R&D Experience Grants

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

The R&D Experience Grant is an internship designed to suit work experience during the summer student break.

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

Your business will receive funding of $7,200 (plus GST) for 400 hours of work upon proof of your payment to the student.

We facilitate an annual request for funding applications to identify the best commercial R&D opportunities for New Zealand students.

Participating businesses are advised in August of the R&D they have funding for and how many students they can recruit.

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 placement, students must:

Have completed their first year of an undergraduate or honours degree, a postgraduate diploma or certificate, or co-joint undergraduate degrees. If graduated, this must have been in the last 12 months.
Be studying science, technology, engineering, design or business at a New Zealand tertiary education institute.
Be a New Zealand citizen or resident or hold a relevant visa.
Not have been previously employed at the business.
Not have been previously employed in the industry under a professional arrangement unless temporary (up to 3 months).

NOTE: The deadline for 2017 business applications has passed.

Businesses can apply for R&D Experience Grants from May to June. See key dates below for more information.

Talk to us and we’ll help you through the process. Phone Callaghan Innovation on 0800 4 CALLAGHAN (0800 422 552).

Businesses will advertise their R&D Experience Grant placements from early August. Students can find placements through:

For more information, please read the guides below.

(Please note that these may be subject to change)

Date	What's happening
17 May 2017	Business applications open
15 June 2017	Business applications close
7 August 2017	Business applicants notified of application outcome
1 December 2017	Last date for businesses to recruit a student
31 March 2018	R&D Experience student internships finish