Notification of Application for Shenzhen Key Laboratory Construction Project 2025
The 2025 Shenzhen Key Laboratory Construction Project has been launched, and the relevant requirements are as follows:
1. Categories
The laboratory is divided into two categories based on construction objectives and research directions: municipal key laboratories for basic research and municipal key laboratories for applied research. The latter may be jointly built with enterprises, research institutes, or healthcare institutions.
2. Funding & Duration
The funding is provided in advance, with a maximum of RMB 5 million per project. The duration is generally 3 years, but projects requiring a longer construction period may opt for 4 or 5 years. All projects will begin on October 1, 2025.
3. Supporting Fields
3.1 Strategic Emerging Industries: semiconductors and integrated circuits, artificial intelligence, intelligent connected vehicles, new energy, low-altitude and aerospace, biomedicine, high-end medical devices, network and communications, smart terminals, ultra-HD video and display, software and information services, high-end equipment and instruments, intelligent sensors, robotics, high-performance materials, marine industries, grand health, safety, energy conservation, and environmental protection, modern fashion, and digital creativity.
3.2 Future Industries: synthetic biology, optical information, intelligent robotics, cells and genes, brain science and brain-machine engineering, deep earth and deep sea, quantum information, and frontier new materials.
4. Application Requirements
4.1 Team
The laboratory must have a research team and technical staff related to its research direction. Fixed personnel (excluding collaborating units) must number over 20, with a reasonable structure and relative stability. No overlap with fixed personnel from other municipal key laboratories is allowed.
4.2 Area and Equipment
The minimum research area is 700m2, and the original value of equipment shall more than 7 million Yuan (for software field, the original value shall more than 4 million Yuan) (excluding collaborating units).
4.3 Scientific Research Level
- In the past 2 years (January 1, 2023 – December 31, 2024), fixed members (excluding collaborating units) must have at least 20 publications indexed by SCI, EI, ISTP, ISR, or authorized intellectual property (including inventions, utility models, non-simple design patents, software copyrights, integrated circuit layout designs, and new plant varieties). At least 10 of these must be SCI/EI-indexed journal articles or authorized invention patents, software copyrights, integrated circuit layout designs, or new plant varieties.
- Fixed members (excluding collaborating units) must have led at least 7 new research projects at the provincial/ministerial level or above (including at least 1 national-level project) in the past 2 years, with total funding (excluding collaborating units) over RMB 7 million.
5. Additional Requirements
5.1 Four applications can be declared by CUHK-Shenzhen.
5.2 For jointly built applied research key laboratories, collaborating units must not exceed 2. A cooperation agreement must be signed and submitted before application.
5.3 Municipal key laboratories are named uniformly as "Shenzhen ×× Key Laboratory". Existing municipal or higher-level key laboratories may refer to the Shenzhen Science and Technology Innovation Bureau website (http://stic.sz.gov.cn/kjfw/cxzt/szscxztmd/).
6. Application Process
6.1 Collect Application Intention
Please feedback the application intention form (Annex 1) by each school to luoyan@cuhk.edu.cn by 15:00 on April 30, 2025. RAO will organize the intramural selection according to the feedback, and the notification will be issued separately.
6.2 Formal Application
Please submit the application via https://sticapply.sz.gov.cn/ by 17:00 on May 26, 2025. Complete the application form online, upload supporting documents (scanned copies with the applicant's official seal), and submit for review. After approval by RAO, print the signature and stamp page, sign and stamp it, and upload the scanned version. The system status will change to "Pending Window Review".
※Applicants without an account should send their name, ID type, ID number, email, and phone number to luoyan@cuhk.edu.cn to create an account.
6.3 Supporting Documents to Upload
- Feasibility study report.
- Contracts or notices of approval for provincial/ministerial-level or above research projects in the past 2 years, and supporting materials for research outcomes (e.g., journal covers, patent certificates, award certificates).
- Summary tables of projects and research outcomes, and fund arrival notices.
- Equipment inventory summary.
- Proof of research space, equipment, and specialized software (e.g., invoices, purchase contracts, photos).
- Commitment letter from the applicant unit to provide stable support (e.g., personnel, space, funding).
- Long-term employment contracts for fixed personnel (over 20) and social security payment vouchers for the past year (foreign nationals not paying in Shenzhen must provide proof of full-time employment).
- Intellectual property compliance declaration, research integrity commitment, and ethics notice.
- Cooperation agreement with collaborating units (if applicable).
- Projects involving scientific and technological ethics and safety must provide the required approvals or registration documents as stipulated by national laws, regulations, and ethical guidelines, the initial review approval from the ethics review committee, or the ethical review opinions for application purposes.
7. Contact Information
Yan Luo, 23515207, luoyan@cuhk.edu.cn
