1.Prelude

1.1 Introduction

1.1.1 This policy is made according to Clause6.4 of theSupport Measures for Scientific Research, Innovation and Startups in the Shenzhen Park of Hetao Shenzhen-Hong Kong Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation Zone and Clause50 of the Notice of the Party Committee and People’s Government of Futian District, Shenzhen City, on Several Measures for Further Implementing the Futian Talent Pool Program (Fu Fa [2019] No.4).

2.Content of the Policy

2.1 The research master's or doctoral candidates of Hong Kong-based universities/colleges who conduct research at the scientific research institutes or laboratories of such universities/colleges within the Shenzhen Park will be, according to actual hours of work, given a living allowance amounting to50% of that given by their schools and a special academic subsidy of RMB10,000 per person per year, provided that they have worked for at least four (4) months in the Shenzhen Park on a yearly basis. Post-doctoral researchers of Hong Kong-based universities/colleges who conduct research at the scientific research institutes or laboratories of such universities/colleges within the Shenzhen Park will be, according to actual hours of work, given a living allowance amounting to50% of that given by the Innovation and Technology Fund of the Hong Kong Government, provided that they have worked for at least one (1) month in the Shenzhen Park on a yearly basis. Full-time master’s or doctoral candidates of scientific research organizations registered in Shenzhen who conduct research in the Shenzhen Park will be given a special academic subsidy of RMB10,000 per person per year, provided that they have worked for six (6) months in the Shenzhen Park on a yearly basis. Full-time post-doctoral candidates of scientific research organizations registered in Shenzhen who conduct research in the Shenzhen Park will be given a special academic subsidy of RMB30,000 per person per year, provided that they have worked for two (2) months in the Shenzhen Park on a yearly basis.

3. Requirements for Application

3.1 The applicants can be research master’s or doctoral candidates of Hong Kong universities/colleges who conduct research at the research institutes or laboratories of such universities/colleges within the Shenzhen Park. In this case, they shallbe required to meet the following conditions that:

(a)They shall engage in research at the research institutes or laboratories of their own universities/colleges within the Shenzhen Park;

(b) They shall be registered students of the home campus of Hong Kong universities/colleges; and

(c) They shall work in the Shenzhen Park at least four (4) months on a yearly basis.

3.2 The applicants can be post-doctoral researchers of Hong Kong universities/colleges who conduct research at the research institutes or laboratories incorporated in the Shenzhen Park. In this case, they shallbe required to meet the following conditions that:

(a)They shall engage in research at the research institutes or laboratories incorporated in the Shenzhen Park;

(b)They shall conduct post-doctoral research at Hong Kong-based universities/colleges; and

(c) They shall work in the Shenzhen Park at least one (1) month on a yearly basis.  

3.3 The applicants can be full-time master’s or doctoral candidates of research organizations registered in Shenzhen who conduct research in the Shenzhen Park.

(a)They shall engage in research in the Shenzhen Park;

(b) They shall be registered students of the research organizations registered in Shenzhen; and

(c) They shall work in the Shenzhen Park at least six (6) months on a yearly basis.  

3.4 They can also be post-doctoral researchers of research organizations registered in Shenzhen who conduct research in the Shenzhen Park. In this case, they shall be required to meet the following conditions that:

(a)They shall engage in research in the Shenzhen Park;

(b)They shall conduct post-doctoral research at the research organizations registered in Shenzhen; and

(c)They shall work in the Shenzhen Park for at least two (2) months on a yearly basis.  

4.Support Measures

4.1 Researchers meeting the conditions under Clause3.1 shall be given a monthly living allowance amounting to50% of that given by their schools and a special academic subsidy of RMB10,000 per person per year.

4.2 Researchers meeting the conditions under Clause3.2 shall be given a monthly living allowance amounting to50% of that given by the Innovation and Technology Fund of the Hong Kong Government according to actual hours of work.

4.3 Researchers meeting the conditions under Clause3.3 shall be given a special academic subsidy of RMB10,000 per person per year.

4.4 Researchers meeting the conditions under Clause3.4 shall be given a special academic subsidy of RMB30,000 per person per year.

5.Application Materials

5.1 ApplicationForm for Living Allowance and Special Academic Subsidy for Full-time Master’s/Doctoral Candidates or Post-doctoral5.2 Researchers of XXX

5.3 Effective ID certificates of the applicants (copies with signatures of the applicants to be collected)

Certificates of studentship for full-time master’s/doctoral candidates or certificates of work relationship for post-doctoral researchers (originals to be collected)

5.4 Supporting documents (e.g. bank slips or other evidentiary materials provided by the applicants’ schools) evidencing that the applicants are entitled to living subsidy or allowance given by their own schools if the applicants are master’s/doctoral candidates of Hong Kong universities/colleges who apply for living allowance, or evidentiary materials proving that the applicants are entitled to the funding of the Innovation and Technology Fund of the Hong Kong Government if the applicants are post-doctoral researchers of Hong Kong universities/colleges who apply for living allowance.

5.5 Certificates of the legal person status for research institutes or laboratories of Hong Kong universities/colleges within the Shenzhen Park or for those incorporated in the Shenzhen Park (originals to be checked and copies to be collected)

5.6 Lists of the Applicants for Living Allowance and Special Academic Subsidy for Full-time Master’s/Doctoral Candidates or Post-doctoral Researchers of XXX

5.7 Summary of the Living Allowance and Special Academic Subsidy for Full-time Master’s/Doctoral Candidates or Post-doctoral Researchers of XXX

5.8 Bank cards of the research institutes or laboratories of Hong Kong universities/colleges within the Shenzhen Park or those incorporated in the Shenzhen Park (copies to be collected, with the bank branches indicated, the account numbers manually completed and the corporate seals affixed)

6.Application Procedures

6.1 Application

6.1.1 The research institutes or laboratories of Hong Kong universities/colleges within the Shenzhen Park and those independently incorporated in the Shenzhen Park (hereinafter referred to as“organizations”) shall respectively summarize the application materials of their master’s/doctoral candidates or post-doctoral researchers as applicants complying with the conditions under this plan and complete. The organizations shall submit such summary (including electronic versions) to the personnel division of the Party committee for the Education Bureau of Futian District for application purpose in each December.  

6.2 Acceptance

6.2.1 The acceptance personnel shall be responsible to verify the application materials submitted and accept those complying with established conditions or ask for corrections with respect to those found short of the conditions.

6.3 Approval

6.3.1 The Education Bureau of Futian District shall be responsible to examine and approve the applications according to its division of work and procedures.

6.4 Notification

6.4.1 Applications approved shall be notified to the public through the official website of Futian District Government for a period of five (5) working days (not to be covered by thecommitment). If an application is rejected, the application will be returned with a note explaining the cause of such rejection.  

6.5 Disbursement

6.5.1 The Education Bureau of Futian District shall be responsible to remit the total amount of living allowance/subsidy due to an organization to the bank account of the organization in next January and the organization shall in turn release the living allowance/subsidy to the bank accounts of eligible applicants within seven (7) working days of the receipt of the money from the Education Bureau of Futian District.

7.Time of Acceptance and Period of Case Closure

7.1 The applications shall be examined and approved within a period of thirty (30) working days, which shall start from the time of acceptance.

7.2 The subsidies shall generally be disbursed once a year after the notification process.

8.Others

8.1 The total length of time eligible for the allowance/subsidy shall not be longer than the required years of schooling for master’s/doctoral candidates. Specifically, the length of time eligible for the living allowance/subsidy shall not exceed two (2) or three (3) years in the case of master’s candidates, depending on the required years of schooling for them, or five (5) years in the case of doctoral candidates. The length of time eligible for the living allowance for post-doctoral researchers shall not exceed two (2) years.

8.2 Subject to the restriction of annual fiscal budgets, the standards of support under this program may be adjusted in due course.

8.3 Institutional or individual applicants who have been granted similar support under other policies of Futian District shall not apply for the support under this program.  

8.4 The applicants and the organizations they are affiliated with are responsible forauthenticity and accuracy of the application materials. If an applicant is found to have falsified such materials and or engaged in other violations, the applicant will be deprived of the treatment for talents and forced to return the supporting funds. Moreover, the applicant and the organization he/she is affiliated with shall be denied the eligibility to apply for the policy support of Futian District for a subsequent period of five (5) years. If the applicant is suspected of having breached laws, he/she will be held responsible for legal consequences.

8.5 These guidelines shall be effective as of December11,2021, for a period of one (1) year.

8.6 The Education Bureau of Futian District shall be responsible to interpret these guidelines (telephone number:829-159-76).