Notification of the application for the 2025 General Program Sponsored by Shenzhen Natural Science Foundation in Basic Research Fund
I. Funding Scope
No quota restrictions on the disciplinary field for project applications. Applicants should select the appropriate discipline classification when completing the project application.
II. Funding Intensity and Method
(I) Funding Intensity:?Subject to a quota limit and total annual funding availability of Shenzhen Science and Technology R&D funds. The total number of funded projects will not exceed 1,300, with each project receiving no more than 300,000?yuan and not exceeding the requested funding amount.
(II) Funding Method:?The General Program is a pre-funded initiative with a lump-sum funding disbursement.
(III) Project Duration: The implementation period is three years (for projects led by PhD students, the period is adjustable from 1 to 3 years based on actual conditions).
III. Eligibility Requirements
(I) Applicant Organization (Leading Applicant Organization): Institutions registered in Shenzhen or the Shenshan Special Cooperation Zone with independent legal status, including universities, research institutes, healthcare institutions, and other enterprises (e.g., key laboratories approved to be built by national, provincial, or municipal science and technology authorities), or social organizations with basic research capabilities, as well as other entities approved by the municipal government.
(II) Project Leader: Each project shall have one Project Leader who is a full-time employee of the applicant organization, responsible for substantive research tasks, with prior experience in basic research projects or work, and meeting one of the following qualifications:
1. Holds a senior professional title;
2. Holds a doctoral degree or is a current PhD student. PhD students applying are exempt from the requirement that the Project Leader shall be a full-time staff member of the applicant organization, provided that they obtain explicit consent from their supervisor (clearly specifying the identity of the Project Leader and the start and end dates of the doctoral study period, with confirmation that the dissertation content will not be directly used for this project application). The applicant organization shall coordinate and align the research timeline of the General Program project with the PhD student’s academic schedule to ensure the project is completed and accepted on schedule.
3. Holds an intermediate professional title or a master’s degree, and is recommended by two senior professionals in the same research field.
(III) Collaborating institutions and Researchers: The project team (including the Project Leader) may consist of no more than five members (students are excluded but may be included in the basic information section for statistical purposes). If a team member’s organization is not the applicant organization, it is considered a collaborating institution, and the individual is deemed a collaborating researcher. Collaborating institutions and their researchers shall meet the following criteria:
1. Collaborating institutions shall have independent legal status, limited to one organization; the number of collaborating researchers shall not exceed that of the applicant organization.
2. The application shall include the name of the collaborating institution and a signed cooperation agreement outlining main responsibilities, funding allocation, and intellectual property ownership (foreign partners are not eligible for fiscal funding). The applicant organization shall undertake the majority of R&D tasks, and the allocated fiscal funding shall be greater than that of the collaborating institution.
(IV) Enterprise Applicants: Where the applicant or collaborating institution is an enterprise, it shall submit a Letter of Commitment for Self-Raised Funds, undertaking to provide self-raised funding no less than the amount of municipal financial support allocated to the enterprise for this project.
(V) Intellectual Property:?Papers shall be related to the research content, with the first or corresponding author being a project team member affiliated with the applicant or collaborating institution.?Patents shall be owned by the applicant or collaborating institution.
(VI) Application Quota Rules: 1. Full-time personnel from non-enterprise institutions may apply as Project Leader for only one project per year under the General Program, Key Program, Major Program, or Category-C Youth Program of the Natural Science Foundation. The total number of municipal-level science and technology projects (excluding platform carriers, post-subsidy types, and projects already submitted for acceptance) that a project team member (including the Project Leader) may apply for or undertake (as PI or participant) is limited to three.
2. Enterprises may apply for only one project per year under the General, Key, Major Programs, or Category-C Youth Program of the Natural Science Foundation. Similarly, enterprise project applications and ongoing municipal-level projects (excluding platform carriers, post-subsidy types, and projects already submitted for acceptance) shall not exceed three in total.
3. Applications for basic research projects shall not duplicate any approved national, provincial, or municipal science and technology plans or Natural Science Foundation projects.
IV. Application Materials
(I) Copy of the 2024 tax payment certificate and the previous year’s audit report (with a QR-coded cover page filed via the unified regulatory platform for certified public accountants; not applicable to public institutions). If the 2024 audit report is not completed, a copy of the 2023 audit report shall be submitted.
(II) Origin of commitment letter.
(III) Degree or title proof for the Project Leader (one of the following):
1. A doctoral degree certificate; for current PhD students, provide the China Higher Education Student Information (CHSI) (https://www.chsi.com.cn) enrollment record. If no student status certification is available, or if the certification does not indicate enrollment at a Shenzhen-based university, an official enrollment certificate issued by the university’s academic affairs office or graduate school (with the official seal of the academic affairs office or graduate school) shall also be provided
2. A senior professional title certificate;
3. A master’s degree certificate along with two recommendation letters from senior scientific and technical personnel (holding senior professional titles) in the same research field;
4. An intermediate professional title certificate along with two recommendation letters from senior scientific and technical personnel (holding senior professional titles) in the same research field.
(IV) Copy of the signed labor contract between the Project Leader (not required for current PhD students) and their employers (within the validity period and sealed with the official stamp of the employer or the special seal of the HR department).
(V) Copy of the Project Leader’s personal tax certificate or Shenzhen social insurance payment record issued within the past three months prior to application deadline (not required for current PhD students).?If personnel from higher education institutions established and approved according to national standards and approval procedures, either abroad or in Shenzhen, have not paid social security in Shenzhen, the human resources department of the applying institution must provide unified and sufficient materials to prove that the individual is employed full-time at the applying institution.
(VI) Copies of representative research achievements from recent three years (papers, monographs, patents, high-level talent certificates, awards, etc).
(VII) For projects with collaborators, a signed cooperation agreement with official seals from both parties shall be provided.
(VIII)Proof of research facilities and equipment at the applicant organization in Shenzhen (not required for universities or healthcare institutions).
(IX) For enterprise participants, a Letter of Commitment for Self-Raised Funds shall be submitted.
(X) Initial approval document from the Ethics Review Committee, or ethical review opinion for application use (required only for projects involving experimental animals, human biomedical research, or those potentially posing ethical risks to life, environment, public order, or sustainability).
VI. Research Integrity, Ethics, and Safety Requirements
The applicant organization, collaborating institution(s), project leader, and all project team members shall not be subject to any disciplinary restrictions prohibiting application for fiscal-funded projects. Furthermore, no project team member (including the project leader) may be listed on Science, Technology and Innovation Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality’s non-compliance registry for project acceptance. Additionally, the applicant organization shall not have any outstanding obligations to return fiscal funds within stipulated timeframes. For projects involving science and technology ethics and safety (such as clinical, biological, information, ecological, etc.), the applicant organization and collaborating institutions shall comply with relevant national laws, regulations, and ethical guidelines. For projects involving ethics and science safety (e.g., clinical, biological, information, ecological), both the applicant and collaborating institution shall comply with national laws and ethical standards.
V. Notes on Completing the Application
(I) To improve application efficiency and facilitate system data extraction, all team members (including the Project Leader) shall first be registered in the Researcher Database (not required if the team members have been included in the Expert Database) before filling in the application form. Registered personnel shall ensure that their information is up to date.
(II) Foreign personnel shall complete in-person identity verification at a government service hall before accessing the Guangdong Unified Identity Verification Platform (http://tyrz.gd.gov.cn). Foreign nationals holding a Foreigner’s Permanent Residence ID Card may search for the Guangdong Government Service Network on a computer, click “Log In” at the top right corner, and register an account by selecting the username-password login option. This will redirect to the Provincial Unified Identity Authentication Platform. After filling in personal information and submitting the registration, users can verify their identity by scanning the QR code. Alternatively, they may scan the Yuexinqian (粵信簽) QR code via WeChat on their mobile phone to complete facial recognition and create an account. For those holding a passport or foreign ID document, in-person identity verification is required. They shall bring original identity verification materials to any designated real-name verification service window in Guangdong Province to complete the verification and upgrade to Level 5 (formerly L3).
(III) Concurrent applications to multiple programs under the same funding scheme are strictly prohibited. For new projects proposed by the Project Leader based on previously funded municipal programs or projects supported by other agencies (e.g., MOST, NSFC, provincial science and technology departments), the application shall explicitly state the differences, inheritance relationships, and developmental advancements between the new and prior projects
(IV) The research content, objectives, and predefined academic indicators, technical indicators, and talent development indicators described in the application materials shall serve as the basis for project approval, project agreement signing, process management, and final acceptance review. These elements shall be scientifically sound, rigorous, and standardized, and shall not be adjusted in principle.
(V) Once approved, project team members (including the Project Leader) may not be changed before signing the project agreement. If changes are necessary, they shall be requested through formal procedures from Science, Technology and Innovation Bureau of Shenzhen Municipality after the project agreement is signed.
(VI) A lump-sum funding mechanism is implemented. Applicant organizations are not required to submit a detailed line-item budget. Instead, they shall establish internal financial management policies based on a negative list and assume responsibility for routine financial management.
(VII) Research projects initiated by medical and healthcare institutions that shall be registered in the National Medical Research Registration and Filing Information System (https://www.medicalresearch.org.cn) shall be registered promptly upon project approval.
VII. Application Forms
All application materials specified in this guideline shall be submitted by logging into the Shenzhen Science and Technology Business Management System (https://sticapply.sz.gov.cn), and in principle, using the Project Leader’s account?to fill out or download the forms online.
IX. VIII. Processing Authority
(I) Regarding the stamping of the attached materials, all colleges are requested to collect them uniformly before May 19, 2025, and then send them to the RAO?for stamping.
(II)?Applicants shall upload relevant attachments and submit application forms online by 12:00 on May?21, 2025?, RAO will review and feedback.
(III) Any required scientific research reviews, please refer to CUHK(SZ)’s research review process of each committee as attached (Annex 2) and send the required materials and forms to each committee’s?email address by May 19, 2025?for assessment.
(V) Applicants shall?Click “Print Signature and Seal Page” to generate the document After RAO’s Review , all colleges are requested to collect them uniformly?before May 26,2025 and send to RAO for for stamping.
Contacts
yaqing Xu? ? ? ?xuyaqing@cuhk.edu.cn?
Jiayang Guo? ?guojiayang@cuhk.edu.cn?
Applicant organizations shall log in to the Shenzhen Science and Technology Business Management System to complete the application form online. In accordance with the requirements for application materials?outlined in this guideline, applicant organizations shall upload scanned electronic copies of other application documents (photocopies shall be stamped with the applicant organization’s official seal?before uploading). Click “Print Signature and Seal Page” to generate the document, which should be signed, stamped, scanned, and uploaded. Applications shall be submitted within the acceptance period?(the system status shall be “Pending Window Acceptance”). No hard copies are required to be submitted at the government service center. Once the project is awarded funding, hard copy materials shall be submitted and original documents verified as required by the notification.
附件2：2025年度基礎研究專項自然科學基金計劃面上項目申請指南（英文版）_0.docx
附件4：基礎研究專項自然科學基金計劃面上項目申請書模板（英文版）_0.docx
各委員會科研審查流程及表格 Review Process and Relevant Forms_0.zip
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