For fulfilling the reform requirements of the CPC Central Committee, the State Council, and the Provinical Party Committee and Government of Guangdong for intensifying the management of research funding, the Interim Measures of Guangdong Technion Israel Institute of Technology (GTIIT) for Implementation of “Contract System” Funding for Some Research Projects (hereinafter referred to as the “Measures”) are developed based on the Opinions of the General Office of the State Council on Reforming and Improving the Management of Central Government Funding for Research (GBF [2021] No. 32) and the measures for the management of research funding and research fund management practices at provincial and municipal levels in Guangdong.

Article 1     The Measures apply to projects encompassed in the “contract system” pilot projects, which include:

1)      Projects funded by the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars from 2019

2)      Projects funded by the National Science Fund for Young Scholars and Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars from 2021

3)      All projects approved and funded by Guangdong funding projects (including the Guangdong Natural Science Foundation, provincial-municipal joint funds, and provincial-corporation joint funds) in 2022 and thereafter

4)      Other research projects included in the “contract system” scheme as required by documents from superior authorities

Article 2     The principle investigator is required to sign a letter of commitment to confirm to respect the regulations of scientific research, promoting the scientist spirit, observing the research ethics, maintaining academic and research integrity, and earnestly conducting research, using the project funds for the research-related expenditures only, without withholding, misappropriating, or embezzling, or using the funds for expenditures unrelated to research. The PI violates the research integrity commitment will be penalized according to the <Guangdong Research Integrity Management Method (Trial)> and revelent policies for Guangdong grant research project misconduct management method. Project funds shall be subject to the unified management and separate accounting by GTIIT’s Finance Department and allocated based on their respective research projects and purposes. No organization or individual may withhold, appropriate, or embezzle project funds.

Article 3     The project fund will be a fixed lump sum without separated to direct or indirect costs. Project expenditures refer to the spending related to research activities and payments by the project funds during the implementation of projects.

Article 4     Project funds should be used to cover spending on equipment, materials, testing and processing, fuels, business trips/ conference/international collaboration, publication/literature/information dissemination/IP, manpower, expert consultancy, management fee for the host organisation, performance incentive, and other reasonable expenditures for the project.

Article 5     The management fee refers to the management costs and indirect cost cpmpensation incurred by GTIIT when implementing a project, and the management fee is 5% of the total project fund.

Article 6     There is no limit on the proportion and amount of each expenditure except the management fee. The principle investigator has discretion over the use of project funds. The spending on performance incentive is determined by the principle invetigator based on actual research needs and relevant salary ranges, and should not exceed 30% of the total fund in principle, or 60% of the total fund for mathematics and other theoretical basic research. Such spending should be subject to GTIIT’s performance incentive management measures.

Article 7     The use of project funding follows the management of “misconduct list”, and the details as below:

1.    It cannot be expenses not relevant to the project research.

2.    It cannot be fake economic business (i.e. testing, materials, car rental, travel, meals, transportation, printing and etc.), fake contracts, or using fake receipts to take cash out of the funding.

3.    It cannot be vague or fake member list to get labor cost or expert consulting fee.

4.    It cannot be fake collaboration or service to illegally transfer or move funding.

5.    No one can reserve, embezzle, or seize project funding.

6.    It cannot be expenses for personal or family.

7.    It cannot be any kind of fine, donation, sponsor, investment, paying debt, etc.

8.    It cannot be all spent on equipment.

9.    It cannot be for infrastructure.

10.  It cannot be an expenses that violate the national law or regulation, any established scienctific ethics or etc.

Article 8     During the implementation of a project, if an uncontrollable factor leads to an increase in R&D costs, the principle investigator can submit an application to set aside a proportion of the performance incentive for research activities to the Program Head and the Pro Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs for approval.

Article 9     The assets acquired using research funds (including the equipment and materials purchased and home-built equipment) are all state-owned assets, and the spending on and management of such assets shall be subject to GTIIT’s related rules. The state-owned assets (including intellectual property and other intangible assets) shall be used and disposed of in line with related national and university regulations, and the contributions of the individual who produces the results are respected, and GTIIT encourages and supports the protection, application, and commercialization of research results.

Article 10  The principle invetigator shall sort out the accounts and assets promptly and prepare the final settlement of total costs and project completion/research report at the end of a project and submit them to the funding agency after review by GTIIT’s Finance Department and RIGS.

Article 11  The unused fund of the project passed inspection is allowed to be used by GTIIT and shall be handled according to GTIIT’s management measures for unused funds. The unused fund of a project failed the inspection or accepted after rectifications shall be handled as per the funding agency’s rules. If a project is terminated for any reason during its implementation, the unused fund shall be returned to the funding agency as required. If a project is legally canceled for a certain reason, all funds disbursed shall be returned to the funding agency. In exceptional circumstances where returning the funds is impractical, the principle investigator should submit an application to the funding agency for approval after review by the program head and GTIIT.

Article 12  The principle investigator shall archive the documents related to the use of project funding (such as the project proposal, inspection report, notifications, contracts, assets, and other administrative documents, as well as experiment records, test data, conference materials, and other academic materials), and track and archive the research results after the project is completed, as per GTIIT’s measures for the management of research files.

Article 13  Principle investigator who fail to fulfill their research fund management responsibilities or misuse research funds will face such penalties as admonishment talks, circulating notices of criticism, freezing the research funds, suspension or withdrawal of the project, and disqualification from project application within a certain period depending on the severity of the violation. Those who violate the regulations will be punished in accordance with national and GTIIT’s regulations. Those who are suspected of violating the law shall be referred to the competent judiciary authorities for further criminal investigation.

Article 14  The Research Informatics and Graduate Studies Office reserves the right to interpret the Measures.

Please find the Chinese version here.