The MESTECC Research & Development Grant (MESTECC R&D Grant) is the governments initiatives which is open to businesses and researchers interested in obtaining fund to carry out projects for economic growth and societal benefit. Proposed projects must be at least at Proof of Concept (POC) level; it must be well-designed, scientifically valid, and competitive with current technologies and research works. The project output shall be new products, processes or systems by which value can be created for customers, businesses and society.
The cover sector for this grant are:
1. Water, Food, and Energy Nexus;
2. Green Growth for Sustainable Development;
3. Medical and Healthcare;
As based on current guidelines, the eligable applicant are open to all SME Company registered in Malaysia
The applicant must meat the criteria which are:
1. All categories of companies must have a minimum of 51% equity held by Malaysians.
2. Companies must be in operation for at least 2 years from date of application. Companies shall provide audited financial report as proof. Start-up Company can be considered on case by case basis.
3. None of the company directors or project team members have been convicted of any fraudulent activities or the company has been declared bankrupt, under liquidation or placed under receivership.
4. Only Malaysian citizens can apply and lead the project but can include international organization or expatriates working in any of the organization mentioned above as part of their project team.
5. Researchers working under contract with SME, GRIs, STI and IHLs must ensure that their employment contract is still valid during the project duration.
6. The project team should consist of members who are qualified and competent on the technical aspects of the whole project. Each team member must provide a curriculum vitae clearly stating their previous research and highlighting their experience and achievements.
7. Applicants are allowed to lead only one project at any time.
8. Projects must be conducted in Malaysia.
9. The proposed project must contain elements of Experimental Development leading to commercialization.
The application for the grant will go through 3 process which are :
1. Application;
2. Evaluation and Approval; and
3. Contracting & Payment
Application process are as follows:
a) The application starts with submission of the full paper grant proposal.
b) Full grant proposal must be submitted through the online system.
c) In the online application, applicant needs to provide a concise summary of their project which shall answer the following questions:
i. What are the problems you are solving?
ii. How to solve the problem?
iii. Who will benefit from your solution?
iv. What are the anticipated outcomes?
v. What are the potential impacts?
vi. In the grant application form, applicant needs to provide proof of concept as the evidence that verifies the concept/theories/ideas that can be applied successfully in the real-world operation.
vii. The grant applicants also need to describe the Grant Business Model
Evaluating and Approval
a) The complete paper will be reviewed by the Fund Expert Committee (FEC) for elements of their commercial potential and technical aspect.
b) Applicants will be invited to present (pitch) their full paper proposal to the FEC. The applicant may be required to amend or revise the full paper to improve the proposal. In some instances, a due diligence may be required to be conducted after the evaluation process for verification purposes.
c) Once the due diligence has been carried out, results will be assessed by the Strategic Committee before presenting to the Approval Committee.
d) All applicants shall be notified officially via system or email. The successful applicants shall accept or decline the offer via system or email. Decisions made by the Approval Committee is FINAL and any appeal on the results will not be entertained.
e) The overall application and evaluation process including notification of the results will take 60 days after all information have been received from the applicant.
Evaluation Criteria
Contracting & Payment Process
a) Grant recipients are required to submit letter of acceptance upon receiving the offer letter from MESTECC. Heads of the grant recipient companies are required to sign the Project Agreement and submit bank information (companies are required to open a designated bank account solely for the purpose of the project) to MESTECC.
b) The signed agreement will then be signed by MESTECC’s top management and the agreement will be sent back to the grant recipient for stamping.
c) All process are expected to be completed within 30 days. Once the Secretariat has received the stamped agreement, the first payment of grant to the recipient will be processed.
d) Memorandum of Understanding/ Letter of Intent between collaborating Institutions must accompany the application. However, should the grant be approved, an agreement between the collaborating parties stating the respective scope of work, ownership of IP and all equipment purchased during the tenure of the project must be submitted to the Secretariat within 30 days from the date of the offer letter, failing which MESTECC has the right to revoke the approval.
Quantum of Grant
MESTECC would co-fund the project based on merits of each application, not exceeding the quantum on RM3,000,000.000 In period of 24 month The grant only be given at maximum 90% of total project cost.
Business Model
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