Role

Sponsors are invited to become members of the project steering committee which is established to steer the project team in accordance with the project proposal. Sponsors are encouraged to express their opinions and ideas in the steering committee meetings which are held every three to six months throughout the project period.

Benefits

Sponsor will have first hand information about the technology development of projects by attending the steering committee meetings. They will enjoy discounts on the licence fee for project deliverables.

Sponsors will also be eligible to receive a cash rebate equivalent to 30% of their cash / in-kind sponsorship amount under the Research and Development Cash Rebate Scheme offered by Innovation and Technology Commission. For details, please refer to the Scheme's website.

Eligibility

Sponsors can be private sector companies, industry support organisations, trade and industry associations or professional bodies.

Nature of sponsorship

The sponsorship can either be in cash or in-kind or a combination of both. In-kind sponsorship, if in the form of equipment or consumables, would only be accepted provided that:

(1)	the in-kind sponsorship is essential to the project and is contributed by the industry specifically for the project;
(2)	documentary proof of the value of sponsorship should be provided to facilitate an objective assessment of the fair value of contribution; and
(3)	manpower contribution would be welcome but would not be counted as industry sponsorship as such in the project account.

For Projects under the Platform Research Programme / Fast Track Research Programme, each sponsoring company must contribute at least 1% of the total project cost or HK$10,000 whichever is the less.

For Collaborative Projects, the industry co-applicant must be a private sector company, an industry support organisation, a trade and industry association or a professional body which has the capacity to enter into contracts. The private sector company has to be incorporated in Hong Kong under the Companies Ordinance (Cap.32) and have substantial connection to Hong Kong, or with industry operations in the Mainland or overseas. They must collaborate with a local public research institute and is required to contribute no less than 50% of the total project cost in cash or in-kind of which at least 30% is required upon the project commencement.