for Hong Kong, for the region, the GBA (Greater Bay Area) and for Greater China.

Voiceover:

The CEPU oversees two funding schemes to support public policy research and knowledge transfer. They comprise the Public Policy Research Funding Scheme, or PPRFS, and the Strategic Public Policy Research Funding Scheme, or SPPRFS.

In his position as CEPU Head, Stephen Wong praised Prof Sharif’s contributions as a reviewer and participation in round-table discussions.

Chief Executive’s Policy Unit Head Stephen Wong:

On our PPRFS, what we call the Public Policy Funding Scheme, which is an important platform for us to, through the funding, we are able to connect with researchers in universities and in think tanks.

But more importantly, we are able to have professors and experts like you to be able to actually hold up the quality and guard as our assessors or reviewers.

Chief Executive’s Policy Unit Expert Group member Prof Naubahar Sharif:

I see my role as a reviewer to play into that process of high integrity, scientific quality of the proposal, and also to ensure that the process is as impartial and objective as possible. So I am very happy to take on those review requests.

Chief Executive’s Policy Unit Head Stephen Wong:

We try to increase the impact of this funding programme, there are a number of things that we have been doing that you participated in.

For example, we host an opening session or kick-off meetings or conclusion meetings for these projects.

Chief Executive’s Policy Unit Expert Group member Prof Naubahar Sharif:

I think the biggest contribution of these kick-off meetings and concluding meetings is that it brings the project to life.

If we did not have those sessions, we only know about the PPRFS and the SPPRFS from the websites.

Everything is public, but we do not have a qualitative understanding of the variety of stakeholders and the depth of impact it has had on these different stakeholders.

So it acts as a great platform.

Voiceover:

Meanwhile,  Fireside Chat with CEPU Experts facilitates thematic discussions, which Prof Sharif called a highlight for fostering dynamic exchanges among high-level stakeholders.

Chief Executive’s Policy Unit Head Stephen Wong:

For example, (we are) talking about the reform of the education sector. And we talk about the future of China’s economy. We are going to talk about AI (artificial intelligence) in the next session.

Chief Executive’s Policy Unit Expert Group member Prof Naubahar Sharif:

I might be an expert from an academic point of view, but I am not an expert from an industry participant’s point of view. I am not an expert from a legislator's point of view.

But these expert sessions bring together different stakeholders, legislators, industry participants, academics, policy-makers in the same room.

So these fireside chats are definitely the highlight because you are bringing together such high-powered individuals and so much intellectual firepower into the same room for one and a half hours or two hours that it is a really powerful process.

The Government announced today the reappointment of 59 members of the Chief Executive’s Policy Unit (CEPU) Expert Group.

Among those reappointed is Prof Naubahar Sharif, Head and Professor of the Division of Public Policy at the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology (HKUST).

Prof Sharif hailed the CEPU’s engagement as “extremely valuable” in bridging research and policy-making, highlighting that it helps researchers to understand the requirements of Hong Kong society at large.

For his part, CEPU Head Stephen Wong cited a visit by the CEPU to HKUST’s Institute of Public Policy as an example of the body’s mission to engage with university professors and think tanks striving to convert basic research into outcomes with real societal impact.

Prof Sharif echoed Mr Wong’s perspective, stressing that it can be difficult for the research community to understand the broader requirements of Hong Kong society without the bridging role performed by the CEPU.

He added that this interaction gives all parties an understanding of the level at which the CEPU operates, its vision for strategic long-term policy-making, and how researchers should pitch their work to generate greater impact for Hong Kong, the Greater Bay Area, and the country as a whole.

“Without such direction, I think we are doing great work, but that great work may be a little bit unmoored.”

The CEPU oversees two funding schemes to support public policy research and knowledge transfer. These are the Public Policy Research Funding Scheme (PPRFS) and the Strategic Public Policy Research Funding Scheme (SPPRFS).

Mr Wong praised Prof Sharif’s contributions as a reviewer and his participation in round-table discussions at meetings to kick off or conclude projects under both schemes.

Prof Sharif outlined that he sees his role as a reviewer as being about upholding the high integrity of the process and the scientific quality of proposals, in addition to maintaining the utmost impartiality and objectivity. He added that the biggest contribution made by the project meetings is that they bring the projects to life, enabling a qualitative understanding both of the variety of stakeholders and the depth of impact involved.

“If we did not have those sessions, we would only know about the PPRFS and the SPPRFS from the websites.”

Meanwhile, “Fireside Chat with CEPU Experts” facilitates thematic discussions. Calling these a highlight, Prof Sharif explained that they foster dynamic exchanges among high-level stakeholders.

Mr Wong revealed that the topics covered in fireside chats to date have included educational reform in Hong Kong and the future of China’s economy, while the next one will focus on artificial intelligence.

Prof Sharif elaborated that these sessions create a spark among experts across different fields, allowing legislators, policy-makers, academics and industry participants to interact and collaborate.

“You are bringing together such high-powered individuals and so much intellectual firepower into the same room for one and a half hours or two hours that it is a really powerful process.”