general information
Introduction
First talk to usDiscuss your proposed R&D Student - Career Grant BEFORE preparing an application to ensure that you are eligible for funding and are supported through the process. Contact your Callaghan Innovation Account Manager or phone Callaghan Innovation on 0800 4 CALLAGHAN.
Funding Contract
Your application will form part of your funding agreement with Callaghan Innovation. Please read the funding agreement,on the Career Grant guides and FAQs section of our website, before you submit your application, to ensure that you understand, and can comply with the terms of the agreement.
Need help?
For information about your application please discuss with your Account Manager. For technical support relating to the online (application) portal phone 0800 477 8326 or email . Hours: Monday to Friday 8:30am – 4:30pm.
The onlineapplication form will be open for 90 days. If it has not been submitted within this time, it will automatically be closed.
Find out more about applying for investment:
- Visit our website at
- The Ministerial Direction sets out the rules for Business R&D Grants
- Funding Agreement for R&D Career Grant
Number of Grants
A business may receive multiple student grants at any one time, depending on the size of its R&D team and if it has the capability to support the students adequately. Please refer to the Number of Student Grants Per Business Guide for more information.
A business applies for one Career Grant/graduate per application.
GENERAL INFORMATION
Application Checklist
Purpose of R&D Student GrantsThe Career Grant is designed to help a Masters or PhD graduate (student) get their first job in a New Zealand R&D business by paying the student’s salary for the first six months. The internships are a valuable stepping stone for students to gain commercial experience and further their career in R&D. It is, therefore, important the student works within the business’s R&D team and the business actively supports the student so they get the best out of their time in the business. In turn, the business benefits from the student’s advanced knowledge and expertise.
For further information, please visit our website or call 0800 4 CALLAGHAN | 0800 422 552 or for technical difficulties relating to the online (application) portal, contact our Grants Operations Team at on 0800 477 8326 between 8:30am to 4:30pm, Monday and Friday.
Additional information request
Callaghan Innovation reserves the right to request additional information in the course of assessing an application and to retain information and documents on file. If more information is requested after you have submitted your application; please enter it in Section 5: Additional Information.
Application Checklist
Before you begin your Career Grant application, please complete the checklist below to ensure you are informed and prepared. It’s important you provide all the relevant information requested in the online application so we can process your application more promptly.
/ You have spoken to us. Check in with your Callaghan Innovation account manager or phone Callaghan Innovation on 0800 4 CALLAGHAN (0800 422 552) to ensure that you are eligible for funding and are supported through the process.
/ You have identified an eligible Masters or PhD student and have supporting student documentation as detailed in Section 3: Student Eligibility.
/ You are an eligible business entity (refer to Section 2: Business Eligibility).
/ You are an eligible business entity (refer to Section 2: Business Eligibility).
/ You have access to your business’s financial information to upload, if applicable (refer to subsection 2.2 Financial Information or see our Career Grant Guidelines for more information).
/ You have read the Career Grant Guidelines and funding agreement example on our website. Yourapplication will form part of your funding agreement with Callaghan Innovation. Please read thefunding agreement before you submit your application to ensure that you understand and can complywith the terms of the agreement.
Section 1: Applicant Information
1.1 Application Summary
Investment area: / R&D Student-CareerContracting
organisation: / The contracting organisation (‘business’) employs the student, signs the funding agreement, and invoices for claiming the funding (should this application be successful). Please check the contracting information before completing an application, as it can cause processing delays if applications are received under the wrong business name.
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Postal and Courier address: / Enter text here
New Zealand BusinessNumber: / Enter text here
Identify the student’s degree: / Career Grants are restricted to Masters and PhD degrees.
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Total funding requested: / Career Grants fund the first six month’s of a student’s salary.
Maximum payments are:
- Masters – up to $30,000 (GST exclusive) based on an annual salary of up to $60,000.
- PhD – up to $35,000 (GST exclusive) based on an annual salary of up to $70,000.
GST excl. amount / GST amount /
Total amount
Please enter the total funding you are requesting below – it will be half of the annual salay you are paying the student (up to the maximum amounts above).
NB: The duration of the internship (funded period) is 6 months. You may choose to pay the graduate more or less than the grant value. The grant is for the salary of the student and not for any project or business related costs. The grant is exclusive of GST, employer KiwiSaver contribution, holiday pay, recruitment fees, ACC and any other levies, taxes, or fees payable in relation to the funding or employment of the student. Applicants are responsible for covering these costs.
Project Title: / Please use a brief project title that is not commercially sensitive. If your Application is approved, project title, business name, funding type and value will become public information.
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Proposed start and enddates: / Please enter the proposed start and end dates for the R&D Project. These dates will be confirmed at time of contracting should your application be successful. (They may be different from the dates recorded here). Costs will not be claimable before or after the contract start and end dates.
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Statistics New Zealand Industry Code (ANZSIC06V1.0): / ANZSIC is the Australian and New Zealand Standard Classification of Industries. These codes are published on the Statistics New Zealand website.
Select ‘Industry - ANZSIC06V1.0’ in the classification code finder.
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1.2 Key Contacts
Provide details for the contact person and Masters/PhD student.The contact person is the person in your business we can discuss the grant with.
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1.3 Bank Account
Check or provide your business’s bank account information in the table below. The bank account must be in the name of the contracting organisation.Bank account name / Account / Email address / Pay to account / Bank account name
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Please provide verification of the bank account information you have entered above if you are providing your bank account details for the first time:
This may be a scanned bank deposit slip or screenshot from online banking. Check that the bank account name and detail can be clearly seen on the documentation provided
1.4 Compliance
a) Does your business comply with the Health & Safety at Work Act 2015?Callaghan Innovation must ensure students funded through our grants programme will be working in a safe environment. Read our Health & Safety Guidelines to understand your role and responsibilities for engaging a student. By ticking the boxes below, you confirm, that you understand and can meet your obligations under the Act.
We understand our health and safety obligations, have procedures and systems in place to meet these obligations, and will carry out the work safely.
We have read the Callaghan Innovation Health & Safety Guidelines and understand our role and responsibilities in relation to engaging a student through this grant.
b) Are you aware of any issues (past, current or potential) relating to your business, its owners and directors (or equivalent), or your products and services that could bring the reputation of Callaghan Innovation or its R&D Grants Programme into disrepute?
To be eligible for R&D Grants, businesses may not be an entity that would bring the reputation of Callaghan Innovation or our R&D Grants programme into disrepute. Please see the Ministerial Direction on our website for more information about eligibility.
If yes, outline the issues:
Maximum of 200 words, bullet points preferred.
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1.5Callaghan Innovation Funding
a) Do you have an active Project Grant or Growth Grant?Businesses with an active Project or Growth Grant do not need to complete Business Eligibliy section because they have already undergone eligibility and financial due diligence reviews. If you are unsure whether your business has a current Project or Growth Grant with us, contact your account manager or phone Callaghan Innovation on 0800 4 CALLAGHAN 0800 422 552.
Yes (go to Section 3)
No (continue onto Section 2)
Section 2: Business Eligibility
2.1 Business Entity
a) Identify which eligible entity best describes your business?To be eligible for R&D Grants, businesses must be one of the entities listed below. Please see the Ministerial Direction on our website for more information about eligibility.
A Company registered under the Companies Act 1993.
A Limited Partnership registered under the Limited Partnerships Act 2008.
A Maori Incorporation or a Trust established under Te Ture Whenua Maori Act 1993.
A Trust established on behalf of Maori claimants to receive and manage assets as part of the settlement of a claim under the Treaty of Waitangi.
A Maori statutory body.
A business that is controlled by one or more of the above types of Maori entities.
b) Do you have government shareholding that makes you ineligible?
Government shareholding may affect your eligibility. Please see the Ministerial Direction on our website for more information about eligibility.
No, we are NOT an entity, or 50% or more owned by entities, listed in Schedule 1 of the State Owned Enterprises Act 1986, Schedule 4A of the Public Finance Act 1989, or an entity established under or governed by the Education Act 1989, Crown Research Institutes Act 1992, Local Government Act 2002, Local Government (Auckland Council) Act 2009, the New Zealand Public Health and Disability Act 2000, or the Crown Entities Act 2004.
2.2Financial Information
Financial Information Table
This is standard information we require from all R&D grant applicants so that we can understand the scale of R&D in your business and the impact our grant funding has on businesses. NOTE: The table will automatically fill with the most recent data that we hold. Please update these figures using information from your most recent financial statements.a) Please enter total R&D spend (including internal and external), staffing levels, and the last two years of financial information ($NZD excl. GST) in the table below.
To be eligible for a Career Grant, businesses must have at least one full-time equivalent (FTE) focussed on R&D (This may be cumulative e.g. 2x 0.5 FTE). Please do not include any other students funded by Callaghan Innovation in your FTE count
Financial Year / Total revenue: / Earnings before Interest and Taxation (EBIT): / Net profit before taxation: / Exports revenue: / Total R&D spend: / Total staff (FTE): / R&D staff(FTE):
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Financial Position
Callaghan Innovation has a duty of care to students under this programme to ensure they are placed in companies that will remain in business for the duration of the grant. In this section, businesses must demonstrate that they will be a going concern for the next 6-12 months by either:- Answering yes to questions b) and c) below; or
- Providing financial documents as detailed in section 2.3 which we will use to determine the financial health of your business.
Young businesses without much financial history will need to provide financial documents as detailed in Section 2.3
Yes
No (go to section 2.3)
Using the calculation template provided below please calculate and upload the solvency, liquidity and profitability ratios.
c) Are all three ratio results (solvency, liquidity and profitability) positive?
You will use financial information from your balance sheet and P&L statement to determine the financial ratios. Please upload the completed template below.Businesses without full positive results will need to provide financial documents as detailed in Section 2.3.
Yes (go to section 2.4)
No (go to section 2.3)
Financial Ratio Calculation template
2.3 Financial Statements (if required)
a) Please supply further financial information if you answered no to either question (b or c) in Section 2.2.We will use the information you provide to determine that your business will be going concern for at least 6 months.
Please prepare and upload:
- The year-end balance sheet from your most recent financial year; and
- A monthly cash flow projection for the duration of the project, using the excel template provided below; and
- A recent bank statement (no more than 3 months old).
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2.4Nature of Business
a) What is the technology focus of your business and what are the markets you target?Please provide a snap shot of your business and its operations. Maximum 100 words, bullet points preferred.
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2.5R&D Activity
To be eligible for an R&D student grant, businesses must be actively doing R&D – this includes having at least one R&D full-time eqivalent/FTE (this may be cumulative, e.g. 2 x 0.5 FTE). We will use the information you provide in this section to confirm that your business has a history of R&D and a plan for future R&D.a) Please outline your R&D activities over the last 12 months:
How do you know if you’re doing R&D? R&D is distinguished from non-R&D by the presence of five criteria. The activity needs to:
- be novel
- be creative
- be performed systematically
- have uncertainty about the final outcome, and
- have an outcome (and knowledge generated) that will be reproducible and have the potential for transfer (to increase the existing stock of knowledge).
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b) Please outline your planned R&D activities for the next 12 months:
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Section 3: STUDENT eligibility
3.1 Student Details
To be eligible for a Career Grant placement the student must have recently completed a Masters or PhD degree and meet other specific criteria as detailed in the questions below. Please see the Ministerial Direction on our website for more information about eligibility or talk to your account managerNB: The student must:
- Have undertaken a master’s/PhD in science, engineering, technology, design, or business
- Have either undertaken the study at an NZ tertiary institution or be an NZ citizen
- Have submitted thesis for marking (or completed course requirements for a taught master’s) less than 12 months ago. i.e. A student is eligible for 12 months after completion of their final academic semester
- Be applying for their first professional job following completion of their degree – they cannot have been employed in the industry under a professional arrangement related to their area of study (unless temporary, part-time or at a tertiary organisation).
- Not have been previously employed by the business unless short term i.e. up to 3 months. Career Grants help NZ PhD/master’s graduates get their first job in an R&D company and encourage businesses to take on new graduates
- Be legally permitted to work in NZ (if a visa is in progress it must be approved before the graduate starts work). It is the business’s responsibility to ensure its employee can legally work in NZ
- Work on an R&D project – the activity itself may not be R&D (e.g. project management), but it must be a critical component of an R&D project in the business.
a) What is the student’s area of study?*
Student Grants are restricted to specific areas of study; science, technology, engineering, design and business.
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b) Identify the tertiary education institution the student studied at *.
The student must either have undertaken their Masters/PhD study at a NZ tertiary institution or have undertaken their Masters/PhD study overseas and be a NZ citizen.
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c) What is the student’s immigration status? *
The student must be legally permitted to work in New Zealand. For more information, please see the Immigration NZ website
Please select…
- NZ citizen
- NZ resident
- Relevant work visa
- Work visa application in progress that is expected to be approved before student starts work
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d) Confirm the student is applying for their first full-time job after recently completing their postgraduate study? *
Career Grants are intended as a bridge to employment for Masters and PhD students. By ticking the boxes below, you confirm that the student completed their study less than 12 months ago and is applying for their first full time job using their degree.
The student submitted their thesis for marking less than 12 months ago; and
The student has not been employed in the industry under a professional arrangement related to their area of study (unless temporary, part-time or at a tertiary organisation).
e) Is the student a previous employee? *
A student is not eligible if they have previously been a permanent employee at your business but they can have worked for you in a short-term position for up to 3 months. This is because the intention of this grant is for students to get their first professional job in a new business.
Please select…
- No, the student has not previously been employed by us
- Yes, the student has previously been employed by us but in a temporary position (e.g. over a summer break)
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3.2Student Documents (upload)