| Legislative： |
1.Promulgated on September 3, 2013.
2.Amended on December 9, 2015.
3.Amended on September 22, 2025.
4.Amended on January 25, 2026. |
| Content： |
1. The Ministry of Agriculture (the “Ministry”) hereby establishes these Guidelines on subsidizing general science and technology projects to accelerate the research, development, and application of agricultural technologies, address industry needs, and enhance industrial competitiveness.
2. The term “general science and technology project” as used in these Guidelines refers to science and technology projects subsidized by the Ministry or its subordinate agency/institution, excluding industry-academia collaboration projects, science and technology projects implemented under the Industrial Innovation Statute, and industry participation projects.
Subsidies for the projects stated in the preceding paragraph shall be funded from the agricultural science and technology research and development budget of the Ministry or its subordinate agency/institution.
3. Subsidies for general science and technology projects shall be available through an open application process. Relevant information shall be publicly posted on the official websites of the Ministry or its subordinate agency/institution, and the selection process shall comply with the principles of fairness, impartiality, and transparency. However, such process shall not apply to cases where the Ministry or its subordinate agency/institution has explicitly identified the subsidy recipients and purposes in its budget and obtained approval from the Legislative Yuan, or where the Ministry or its subordinate agency/institution has granted special approval.
4. Eligible applicants for general science and technology project subsidies are as follows:
(1) Public or private universities and colleges established with the approval of the Ministry of Education.
(2) Public research agencies/institutions.
(3) Non-profit associations or foundations established in accordance with the law and engaged in scientific and technological research and development.
(4) Farmers’ organizations or other non-profit associations established in accordance with the law and engaged in agriculture-related activities.
(5) Agriculture-related international organizations and research or training institutions.
5. An eligible applicant for general science and technology project subsidies shall submit a project proposal to the project sponsor during the application period, in accordance with the policy or research priorities announced by the Ministry or its subordinate agency/institution. Subsidies shall be granted upon approval by the Ministry or its subordinate agency/institution.
If an application under the preceding paragraph involves the following experiments/trials during the planned project period, the applicant shall additionally submit the relevant documents listed below; these documents shall be supplemented before the project proposal is approved if they are not yet available at the time of application:
(1) For experiments involving genetic recombination or infectious biological materials of Class II or higher: Approval documents from the Institutional Biosafety Committee or genetic recombination experiment review panel.
(2) For transgenic field trials: Permission documents from the central competent authority.
(3) For animal experiments: Approval documents from the committee or panel on the care and use of laboratory animals.
(4) Where Taiwanese endemic species are used as experimental materials: Approval documents from the competent authority and relevant proof of legal acquisition.
The budget for the project proposals referred to in Paragraph 1 shall comply with the fund usage and allocation standards specified in the Ministry’s Manual for the Administration of Project Funds.
6. General science and technology projects shall be reviewed by the project sponsor, who shall invite experts and scholars from relevant fields, as well as representatives from the Ministry or its subordinate agency/institution, to serve on the review committee. Reviews may be conducted in writing or via meetings. When necessary, the applicant may be invited to give a presentation.
The review committee referred to in the preceding paragraph shall consist of at least three (3) members, with no less than one-third of the total being external scholars and experts. If reviews are conducted via meetings, the meetings shall be attended by at least half of the committee members, including at least one external scholar or expert.
Articles 32 and 33 of the Administrative Procedure Act shall apply to any recusal of review committee members.
The review under Paragraph 1 shall be conducted based on the following criteria:
(1) Alignment of the project content with the Ministry’s policy priorities or research focus.
(2) Appropriateness of the project objectives.
(3) Feasibility of key work items and implementation methods.
(4) Principal investigator’s research leadership capability, research performance, and project execution ability.
(5) Reasonableness of project budget and personnel allocation.
(6) Practicality of anticipated outcomes.
7. The review and scoring results referred to in the preceding point shall be notified in writing to the applicant entities. Applications with an average score of less than 70 points shall not be ranked; those with an average score of 70 points or above shall be submitted by the project-hosting unit, in order of ranking, to the Ministry or the head of the subordinate agency (institution), or their authorized personnel, for selection on a merit basis.
Applicant entities selected pursuant to the preceding paragraph shall submit a revised project proposal in accordance with the review results. Upon approval by the Ministry or its subordinate agency (institution), and after completing the contract execution procedures in accordance with the Ministry’s template contract for subsidized science and technology projects, the subsidy funds may be disbursed. However, where the applicant entity is an experimental institution subordinate to the Ministry, the contract execution procedures are exempted.
8. Where an application under Point 5 falls under any of the following circumstances, no subsidy shall be granted; where a subsidy has already been approved, such approval shall be revoked or rescinded; and where subsidy funds have already been disbursed, the recipient may be ordered to return all or part of the subsidy:
(1) The application materials contain false or misleading information.
(2) The applicant does not meet the eligibility requirements set forth in Point 4.
(3) The application is not selected pursuant to the review results under the preceding point, or the selected applicant fails to submit the revised project proposal within the deadline specified by the Ministry or its subordinate agency (institution).
(4) The same matter, activity, or project has already been subsidized by the Ministry or its subordinate agency (institution).
(5) The subsidized entity or the project principal investigator has, within five years prior to the application date, committed a material breach of contract and has been notified by the Ministry or its subordinate agency (institution) of ineligibility for subsidies for a specified period, and such period has not yet expired.
(6) The project applied for by the subsidized entity involves animal experimentation, and the most recent inspection and evaluation conducted by the competent authority for the supervision of animal scientific applications has resulted in a poor rating and has not been improved.
9. Subsidies for general science and technology projects shall also by subject to the following requirements:
(1) Expenditure, reimbursement, settlement, spot checks, and property management shall be handled in accordance with the Ministry’s Manual for the Administration of Project Funds.
(2) Ownership, management, and utilization of R&D outcomes and intellectual property rights shall be governed by the Ministry’s Regulations on Scientific and Technological Research and Development Results Ownership and Utilization.
(3) Procurement for project implementation shall comply with the Government Procurement Act; procurement for scientific research shall comply with the Regulations Governing Procurements for Scientific and Technological Research and Development.
(4) If subsidy recipients are international agricultural organizations not established in Taiwan, the application procedures, project review, contract signing, project oversight, performance evaluation, and fund management shall be governed by contracts or memoranda of understanding signed with the Ministry or its subordinate agency/institution, and shall not be subject to the restrictions of these Guidelines. Such contracts or memoranda of understanding shall be approved by the Ministry prior to the signing thereof.
10. If a subsidy recipient under any project fails to submit the required reports as stipulated in the contract, misuses funds for purposes other than those specified for the subsidy, submits false or inflated reports, or violates relevant regulations, the recipient shall not only return the relevant portion of the funds, but may also be disqualified by the Ministry or its subordinate agency/institution from receiving subsidies for a period of one (1) to five (5) years, depending on the severity of the violation. |