Notification of application for Major Project of Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research (Cornerstone Program) 2025-2026
The Department of Science and Technology of Guangdong province has initiated the Major Project application for Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research (Cornerstone Program) 2025-2026. Details of application requirements are as follows:
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1. Funding fields
Including 7 fields: Brain Science and Brain-Inspired Research, Semiconductor Devices and Integrated Circuits, Next-Generation Communication Networks, Synthetic Biology, Stem Cells and Regenerative Medicine, Resources and Environment, Mathematics, Physics, and Emerging Interdisciplinary Fields.
Please log in the application system ( http://pro.gdstc.gd.gov.cn/egrantweb/ ) and check the specific research areas on the page of pre-application form.
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2. Applicant Requirements
(1) The project manager and all participating members applying in the year of application are males not exceeding 45 years old (born on or after January 1, 1980) and females not exceeding 47 years old (born on or after January 1, 1978);
(2) have senior professional/technical title;
(3) Full-time faculty in CUHK(SZ);
(4) The research team shall not exceed 15 members, with at least 80% holding senior professional titles or doctoral degrees. Full-time personnel from the lead applicant institution must constitute no less than one-third of the total membership;
(5) Please refer Annex 1-Guide for more information.
※The university imposes a quota: ≤2 applications per field, ≤10 in total. Oversubscribed applications will undergo internal selection.
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3. Project Application Requirements
a. Application limit
(1) The total number of Guangdong provincial research projects a researcher undertakes as the PI should not exceed three (excluding Platform Program);
(2) The PI who has awarded one of the following projects will not apply for the Major Project of Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research 2025: Major Project of the Guangdong Basic and Applied Basic Research, Major Talent Team Program at the Provincial Level, Research Team Program of Guangdong Natural Science Foundation, Guangdong-Hong Kong-Macao Research Team Project of Guangdong-Shenzhen Joint Research Fund, Integration Project of NSFC - Guangdong Joint Research Fund;
(3) Having any project forcibly terminated due to failure to submit acceptance applications within 1 month after the deadline; Having any project with acceptance process overdue for over 12 months;
(4) Applicants are not allowed to use the same or similar research content for multiple or repeated application;
(5) Project leaders and core members shall not have overlapping involvement in multiple projects.
b. Collaborative research requirements
(1) The collaborative institutions involved shall not exceed 2 in number;
(2) If main participants include researchers from other domestic institutions, a collaboration agreement which contains fund allocation, division of labor, ownership of intellectual property and other relevant contents shall be signed and sealed, and applicants shall upload it to the system in the stage of application,National Young Scientists Fund Category A (formerly National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars) and peer-recognized national talent programs ;
(3) Having any project forcibly terminated due to failure to submit acceptance applications within 1 month after the deadline; Having any project with acceptance process overdue for over 12 months ;
(4) For overseas participants, he or she shall upload the “Informed Consent Letter” (template can be downloaded from application system and need to be signed by applicant) to the application system.
c. Other requirements
(1) The core members of the project shall be no more than 15 and no less than 80% of them shall have senior academic titles or doctoral degrees. The proportion of full-time core members of CUHK(SZ) shall be no less than 1/3;
(2) If enterprises as collaborative institutions involved in the application, proof of self-raised funds should be provided;
(3) Applicant shall upload the "letter of Commitment" (template can be downloaded from application system) which sealed by the university to the application system;
(4) Any requirements of relevant scientific research reviews, please refer to the CUHK(SZ)’s research review process of each committee as attached and send the required materials and forms to each committee’s email by Jul 1, 2025 for assessment.
Email address for each committee:
Institutional Review Board????????????????????????????????????? irb@cuhk.edu.cn
Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee??????? iacuc@cuhk.edu.cn
Institutional Biosafety Committee?????????????????????????? ibc@cuhk.edu.cn
(5) Applicant shall first read guide (Annex 1) carefully to make full sense of requirements.
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4.Evaluation and Project Initiation
(1) Evaluation Mechanism
Projects shall be selected through competitive peer review comprising two phases:
Preliminary Review: Online evaluation of pre-proposals
Formal Review: Defense presentation for full proposals
A project category will be excluded from evaluation if receiving <3 valid applications. Funding will not be granted to such categories.
Post-evaluation on-site verification may be conducted as needed.
(2) Funding Plan
Annual Grants:
2025 Batch: ≤20 projects
2026 Batch: ≤20 projects
Funding Cap: CNY 5 million/project
Duration: 5-year implementation period
Disbursement: Funds released in tranches
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5. Procedure of application
The procedure will be completed in two steps: pre-application and formal application
Pre-application
Applicant shall fill out pre-application form in Chinese and upload supplementary documents online via the application system ( http://pro.gdstc.gd.gov.cn/egrantweb/ ) after 16:00 on Jul. 4, 2025. In the stage of submission, applicants shall only submit online application, without submitting any hard copies.
Formal application
For the projects which have passed the pre-application, applicant shall fill in and submit the formal application form. The specific requirements will be notified by RAO separately.
※ For applicants who have no login ID of application system, please send your name, academic title, email address, telephone number to suliuting@cuhk.edu.cn by Jun. 30, 2025?to open account.
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6.Deadline
a. Applicants shall upload relevant attachments and submit pre-application forms online by 12:00 on Jul. 8, 2025, the RAO will review;
b. Applicants shall submit pre-application forms (final version) online by 12:00 on Jul. 14, 2025, without submitting any hard copies.
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Contact information
Su Liuting ????suliuting@cuhk.edu.cn
Gao Shang ???kevingao@cuhk.edu.cn
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Annex 3-Pre-submission Template
Annex 4-Review process and relevant forms of each committee
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