R&D Experience Grants

Bring smart, enthusiastic and fresh thinking into your R&D activities with support provided by tertiary students in their summer break.

The 2020/2021 Experience Grants cycle is currently on hold. We don't expect key policy and funding decisions to be made before July 2020.

This page will be updated with information on this cycle as soon as it is available.

The R&D Experience Grant is an internship designed as full-time work experience during the student summer break.

The student is expected to help you with an R&D project or activity.

Your business will receive funding of $8,460 (plus GST) for 400 hours of full-time work upon proof of your payment to the student.

To apply for an R&D Experience Grant, your business must be one of the following:

Registered under the Companies Act.
Registered under the Limited Partnerships Act.
A Māori incorporation or trust established under the Te Ture Whenua Māori Act, a trust set up to manage assets as part of a Treaty of Waitangi settlement, a Māori statutory body, or a business controlled by one or more of these entities.

To qualify, your business must also:

To be eligible for an R&D Experience Grant internship, students must:

Be studying, or have recently completed, an undergraduate or postgraduate degree or qualification at NZQA level 7-10. If study has been completed, the closing date of your final semester should be less than 6 months ago.
Be studying science, technology, engineering, design or business at a New Zealand tertiary education institute.
Be legally permitted to work in New Zealand.
Not have been previously employed at the business unless part-time or temporary.
Not have undertaken more than two Experience Grant internships with the same business.