Governance Framework of Publicly Funded Lab-to-Market R&D Grants

Malaysia continues to face challenges in translating publicly funded research into market-ready innovations, particularly within the Technology Readiness Level (TRL) 4–9 spectrum. Despite substantial public investment in research and development (R&D), many projects fail to progress beyond the prototype stage, resulting in weak commercialisation outcomes and suboptimal returns on public investment. Existing studies have primarily focused on commercialisation barriers, researcher capability, and industry collaboration, with limited attention given to the governance of publicly funded lab-to-market R&D grants. This study aims to develop an integrated governance framework for publicly funded lab-to-market R&D grants. To achieve this aim, this study examines the legal, administrative and financial governance of nine funding schemes from the Ministry of Higher Education (MOHE), the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MOSTI) and the Ministry of Investment, Trade and Industry (MITI) and their agencies. The study conducts doctrinal, policy and comparative analysis to identify governance shortfalls as well as similarities, differences and unique features in the governance of the selected funding schemes. The findings are used to develop an integrated governance framework that aligns governance mechanisms with lab-to-market deliverables and performance indicators, including TRL progression, technology transfer, commercialisation outputs, fund utilisation, compliance, fulfilment of project deliverables, and timely project completion. The proposed framework contributes to innovation governance literature and supports Malaysia’s RDICE agenda by strengthening commercialisation performance and maximising the economic and societal value of publicly funded R&D investments.

Law; Governance; Framework; Lab-to-Market; Publicly Funded Research

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