Funding Scheme for Innovation and Research of Enterprises – Matching Projects

Application Period:January 1 to January 10, April 1 to April 10, July 1 to July 10, and October 1 to October 10, 2025. (If the 10th is a holiday, the deadline will be postponed to the first working day after the holiday.)
Important notice : The signed application and relevant attachments must be submitted to the Fund before the deadline (during office hours).


Objectives Maximum Amount of Funding Funding Recipients Application Eligibility  Application Conditions Application Period Type and Scope of Funding
Priority of Support Collaboratives Research and Supporting Input Expenditure Eligible for Funding Application Documents  Submission of Application Preliminary Analysis Assessment Method and Criteria
Funding Approval Funding Duration Result Requirements Other Content Download    

                                 
I. Objectives

To align with the policy address of the Government of the Macao Special Administrative Region, the Science and Technology Development Fund (hereinafter referred to as the “FDCT”) is to launch the Funding Scheme for Innovation and Research of Enterprises (hereinafter referred to as the “Scheme”) in accordance with the relevant provisions of the current Public Financial Aid System of the Macao Special Administrative Region, the Statutes of the Fund for the Development of Science and Technology, and the Funding Regulations of the Science and Technology Development Fund. The Scheme aims to set up multi-level funding categories to support technology enterprises at different stages of development to carry out various types of technological research, encourage industry-academia-research collaboration, promote the transformation of applied research results, focus on the transformation and cultivation of mature research results, and enhance the contribution of scientific and technological innovations to the social and economic development of Macao.

II. Maximum Amount of Funding

The Scheme supports R&D projects initiated by successful matching with tertiary institutions via the "Industry-Academia-Research Matching Platform" of FDCT. The funding amount applied for this type shall not exceed MOP250,000, or MOP500,000 if the technology provider is a local tertiary institution.

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III. Funding Recipients

Commercial entrepreneurs or commercial enterprises registered in the Macao Special Administrative Region.
 
 

IV. Application Eligibility

  1. The application shall be made by the entity with legal personality referred to in the preceding article. If an entity does not have a legal personality, the application shall be made through the entity with legal personality to which it belongs.
  2. The applicant shall not owe any tax or social security contributions to the Macao SAR.
  3. The applicant shall meet the following conditions:
    1. The applicant shall be registered in the Macao Special Administrative Region for one year or more. For an incubating enterprise of the national-level maker space in Macao, the registration period can be less than one year.
    2. The applicant has no less than three full-time employees. For an incubating enterprise of the national-level maker space in Macao, the number of full-time employees may be less than three.

V. Application Conditions

  1. Each research project must have a project leader who is responsible for leading and coordinating the project (hereinafter referred to as "project leader").
  2. At the time of project closure, the technology maturity shall reach Level 5 or above.
  3. For matching projects, the project under application shall be a R&D project successfully matched with a tertiary institution through the "Industry-Academia-Research Matching Platform" of FDCT.
 

VI. Application Period

January 1 to January 10, April 1 to April 10, August 1 to August 10, and October 1 to October 10, 2025. (If the 10th is a holiday, the deadline will be postponed to the first working day after the holiday.)

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VII. Type and Scope of Funding

  1. The funding type of the Scheme is non-reimbursable.
  2. Scope of funding: Projects in line with the purpose of the FDCT and the objectives of the Scheme.


VIII. Priority of Support

  1. Cooperation with tertiary institutions of Macao.
  2. Priority will be given to research and industrial development projects that are in line with the policies such as the Second Five-Year Plan for Economic and Social Development of the Macao Special Administrative Region (2021-2025), the Development Plan for Appropriate Economic Diversification of the Macao Special Administrative Region (2024-2028), the Policy Address for the Fiscal Year 2025, and the relevant plans and programs of the Guangdong-Macao In-Depth Cooperation Zone in Hengqin, especially projects that can promote traditional Chinese medicine, integrated circuits, electronic components, Internet of Things, big data, AI, new energy, space science, advanced materials and biomedicine.

IX. Collaboratives Research and Supporting Input

  1. Industry-academia-research collaborative research of projects under the Scheme is encouraged.
  2. The applicant shall invest supporting R&D funds, which shall not be less than the amount funded by the FDCT. If the applicant is currently an incubating enterprise of the national-level maker space in Macao, the amount of supporting funds invested shall be no less than 50% of the amount funded by the FDCT.
  3. The supporting inputs shall meet the requirements of Expenditure Eligible for Funding.
 

X. Expenditure Eligible for Funding

  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

The application documents shall include the following materials:
  1. The applicant's identification information and relevant supporting documents.
  2. Certificate for Commercial Registration issued by competent authorities in the past three months.
  3. Copy of the Supplemental Income Tax Return (M1) in the last year.
  4. 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.
  5. 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.
  6. 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.
  7. An application proposal containing a detailed description of the project, which shall set out in detail the estimated amount of the project.
  8. A statement of responsibility for the project.
  9. A cooperation agreement or memorandum of understanding signed with a partner (if any).
  10. Other materials required by the application guidelines (if any).
 

XII. Submission of Application

  1. Applicants shall prepare applications in any of the official languages of the Macao SAR or in English.
  2. The application shall be made via the Online Industry-University-Research Matching Platform of FDCT.
    1. 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).
    2. 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 after the application deadline 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 provisions of Article 4.
    2. The applicant is on the list of mandatory levies and overdue returns of the FDCT.
    3. The applicant is a debtor to the treasury of the Macao SAR.
    4. The application conditions do not meet the provisions of Article 5 of the Scheme.
    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 conform to the provisions of Article 9.
    9. The application documents do not meet the provisions 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. Evaluation of technology and results.
    2. Qualifications of the applicant.
    3. Project planning.
  4. The Administrative Committee of the FDCT may develop review 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 on the application after considering the analysis of the application documents and the review opinions.
  2. 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.
  3. The funds will be disbursed by installments in the manner as described in the Consent of Funding.
 

XVI、Funding Duration

No more than one year.  

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XVII. Result Requirements

  1. The expected results shall include outputs such as software, hardware (prototypes, samples), technical standards, formulations, new materials, and new processes, and the economic or social benefits that will be brought about by the implementation of the project shall also be stated.
  2. At the time of project closure, the technology maturity shall reach Level 5 or above.

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 Innovation and Research of Enterprises.

XIX. Download

Document Name
Assessment Indicators and Explanations
Office address: Avenida do Infante D. Henrique, No. 43-53A, Macau Square, 8th Floor, Unit C and 11th Floor, Unit K, Macao (To apply for project funding, please go to 11th Floor, Unit K)
Office hours: Monday to Thursday: 9:00-13:00, 14:30-17:45;Friday: 9:00-13:00, 14:30-17:30;Tel.: 28788777
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