Experience Grants To Bring In Skilled Students And Help Businesses With R&D

Callaghan Innovation has today launched the 2020 intake for its popular R&D Experience Grants scheme.

The R&D Experience Grant is for a full-time internship during the student summer break, providing students with valuable work experience and helping businesses with their R&D activities.

For each Experience Grant, businesses will receive $8,460 plus GST for 400 hours of full-time work, with public holidays and statutory holidays included within this funding.

“The Experience Grants have been one of our most popular schemes, helping students start their careers and develop technical skills in a professional, commercial R&D environment. They also provide businesses with new expertise, extra skills and fresh ideas on their R&D projects,” says Esther Livingston, General Manager of People and Capability at Callaghan Innovation.

The Grants allow businesses to take on students or recent graduates in science, engineering, technology, business and design.

“The students have enjoyed being part of real R&D work, and businesses have appreciated the ability to bring smart and enthusiastic thinking into their R&D activities. In some cases this has allowed them to progress projects they wouldn’t have otherwise been able to do,” adds Livingston.

Orewa-based SaaS company Vesta has used the Experience Grant to get students to help improve its machine learning capability. Vesta helps online stores automate product data from vendors, which saves time for online businesses by automatically stocking digital shelves.

Tim Harris, Business Development Manager for Vesta, says the students injected great thinking into the business during the summer break.

Businesses can apply for up to 10 students to join their business through the Experience Grants, and applications are open between 17 August to 30 September 2020.

“As businesses respond to COVID-19, we know that high-value R&D activity is important for a sustainable economic recovery. The Experience Grants will help keep Kiwi companies innovating,” Livingston says.

Further information about the scheme is available on the Callaghan Innovation website: https://www.callaghaninnovation.govt.nz/student-grants/rd-experience-grants

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