Jiangsu Provincial Department of Science and Technology is calling for proposals for “2025 Provincial Basic Research Program Project Guidelines 2025年度省基础研究计划项目指南”. You could find the notice attached in this email for details, the notice is issued by Jiangsu Provincial Department of S&T, in Chinese.

What to fund: The application for the 2025 Provincial Basic Research Program will be organized into two categories: Key Basic Research Projects and Natural Science Foundation Projects.

Project Period: The research duration is usually three years.

Key Basic Research Projects:

1. Provincial Funded Projects 省资助项目: Selection of individuals based on research direction and project assignment based on selected individuals. The program aims to identify capable and promising scientists and outstanding research teams to carry out collaborative research on major scientific challenges. Each guideline direction will support no more than three projects, with provincial funding for each project not exceeding 5 million RMB.
2. Provincial-Municipal Jointly Funded Projects 省市联合资助项目: Establish and improve new mechanisms for jointly organizing basic research with local governments, leveraging cross-regional, cross-disciplinary, and cross-industry advantages to conduct innovative research. Funded jointly by the provincial government and relevant municipalities at a 1:1 ratio, each guideline direction will, in principle, support no more than one project, with provincial funding not exceeding 2.5 million RMB per project.
3. Provincial-Enterprise Jointly Funded Projects 省企联合资助项目: Leveraging enterprises’ needs to identify scientific questions from industrial development and production practices, aiming to address common scientific challenges within the industry. The provincial government and enterprises will jointly fund the projects at a 1:3 ratio. In principle, each guideline direction will support no more than one project, with provincial funding not exceeding 5 million RMB per project.
4. Eligibility: The applicant should have a doctoral degree or a full professor 正高级专业技术职务（职称）.

Provincial Natural Science Foundation Projects:

1. Pioneering Projects 攀登项目: Focus on supporting exceptionally talented young individuals with high potential for development, promoting the exploration of cutting-edge scientific issues, proposing new ideas, theories, and methods, and fostering the emergence of new disciplines, fields, and paradigms. The funding for each project from the province will not exceed 3 million RMB.
   • Eligibility: The project applicant should have a doctoral degree or a senior professional technical title (position) 高级专业技术职务（职称）. Had experience of leading a provincial outstanding youth fund project, a national excellent young scientist fund project, or other research projects of equivalent level, and possess the potential to be a leading figure in the relevant academic field. Applicants who have already received funding for national-level projects such as the National Outstanding Young Scientist Fund are not eligible to apply. The applicant’s age should not exceed 45 years (born on or after January 1, 1980), with priority given to applicants under 40 years old.
2. Outstanding Young Scientist Fund Projects 杰出青年基金项目: Aimed at cultivating high-level talents such as recipients of the National Youth Science Fund (Category A), this program supports outstanding young scientific talents within the province to conduct goal-oriented innovative research on major scientific issues, and to develop top-tier scientific leaders and innovation teams. The funding for each project from the province will not exceed 1.8 million RMB.
   • Eligibility: The project applicant should have a doctoral degree or a senior professional technical title (position) 高级专业技术职务（职称）. The applicant should have experience of leading a provincial or higher-level science and technology program. Those who have already received funding for national-level projects such as the National Outstanding Young Scientist Fund, National Excellent Young Scientist Fund, or Provincial Outstanding Young Scientist Fund are not eligible to apply. Male applicants should be no older than 40 years (born on or after January 1, 1985), and female applicants should be no older than 43 years (born on or after January 1, 1982). Priority will be given to applicants under 38 years old.
3. Excellent Young Scientist Fund Projects 优秀青年基金项目: Aimed at cultivating a strong backbone of outstanding researchers, this program supports young talents with a solid research foundation to independently choose topics and conduct innovative research, fostering a group of academic leaders who are expected to advance to the forefront of science and technology. The funding for each project from the province will not exceed 500,000.00 RMB.
   • Eligibility: The project applicant should have a doctoral degree or a senior professional technical title (position) 高级专业技术职务（职称）. The applicant should have experience of leading a National Youth Science Fund project or a Provincial Youth Fund project and successfully completed the project. Those who have already received funding for national-level projects such as the National Outstanding Young Scientist Fund, National Excellent Young Scientist Fund, Provincial Outstanding Young Scientist Fund, or Provincial Excellent Young Scientist Fund are not eligible to apply. Male applicants should be no older than 38 years (born on or after January 1, 1987), and female applicants should be no older than 41 years (born on or after January 1, 1984). Priority will be given to applicants under 35 years old.
4. Young Scientist Fund Projects 青年基金项目: Aimed at building a high-level reserve talent pool for fundamental research, this program supports young talents in the early stages of their research careers to conduct innovative research and helps them develop the ability to independently lead scientific projects. The funding for each project from the province will not exceed 200,000.00 RMB.
   • Eligibility: The project applicant should have a doctoral degree or a senior professional technical title (position) 高级专业技术职务（职称） and should not have experience of leading any provincial or higher-level science and technology program. Male applicants should be no older than 35 years (born on or after January 1, 1990), and female applicants should be no older than 38 years (born on or after January 1, 1987). Priority will be given to applicants under 30 years old.
5. General Projects 面上项目: This program supports researchers engaged in fundamental research to refine scientific questions, explore scientific principles, and encourages original, non-consensus, and interdisciplinary research. The funding for each project from the province will not exceed 150,000 RMB.
   • Eligibility: The project applicant should generally have a doctoral degree or a senior professional technical title (position) 高级专业技术职务（职称）, as well as experience in undertaking fundamental research projects or other related fundamental research work.

Quota Requirements:

Applicants who are currently the project leaders of ongoing provincial science and technology program projects are not eligible to lead the application for this program. A project leader can only apply for one provincial science and technology program project. Projects with the same or similar content cannot be repeatedly submitted for the provincial science and technology program projects.

Application Process:

1. Please send RSO all the applications by Thursday, March 13, 2025. RSO will submit all applications to Kunshan Science and Technology Bureau for reviewing.  
2. After Kunshan Science and Technology Bureau’s reviewing, apply online through https://jsszkj.kxjst.jiangsu.gov.cn/js-home/home. Applicants should submit all documents along with commitment letter in the system.

Language: Chinese

Internal Deadline: 4:00 pm, Thursday, March 13, 2025

If you are interested in applying for this funding opportunity, please send your proposals to RSO by the internal deadline. Shall you encounter any difficulties or have any questions regarding the application process (including the requirements, completing forms, or clarifying any details), please feel free to reach out to Research Support Office Duke Kunshan research-support@dukekunshan.edu.cn. 

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