The Research Grants Council has approved 888 projects from University Grants Committee-funded institutions, involving $512.5 million.  

The council's Chairman Prof Roland Chin said the number of funded projects and the funds awarded rose 14% and 15% over a year earlier.

The council received a record 2,168 General Research Fund applications from the academic staff of the eight institutions, up 4% on last year.

Of the 888 projects, 373 were in the engineering disciplines, 176 in areas related to humanities, social sciences and business studies, 171 in disciplines concerning biology and medicine, and 168 in physical sciences, chemical engineering and mathematics.

The council has also announced the result of the sixth round of the Public Policy Research Funding Scheme.

Of the total 44 research proposals received, the council decided to fund seven projects with a total amount of $3.9 million.