According to a statement made by Prof. Hasan Mandal, the President of the Scientific and Technological Research Council of Turkey (TÜBİTAK), the support provided to sector players within the scope of the “Industrial R&D Projects Support Program” increased by 40% and 60%.

Sharing his views on the subject with the public, Prof. Mandal said, “The support rates have become 75 percent for SMEs and 60 percent for large-scale companies.” Stating that the Industrial R&D Projects Support Program, which is aimed at encouraging the R&D activities of companies that created added value, was established in 1995 in order to contribute toward enhancing Turkish industry’s ability in this area, Prof. Mandal stated that the R&D projects are supported regarding the production of new products in the private sector, development and improvement of existing products, improvement of product quality and standards, development of new techniques and production technologies enabling cost reduction. He noted that since 1995 to 2010, the Industrial R&D Projects Support Program was carried out by TÜBİTAK and the Undersecretariat of Foreign Trade (DTM) and that  since 2011 it has been continued by TÜBİTAK.  Prof. Mandal said, “A total of 15 thousand 238 project applications have been made so far within the framework of the program. The total amount of support paid to projects has reached 6 billion TL, which constitutes 72 percent of the amount already paid within the scope of technology and innovation support programs.”

“TÜBİTAK will Continue to Support R&D Processes”

Referring to the fact that the implementation principles and procedures of the Industrial R&D Projects Support Program were reevaluated at the Scientific Committee Meeting of TÜBİTAK in line with the views of the stakeholders, Prof. Mandal pointed out that some changes were made in order to contribute to R&D-focused project development processes of the companies. Before such changes, the support rate of 40-60 percent, applied to all institutions without any distinction as SMEs and large-scale organizations, was revised in line with other technology and innovation support programs. Prof Mandal: “The support rates as per such changes were fixed at 75 percent for SMEs and 60 percent for large scale companies. The increase in the support rates of the Industrial R&D Projects Support Program will be effective as of January. TÜBİTAK will continue its initiatives to assess and, where necessary, improve existing processes, taking into account the views of relevant stakeholders for R&D-oriented development.”