To all relevant units:

To accelerate the implementation of the National Science and Technology Major Project on New Generation Artificial Intelligence (hereinafter referred to as the "Major Project"), and in accordance with the phased implementation plan of the Major Project, the application guidelines for the first batch of projects in 2025 are hereby announced. Please organize the project application work in accordance with the requirements of the guidelines. The relevant matters are notified as follows.

I. Project Organization and Application Process

1. Applicant institutions should submit applications as a whole, based on the research content supported by the guidelines. Each project must cover all assessment indicators of the corresponding guideline direction; each project should have one principal investigator, and each sub-project should have one principal investigator. The project principal investigator may also be the principal investigator of one sub-project. A project may have no more than five sub-projects, and the total number of participating institutions may not exceed ten. The Young Scientist Project does not have sub-projects.

2. Integrate leading innovative teams and actively recruit young and female researchers to participate in project development, focusing on the guidelines' tasks, concentrating resources, and collaborating to tackle key challenges. Encourage capable young and female researchers to lead projects (sub-projects) as project (topic) leaders.

3. The specific workflow for project application and review is as follows:

Project applicants should complete and submit their project application forms through the National Science and Technology Management Information System Public Service Platform (http://service.most.gov.cn, hereinafter referred to as "NSTMS") in accordance with the relevant application requirements of the guidelines. The period from the date of the guidelines' publication to the deadline for submitting project applications should be no less than 30 days.

The lead organization of the project should sign a joint application agreement with all participating organizations, clearly defining the division of tasks, funding allocation, and intellectual property ownership among the organizations. The project (sub-project) leader should sign the joint application agreement, and the signing date should be clearly stated. The lead organization, the sub-project applicants, the project leader, and the sub-project leaders must sign a letter of commitment to integrity and strictly abide by the commitment.The project's lead applicant and all participating units must implement the requirements of the "Several Opinions on Further Strengthening the Construction of Scientific Research Integrity" and the "Opinions on Further Promoting the Spirit of Scientists and Strengthening the Construction of Work Style and Academic Style," strengthen the review and control of application materials, eliminate exaggeration and falsehood, and Strictly prohibit all deceptive practices.

After receiving project applications, the Office of the National Science and Technology Major Project on New Generation Artificial Intelligence (hereinafter referred to as the "Project Office") organizes a formal review and a defense evaluation. Project leaders present their reports and answer questions, and projects are selected for funding based on expert evaluation. After project approval, a dynamic adjustment mechanism is established, and key milestone assessments are conducted in conjunction with process management to determine subsequent support methods based on the assessment results.

II. Recommending Units for the Application

1. Science and technology departments of relevant departments under the State Council;

2. Science and technology departments of provinces, autonomous regions, municipalities directly under the Central Government, cities with independent planning status, and the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps;

3. Industry associations transformed from former industrial departments;

4. Industry technology innovation strategic alliances included in the pilot scope of the Ministry of Science and Technology and evaluated as Category A, as well as industry alliances included in the pilot program for innovation and development of science and technology service industries jointly launched by the Ministry of Science and Technology and the Ministry of Finance;

5. Projects submitted by research institutions in Hong Kong and Macao will be recommended by the Hong Kong Innovation and Technology Commission and the Macao Science and Technology Development Fund, respectively, according to the requirements.

Each recommending institution should make recommendations within its own functions and business scope, and is responsible for the authenticity of the recommended projects.

III. Eligibility Requirements

1. The lead applicant and participating entities should be research institutes, universities, and enterprises registered in mainland China with independent legal person status, or Hong Kong and Macao entities as determined by the Mainland-Hong Kong and Mainland-Macao Science and Technology Cooperation Committees (see Appendix). Registration must be completed before December 31, 2024. They must possess strong scientific research capabilities and conditions, and operate in a standardized manner. Government agencies are not permitted to lead or participate in the application.

1. The project applicant, participating institutions, and project team members must have a good record of integrity, with no record of serious research misconduct or inclusion on any relevant social credit "blacklists" during the penalty enforcement period.

2. The project (topic) leader must hold a senior professional title or a doctoral degree, be born after January 1, 1965, and dedicate no less than 6 months annually to the project. For young scientist projects, the leader should hold a senior professional title or a doctoral degree and be no more than 40 years old (born after January 1, 1985). In principle, other team members should have the same age requirement.

3. The project (topic) leader should, in principle, be the proposer of the main research idea and the actual researcher in charge of the research. Civil servants of central and local government agencies (including other personnel exercising science and technology program management functions) are not eligible to apply for projects (topics).

4. Each project (topic) leader is limited to applying for only one project (topic); leaders of ongoing projects under the National Science and Technology Major Project or the National Key R&D Program are not allowed to lead or participate in project (topic) applications. However, subject-specific project leaders may participate in project (topic) applications provided the application restrictions are met.

Project leaders of ongoing national science and technology major projects and national key research and development programs shall not withdraw from their current projects in order to apply for new projects; after withdrawing from the project research and development team, they shall, in principle, not lead or participate in the application for this major project during the original project capital punishment period.

5. When checking for duplicates between projects under the two key special projects of "Intergovernmental International Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation" and "Strategic Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation", there are no restrictions on the number of projects under the two projects. For projects under the "Intergovernmental International Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation" key special project with a central government special fund budget of no more than 4 million yuan and projects under the "Strategic Science and Technology Innovation Cooperation" key special project with a central government special fund budget of no more than 4 million yuan, there are no restrictions on the number of projects under each major special project. However, project leaders of ongoing projects under major special projects are not allowed to participate in the application of such projects without restrictions.

6. Joint plagiarism checks will be conducted with some projects funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (NSFC). For project (sub-project) leaders of major special projects, joint restrictions on the number of projects will be implemented with NSFC major projects (limited to project leaders and sub-project leaders), basic science center projects (limited to academic leaders and core members), and national major scientific instrument development projects (limited to project leaders of department-recommended projects and major participants with senior professional titles). In principle, the number of projects (sub-projects) that researchers apply for and are currently undertaking at the same time should not exceed two.

7. Ongoing projects (including tasks or sub-projects) with a project capital punishment period (including any extensions) ending on or before December 31, 2025, are not subject to the project restriction.

8. Unless otherwise specified, the National Science and Technology Major Projects referred to in this guide include the Science and Technology Innovation 2030-Major Projects, Major Project Follow-up Projects, and Major Projects geared towards 2035. For specific regulations, please refer to the "Notice from the General Office of the Ministry of Science and Technology, the General Office of the Ministry of Finance, and the Office of the National Natural Science Foundation of China on Further Strengthening the Overall Management of National Science and Technology Program Project Establishment" (Guo Ke Ban Zi [2022] No. 107).

9. Experts who participated in the compilation of the implementation plan, phased implementation plan, or this year's project guidelines for this major special project are not eligible to apply for projects (topics).

10. Foreign scientists and scientists from Hong Kong, Macao, and Taiwan employed by mainland institutions may serve as project (topic) leaders. Full-time employees must provide valid documentation of their full-time employment from their mainland employing institution; part-time employees must provide valid documentation of their employment from both their employing institutions, and these documents should be submitted together with the project application materials.

11. Once a project application is accepted, the applicant organization and project leader cannot be changed in principle.

12. Specific application requirements are detailed in the Project Application Guidelines (Attachment). Where there are special provisions, those provisions shall prevail.

Before formally submitting project applications, applicant organizations can use the National Science and Technology Management System to check the national science and technology project status of relevant researchers to avoid duplicate applications.

IV. Specific Application Method

1. Online Submission. All applicants should submit their applications online through the National Science and Technology Management System as required. The Special Project Office will use the online application as the basis for subsequent formal review, project evaluation, and organizational demonstration. All required supporting documents should be uploaded as electronic scans. The online submission period for project applications is from 10:00 AM on November 7, 2025 to 4:00 PM on November 30, 2025.

2. Organizational Recommendation. Applications must be recommended by relevant organizations. Each recommending organization should strengthen the review and verification of the application materials for the recommended projects, confirm each recommended project through the National Science and Technology Management System by 16:00 on December 7, 2025, and upload an electronic scanned copy of the recommendation letter bearing the official seal of the recommending organization.

Each project can only be submitted through a single recommending organization; multiple or duplicate applications are not allowed.

3. Technical Consultation Telephone and Email: 010-58882999 (trunk line), program@istic.ac.cn

4. Business Consultation Telephone: Special Project Office: 021-23537817, 021-23537831

Attachments:

1. Application Guidelines for the First Batch of Projects of the National Science and Technology Major Project for New Generation Artificial Intelligence in 2025

2. List of Hong Kong and Macao Research Institutions Determined by the Mainland-Hong Kong and Mainland-Macao Science and Technology Cooperation Committees