For this year, the Science and Technology Development Fund (FDCT) has allotted MOP470 million for subsidies on topical projects, Chan Wan Hei, the fund’s Executive Committee president, disclosed yesterday.
Elaborating on this, the chief manager of the fund said this amount included the sum for the State Key Laboratories, which equated to MOP100 million.
The fund held a press conference to review its past work and foresee its future work. Also present were Cheang Kun Wai and Ip Kuai Lam, both Executive Committee members.
The budget for last year was similar. With a total amount of MOP353 million granted to 214 projects, the president admitted that there was surplus. He added that with reduced income from the last three years, the government has done a lot to ensure the fund’s financial stability.
A new mechanism will be put into action, Chan disclosed. He added that the mechanism was considered, formulated and put into place last year. The reason behind the delay of actual implementation is that the government enacted a set of Executive Regulations governing the use of public funds and subsidies. Although the new mechanism has nearly completed its formulation stage, quite a number of changes were to be made to cope with the Executive Regulations.
The new mechanism will separate enterprise applicants from university applicants. The reason for the separation, according to Chan, is to better utilize public funds and issue more targeted grants.
Project plans from enterprises will be evaluated in terms of the technicality, feasibility, economic and social efficacy, as well as the possibility for industry-campus-research collaborations.
Those from universities, meanwhile, will be vetted upon their innovativeness, academic values, research methods and prospects of practicality.
The mechanism, before its changes pursuant to the new Executive Regulations, has been used to evaluate certain existing projects, Chan added. Reviewing these projects, Cheang mentioned several projects as examples.
Nanofoam is a new type of building material and has been used in the fourth Macau-Taipa bridge following the grant issued by the FDCT. Furthermore, digital detection systems were developed with grants from the fund to spot printing defects. The technology is critical in important documents, such as bank notes and tax declaration forms, because any defect will trigger serious problems.
The technology was used to spot defects on tax declaration forms in Macau, Cheang further disclosed.
Another hot topic at the press conference was colloquially referred to as “problems from enterprises,” which is another new scheme from the FDCT. This scheme is open for enterprises who have science or technology ideas in their development plans requiring exploration or realization from research entities.
On the question about being vigilant against fraud or conspiracy, Chan said there are details that make conspiring for grants less enticing. For example, applicants are required to prove their financial capacity as part of the vetting process. Besides, area experts will be invited to review applications, potentially eliminating projects that have low scientific or technological values.
The scheme is expected to start accepting applications in the third quarter of this year.
The FDCT will also strive to establish subsidy schemes for major topical projects within this year, Chan added.
