STEM Internship Scheme
Objective: The STEM Internship Scheme (“the Scheme”) aims to encourage STEM students to gain innovation and technology (I&T)-related work experience during their studies and to foster their interest in pursuing a career in I&T after graduation, so as to enlarge the local I&T talent pool.
Details:
Internship Placements:
- Internship places can be newly created or belong to existing in-house internship programmes of the companies/organisations. They have to meet the following requirements –
1.local or non-local full-time placements lasting at least 28 calendar days; and
2.offer meaningful I&T-related work (internship places arranged by universities will be subject to the vetting of the respective universities).
The Scheme has adopted a broad definition of I&T under which an internship place will be regarded as I&T-related as long as its actual work contains I&T elements (e.g. technology-related intellectual property work, digital marketing, data analysis for the manufacturing industry, etc.). Participating employers, R&D Centres and HKPC may pay an honorarium during the internship period on top of the allowance under the Scheme. They have full discretion in determining the honorarium level (without affecting the allowance received by the student interns under the Scheme) with reference to their internal policies, industry benchmarks or market rates.
- Allowance and Funding: The student interns will receive the allowance subject to the arrangements of individual participating institutions. The allowance for each student intern under the Scheme is HK$11,490 per month with effect from 1 April 2025, with a cap as prescribed by individual participating institutions, but not more than 90 days in each academic year. ITC will disburse the funding to the participating institutions on a reimbursement basis.
Eligibility:
Participating Institutions: Designated local universities including the campuses they established in the GBA, government-funded R&D Centres and HKPC are eligible to participate in the Scheme. A full list of the participating institutions and their contacts is available under “Enquiry” below. Individual participating institutions may supplement further requirements and make specific arrangements to suit their own circumstances.
Students: Both local and non-local undergraduates and postgraduates majoring in full-time eligible STEM-related programmes offered by the participating universities are eligible. Non-local students are allowed to enrol in internships in Hong Kong only, subject to the conditions of stay of their visa/entry
permit issued by the Immigration Department. For the Scheme operated by R&D Centres and HKPC, undergraduates and postgraduates majoring in full-time eligible STEM programmes in local or non-local universities (including the GBA campuses established by designated local universities) will be eligible. Student interns receiving the allowance under the Scheme cannot concurrently benefit from other internship subsidies provided by the Hong Kong SAR Government (the “HKSAR Government”).
Employers: All companies/organisations are welcomed to offer I&T-related internship places for, and recruit eligible interns to benefit from the Scheme, subject to the arrangements of individual universities. Participating employers may be requested by universities to provide supporting information, documents and proofs as may be considered necessary to substantiate that, among other things, the internship places offered are I&T-related and meaningful, and they are expected to provide proper supervision for the student interns. Participating universities may arrange visits to the workplaces of student interns during the internship to confirm that the internship experience of students is I&T-related and meaningful.
Participating employers may pay the student interns an honorarium on top of the allowance under the Scheme with reference to their internal policies, industry benchmarks or market rates. Companies/organisations should not receive other subsidies from the HKSAR Government for engaging any student interns under the Scheme.