Research Talent Hub for Companies Subsidised under the New Industrialisation Acceleration Scheme (RTH-NIAS)

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Objective

RTH-NIAS provides relevant companies under the New Industrialisation Acceleration Scheme (NIAS) with funding support for the recruitment of (i) research talents to conduct research and development (R&D) work and/or (ii) technical personnel required for setting up or operating smart production facilities under the NIAS.

Eligibility

Applicant Company

Companies with projects approved under the NIAS

Research Talent

• must be a Hong Kong permanent resident or person legally permitted to work in Hong Kong during the RTH-NIAS engagement period; and
• must possess a bachelor degree (including top-up bachelor degree), a master degree or a doctoral degree of a Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics ("STEM")-related discipline awarded by either a local university or a well-recognised non-local institution⁶, or jointly awarded by a local university together with a non-local university.

Technical Personnel

• must be a Hong Kong permanent resident or person legally permitted to work in Hong Kong during the RTH-NIAS engagement period; and
• must be holders of Higher Diploma / Higher Certificate (Hong Kong Qualifications Framework Level 4) or above in relevant fields (i.e. life and health technology, artificial intelligence and data science, advanced manufacturing and new energy technologies) or an acceptable equivalent in an engineering or technological discipline and have at least four years' work experience in relevant smart production facilities. Persons not meeting the above academic requirements but possess good technical skills in specialty areas, proven professional abilities and/or relevant experience and achievements can be considered on a case-by-case basis with full justifications and relevant documentary evidence.

Key Features

• The maximum engagement period for each research talent / technical personnel under the Research Talent Hub (RTH) is 36 months in general.
• Each applicant company may engage up to 4 research talents at any one time, with a maximum monthly salary allowance of HK$20,000 for those with a bachelor degree, HK$23,000 for those with a master degree, and HK$35,000 for those with a doctoral degree. An additional monthly living allowance of HK$10,000 will be provided to these research talents with doctoral degrees.
• An applicant company may further engage additional research talents as specified below on a 1 (Government): 1 (company) matching basis, with the Government covering up to half of the maximum monthly allowance stated above. An applicant company can also use up to 10 of the following quota to employ technical personnel for setting up or operating smart manufacturing facilities, with a maximum monthly salary allowance of HK$10,000.

NIAS approved project cost	Number of research talents / technical personnel on matching basis
From HK$150 million to less than HK$200 million	10 (of which up to 10 being technical personnel)
From HK$200 million to less than HK$300 million	18 (of which up to 10 being technical personnel)
HK$300 million or above	36 (of which up to 10 being technical personnel)

Application

The RTH-NIAS invites applications for funding all year round. Applications shall be submitted through the Innovation and Technology Commission Funding Administrative System. Please read the "RTH-NIAS Application Guide" before submitting an application.

Frequently Asked Questions