general information
Introduction
First talk to usDiscuss your proposed R&D Student –Experience 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 agreement
Your application will form part of your funding agreement with Callaghan Innovation. Please read the funding agreement on our websitebefore you submit your application, to ensure that you understand, and can comply with the terms of the agreement.
Application dates
Applications are open for 6 months of the year from April to September (inclusive).
Number of Grants
A business may receive up to amaximum of 15 students per year, depending on the size and capability of its R&D team. Businesses may apply multiple times during the year as projects become known. Please see the Annual Experience Grant Quota guideto determine how many grants you may be eligible to apply for.
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 urs: 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 grants:
- Visit our website at
- The Ministerial Direction sets out the rules for Business R&D Grants
- See the R&D Experience GrantsGuides and FAQs for the funding agreement and application guidelines and template
GENERAL INFORMATION
Application Checklist
Purpose of R&D Student GrantsCallaghan Innovation manages the Business Research and Development (R&D) Grants scheme on behalf of Government. The objective of the Student Grants Programme is to support New Zealand undergraduate and postgraduate students to gain and develop their technical and commercial skills in a New Zealand R&D business that has an active research and development (R&D) programme. The Ministerial Directionor Business R&D Grants sets out the government policy and criteria (the ‘rules’) of the grants programme and is available on our website.
The Experience Grant is designed to help undergraduate students gain commercial work experience in New Zealand R&D businesses by funding a 10-week internship over the student summer break. The internships are a valuable experience for students to understand how a business works and potentially see a career pathway 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 enthusiasm and fresh thinking.
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 or 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 Experience 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.
/ Your business is actively doing R&D and has at least one R&D full-time equivalent (FTE) (refer to subsection 2.5 R&D Activity or see our Experience Grant Guidelines for a definition of R&D).
/ 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 Experience Grant Guidelines for more information).
/ You are not exceeding your company’s Experience Grant quota for the year. Please refer to Experience Grant Guidelinesto determine how many studentsyou are eligible to apply for or talk to your account manager.
/ If you have identified an eligible undergraduate student(s), you have the supporting student documentation as detailed in Section 3: Student Eligibility.
/ You have read the Experience Grant Guidelines and funding agreement example on our website. Your application will form part of your funding agreement with Callaghan Innovation. Please read the funding agreement before you submit your application to ensure that you understand and can comply with the terms of the agreement.
Section 1: Applicant Information
1.1 Application Summary
Investment area: / R&D Student-ExperienceContracting
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.
The address information shown below is not editable by the business. Please email advise of any changes.
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Postal and Courier addresses: / Enter text here
New Zealand BusinessNumber: / NZBNs are unique identifiers allocated to NZ businesses to make it easier for business to interact with government and with each other. Each NZBN is a 13-digit Global Location Number (GLN) provided by GS1 New Zealand.
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Total funding requested: / Please enter the total amount of funding you are applying for. Each grant is $7,200 (GST exclusive) per student.
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Application Title: / Use a brief title that is not commercially sensitive. If your application is approved, application title, project title, business name, funding type and value will become public information.
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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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Number of grants requested: * / A business may receive up to a maximum of 15 students per year, depending on the size of its R&D team. Businesses may apply multiple times during the year as projects become known. Please see the Annual Experience Grant Quota Guideto determine the number of grants you are eligible to apply for and to ensure you are not exceeding your yearly quota.
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1.2 Key Contacts
Provide details for the contact person and the student (if applicable).The contact person is the person in your business we can discuss the grant with. If you have identified the student(s), please provide their contact details and add the tertiary institution as the organisation (this is for reporting purposes).
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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.The table will automatically fill with the details we hold if you have previously had a grant with us.
Bank account name / Account / Email address / Pay to account / Bank account name
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If you are providing your bank account details for the first time, please provide verification of the bank account information you have entered above:
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. Once you have selected your file to upload, click on 'Save' (at the bottom of the screen), which will upload the document.
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 and 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.
Yes
No
If yes, outline the issues:
Please keep it brief, bullet points preferred. Your account manager will discuss these issues with you.
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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 (go to next question)
b) Has your company been approved for an R&D Experience Grant already this year?
Businesses who have been approved for an R&D Experience Grant in this calendar year do not need to complete Business Eligibliy section because they have already undergone eligibility and financial due diligence reviews under the previous application. If you are unsure whether your business has been approved for an Experience Grant this year, contact your account manager or phone Callaghan Innovation on 0800 4 CALLAGHAN 0800 422 552.
Yes (go to Section 3)
No (go to 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. Please 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 an Experience 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 (go to next question)
No (go to 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 2.4)
No (go to 2.3)
Financial Ratio Calculation template
Please upload a copy of the completed 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 the completion of the internship (6-12 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/internship, using the excel template provided below; and
- A recent bank statement (no more than 3 months old).
2.4Nature of Business
a) What is the technology focus of your business and what are the markets you target?Provide a snap shot of your business and its operations. Please keep it brief (under 200 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 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
- lead to results that will be reproducible and have the potential for transfer (to increase the existing stock of knowledge).
Please keep it brief (under 200 words), bullet points preferred.
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b) Please outline your planned R&D activities for the next 12 months:
Please keep it brief (under 200 words), bullet points preferred.
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Section 3: STUDENT eligibility
3.1 Student Details
If you have already identified the student(s), please complete this section – otherwise you can skip this section and provide the information once you have been approved and found an eligible student(s). Please note, the final date for submitting student details to be approved by us is 30 November.a) Confirm the eligibility of the student(s)
To be eligible for R&D Experience Grants, students must meet the criteria as listed below. Masters and PhD students are not eligible for this student grant. A student is not eligible if they have previously been an employee at your business. This is because the intention of this grant is for students to get R&D experience from a range of businesses. Please see our website for more information on eligibility. By ticking the statements below, you are declaring them to be true.
The student is studying a Bachelor’s Degree, Bachelor Honours Degree, Graduate Diploma, Graduate Certificate, Postgraduate Certificate or Postgraduate Diploma; or has graduated with one of these qualifications within the last 6 months.
The student is studying science, technology, engineering, design or business at a New Zealand tertiary institution.
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.
The student has not previously been employed by us.
b) Confirm evidence of the student(s) eligibility has been provided
The evidence must confirm the student meets the eligibility criteria above and can be in the form of one of those listed below. Please tick the box that applies and upload the document below. If it is a link to MyEquals platform, you can enter it in the text box below. You must provide evidence for each student.
Official academic record; or
Digital certified document (e.g. link to MyEquals platform); or
Link to, or screenshot of, tertiary institution website detailing student’s academic record; or
Confirmation from the university that the student is enrolled in relevant study (e.g. an email from the student's supervisor)
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c) Confirm the student(s) has agreed to the release of their information
Callaghan Innovation requests the student’s permission to release their name and host university or polytechnic to other New Zealand universities/polytechnics for the purpose of tracking student placements by the university.
Please upload an email or letter of permission from the student or confirmation that the employment agreement between the business and the student records the requirement to release information.
Section 4: assessment criteria
4.1 Exposure to R&D and Benefit to Business