The Innovation & Technology Commission launched the Research, Academic & Industry Sectors One-plus Scheme, and applications can be submitted from today to November 30. Eligible universities are welcome to apply.

The commission said in order to promote commercialisation of research and development (R&D) outcomes, the Government hopes that the scheme can incentivise collaboration among industry, academic and research sectors to further promote the “1 to N” transformation of R&D outcomes and the industry development.

With a funding allocation of $10 billion, the scheme will fund, on a matching basis, at least 100 research teams in eight universities funded by the University Grants Committee, which have good potential to become successful startups.

Funding support from $10 million to $100 million will be provided to each approved project.

Assessment criteria include the innovation and technology component of the project, commercial viability of project outcomes, technical and management capability of the team, relevance of the project with government policies or in the project's overall interest to the community as well as the financial considerations of the project.

The commission expects the first batch of application results to be announced in the first quarter of 2024 after assessment of applications.

For enquiries, call 3655 5678 or send to an email to raiseplus@itc.gov.hk.