A briefing on 2020 Macao Science and Technology Awards and Three Funding Schemes took place at 3:30pm yesterday on the 7^th floor at Centro Comercial Cheng Feng. Ma Chi Ngai Frederico, President of the Administrative Committee under the Science and Technology Development Fund (FDCT) emphasized in the section that FDCT had been strictly carrying out the evaluation of the applications for the Awards and it is a process of selecting the best of the best.

Ma said in his speech and an interview that all peer-review experts were chosen by the Ministry of Science and Technology from the “National Science and Technology Award Review Expert Database”. Unlike its previous versions, this year’s award evaluation committee consists of Yang Wei, former President of the National Natural Science Foundation of China and a number of national academicians, who were invited for gaining an insight of the gap of technological development level between Macao and mainland China.

He explained that for projects to be selected, they should not merely yield influential results and have social and economic benefits but also stand out in other aspects; not being selected only means that their results need to be strengthened and it does not mean that the committee denies the projects’ scientific merit and social contribution.

In the past four editions of the Awards, three projects received Special Award and 65 projects were honored with Science and Technology Award while 120 postgraduates won Scientific and Technological R&D Award for Postgraduates. The Awards this year includes Science and Technology Award, Scientific and Technological R&D Award for Postgraduates and Special Award. The Science and Technology Award contains Natural Science Award, Technological Invention Award and Science and Technology Progress Award. Applications are accepted once every two years. Online application is open until 14^th February and printed application forms shall be submitted by 21^st February.
There shall be no more than five recipients for each winning project of the Science and Technology Award, which will be given to 1^st, 2^nd, and 3^rd prize winners with a purse of between MOP200,000 to MOP1 million.

There shall be no more than 30 recipients of the Scientific and Technological R&D Award for Postgraduates, which will come with a purse of MOP80,000 for doctoral degree students and of MOP60,000 for master's degree students.

The President noted that FDCT had been expanding the fund’s coverage by rolling out new funding schemes every year. This year it will launch two new funding schemes and an upgraded postdoctoral researchers funding scheme to support Macao’s science and technological development comprehensively. The three schemes are the Funding Scheme for Laboratories and R&D Centers, the Funding Scheme for Overseas Training of Young Scientific Researchers of Higher Education Institutions and the Funding Scheme for Postdoctoral Researchers at Higher Education Institutions.

The Funding Scheme for Laboratories and R&D Centers is open for applications until 15^th April. It will issue gratuitous funds to no more than five laboratories or R&D centers, with each entitling to a maximum of MOP 20 million allocated by installments over three years.
The Funding Scheme for Overseas Training of Young Scientific Researchers of Higher Education Institutions is open for applications until 31^st March. Under the Scheme, FDCT will issue a monthly grant of MOP 30,000 to every participant and the amount for less than a month will be calculated proportionally. The funds will cover Macao researchers’ costs of travelling to and from the host university for research purpose and their living expenses there. They will be granted to no more than 40 researchers every year.
           
The Funding Scheme for Postdoctoral Researchers at Higher Education Institutions is open for application until 31^st March. It will issue gratuitous funds to up to 50 recipients, with each full-time postdoctoral researchers receiving a monthly grant of MOP 40,000 for a maximum of 24 months.
 
Extracted from a report from Macao Daily News, 16^th January, 2020, http://www.macaodaily.com/html/2020-01/16/content_1409641.htm




Address by Ma Chi Ngai Frederico, President of FDCT Administrative Committee



Questions answered by Cheang Kun Wai, member of FDCT Administrative Committee, Liu Liang Gang, Advisor on science and technology from FDCT and Ip Kuai Lam, senior manager of FDCT S&T Development and Research Department


Participants actively posing questions