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Funding Scheme for External Science and Technology Cooperation

International Collaborative Research

Application Period : April 1, 2025, to April 30, 2025
Important notice : The signed application and relevant attachments must be submitted to the Fund before the deadline (during office hours).​​

I. Objectives

II. Maximum Funding Amount

III. Funding Recipients

1. Public higher education institutions or public medical institutions in the Macao SAR;
2. Private higher education institutions established by law in the Macao SAR.
3. Private non-profit-making entities established by law in the Macao SAR.
4. Commercial entrepreneurs or commercial enterprises registered in the Macao SAR.

IV. Application Eligibility

1. Entities with legal personality referred to in the preceding paragraph are eligible to apply for funding.
2. If an entity referred to in the preceding paragraph does not have a legal personality, the application shall be made through the entity with legal personality to which it belongs.
3. If the funding recipient is a commercial entrepreneur or commercial enterprise referred to in item (4) of the preceding paragraph, and the application amount does not exceed MOP1 million, the following requirements shall also be met:
   1. ​The commercial entrepreneur or commercial enterprise shall be registered in the Macao Special Administrative Region for one year or more. For incubating enterprises of the national-level maker space in Macao, the registration period can be less than one year.
   2. There are no less than three full-time employees. If the number of full-time employees is less than three, recommendation by a national-level maker space established in Macao is required.
4. ​If the funding recipient is a commercial entrepreneur or commercial enterprise referred to in item (4) of the preceding paragraph, and the application amount exceeds MOP1 million, any of the following qualifications shall also be met:
   1. ​Enterprises accredited under the Technology Enterprise Certification Programme of the Economic and Technological Development Bureau (DSEDT).
   2. “Enterprises engaged in technological innovation business” recognized by the “Commission for the Review of Enterprises Engaged in Technological Innovation Business” as stipulated in Article 6 of the Policy of Tax Incentives for Enterprises Engaged in Technological Innovation Business (Law No. 1/2021).
5. ​The collaborating foreign organizations shall meet any of the following conditions:
   1. ​Foreign higher education institutions ranked in the top 200 in any of the latest editions of Times, QS, US News or ARWU.
   2. Foreign higher education institutions ranked in the top 100 in any discipline by the latest edition of Times, QS, US News or ARWU.
   3. Foreign enterprises in the latest list of Fortune 500.
   4. Higher education institutions, research institutes or business enterprises established by law in Portuguese-speaking countries participating in the Forum for Economic and Trade Co-operation between China and Portuguese-speaking Countries (Macao).

V. Relevant Conditions

1. The expenditure eligible for funding includes the following expenses incurred for the implementation of the project:
   1. Personnel expenses.
   2. Expenses on acquiring the necessary new machinery and equipment by any means.
   3. Expenses on consumable materials, reagents, and equipment maintenance.
   4. Direct costs of patent application.
   5. Other derivative expenses.
2. Other derivative expenses referred to in e of the preceding paragraph do not include:
   1. Expense on the establishment of the recipient entity.
   2. Electricity, water, telephone charge and other expenses of a similar nature.
   3. Entertainment.
   4. Audit fee.
   5. Expense on the acquisition of vehicles, except for experimental purposes.
   6. Expense on construction, acquisition and repayment of real estate by installments.
   7. Other expenditures ineligible for funding as stipulated in the General Guidelines for Project Management of the Science and Technology Development Fund, the approval decision and the consent of funding.

XI. Application Documents

1. The applicant’s identification information and relevant supporting documents.
2. If the applicant is a commercial entrepreneur or commercial enterprise, a business registration certificate issued by the competent authority in the last three months and a copy of the Supplemental Income Tax Return (M1) in the last 1 year are required.
3. A document issued by the competent authority in the last three months certifying that the applicant does not owe any tax or social security contributions to the Macao SAR.
4. Information on other projects financed by public funds and other pending applications submitted by the same applicant for the purpose of applying for the funding.
5. Identification information and curriculum vitae of the project leader and members, as well as information on the time allocated to the implementation of the project.
6. An application proposal containing a detailed description of the project, which shall set out in detail the estimated amount of the project.
7. A statement of responsibility for the project.
8. A cooperation agreement or memorandum of understanding or letter of intent signed with the cooperating party.
9. The collaborating foreign organizations shall conform to the supporting information in Article 4.

XII. Submission of Application

1. Applicants shall prepare applications in any of the official languages of the Macao SAR or in English.
2. Applicants who have applied for an electronic signature shall submit the application documents via the online application system of the FDCT on or before the deadline (during office hours).
3. Applicants who have not applied for electronic signature shall, in addition to submitting the application documents via the online application system of the FDCT on or before the deadline (during office hours), deliver the signed and stamped application documents to the FDCT.

XIII. Preliminary Analysis

1. The FDCT will conduct a preliminary analysis of the application documents after the application deadline, respectively, to verify whether the application has the required documents under the Scheme and whether the applicant meets the conditions for funding approval.
2. If the documents required for the application are not sufficient, the FDCT will request the applicant to supplement materials within 15 days, if necessary.
3. Applications under any of the following circumstances will not be accepted for review and will be rejected by the FDCT, and the relevant applicant will be notified by letter:
   1. The applicant does not meet the requirements of Article 3.
   2. For applications for international collaborative research, the collaborating foreign organizations does not meet the requirements of Article 4.
   3. The applicant is on the list of mandatory levies and overdue returns of the FDCT.
   4. The applicant is a debtor to the treasury of the Macao SAR.
   5. The number of active research projects undertaken by the project leader exceeds the maximum number of active research projects that the project leader can undertake under the FDCT.
   6. The project leaders cannot submit a new application for funding.
   7. Multiple applications for the same project are submitted at the same time or the same project has been funded by the FDCT before.
   8. The supporting input (if any) does not meet the requirements of Article 9.
   9. The application documents do not meet the requirements of Article 11.
   10. The applicant fails to supplement or promptly submit relevant application materials after notification.
   11. The applicant violates existing laws and regulations or fails to protect the safety and legal rights and interests of participants.

XIV. Assessment Method and Criteria

1. Before accepting an application, the Administrative Committee of FDCT shall invite five to seven advisors from the list of project advisors to form the Project Advisory Committee.
2. The application documents that may enter the review process will be submitted to the Project Advisory Committee formed by FDCT for review according to the review elements and criteria in the following paragraph.
3. Review elements and criteria:
   1. Project value.
   2. Eligibility of the applicant.
   3. Feasibility, work plan and cooperation foundation of the project.
4. The Administrative Committee of FDCT may formulate specific assessment criteria based on the above review elements.
5. The Administrative Committee of the FDCT may invite external experts to review specific or more complex funding applications.
6. FDCT may conduct site inspection to verify the research conditions of the applicant, interview with the project team and partners (if any) as necessary.

XV. Funding Approval

1. For a project application not exceeding MOP1 million, the Administrative Committee of the FDCT will make a decision after considering the analysis of the application documents and the review opinions.
2. For a project application exceeding MOP1 million, the FDCT will supervise the entity and make a decision on the application after considering the analysis of the application documents and the review opinions.
3. The recipients shall sign the Consent of Funding attached to the approval letter within the time limit to declare that they are aware of and will comply with the approval decision as set out in the approval notice.
4. The funds will be disbursed by installments in the manner as described in the Consent of Funding.

XVI. Funding Term

XVII. Requirements for Output and Intellectual Property Rights

1. It is expected that the research results are not limited to academic results or application results, but may include theses, publications, research (consulting) reports, patents, talent cultivation, software, hardware (prototypes, samples), technical standards, formulas, new materials, new processes, etc.
2. The applicant and the partner shall make ex-ante arrangements for intellectual property issues related to the collaborative research. Through consultation, the applicant shall reach an agreement on intellectual property terms with the partner, and clarify the basic principles of intellectual property ownership and utilization of research results, so as to ensure that it can effectively master and reasonably share the research results and intellectual property rights.

XVIII. For reports, agreed procedures, obligations of beneficiaries, consequences of non-compliance, circumstances of potential penalties, refunding and restitution of grants, administrative, civil, and criminal liabilities, monitoring, appeals, personal data processing, and other important considerations, please refer to the Funding Scheme for External Science and Technology Cooperation.

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