Translation

Brought to you by the Ministry of Health of Singapore (MOH) and supported by the National Research Foundation (NRF).

Grant call on Translation

The Grant Call on Translation is the first grant call under the National Innovation Challenge (NIC) on Active and Confident Ageing Phase 2. This grant call, launched under the Healthy and Meaningful Longevity Funding Initiative, aims to support the scale-up of promising research projects in the community that will benefit seniors. The focus is on large-scale test bedding, to:

1. understand application of implementation science approaches (e.g. barriers affecting uptake of the innovation by service providers/seniors, staff training & resourcing required),

2. establish cost-effectiveness, and

3. validate whether the good POC/POV results that have been achieved in earlier phases of research continue to hold when project is scaled. The envisioned outcome is such that at the end of the research grant, researchers will be able to generate sufficient evidence to demonstrate that the solution is effective, cost-efficient, viable, and financially sustainable at scale, and can use their findings to garner support from potential funders to adopt and implement solution more widely (e.g. rolling out as a mainstream service in eldercare settings).

Focus Areas (Proposals submitted must address at least 1 of the 3 focus areas highlighted below)

(i) (Prioritised) Cognition: To implement effective and scalable tools or interventions to detect cognitive decline, preserve cognitive health, or to delay onset of cognitive decline and dementia

(ii) Frailty: To implement of effective and scalable detection tools to identify pre-frailty and frailty, as well as interventions to reverse/delay frailty and improve health outcomes

(iii) Caregiving: To implement effective and scalable solutions or care models to enhance caregiving support and improve productivity of care, as well as to address the multi-factorial needs of caregivers and care recipients

Eligibility Criteria of Lead PI for Translation

A Lead Principal Investigator (PI) can submit only one application. However, he/she may be part of the Project Team of other applications. Applicants applying as Lead PI are required to fulfil the following criteria at the point of application

1. Holds a primary appointment in a local publicly funded institution and salaried by the institution.

2. The Lead PI should have PhD or MD/MBBS/BDS qualifications and/or other appropriate Postgraduate Qualification (at least a Master’s Degree) in areas relevant to the proposal research).

3. Is an independent PI with demonstrated track record of research, as evidenced by the award of nationally competitive funding (international funding to be considered on a case-by-case basis), substantial publication record in the past 3 years, or PI status in research institutes.

4. Has a laboratory or research program in Singapore.

5. Holds a minimum of 9 months employment (per calendar year) with local Singapore Institution(s). Upon award, the PI must agree to fulfil at least 6 months of residency in Singapore for each calendar year over the duration of the grant award.

6. Has no outstanding reports from previous BMRC, NMRC grants and other national grants.

7. For proposals involving patients, the PI should be Singapore Medical Council (SMC) registered; or should be able to demonstrate ability to access patients through SMC registered Co-Is or Collaborators.

Project team composition

Applicants for the Grant Call on Frailty are required to form a Project Team comprising multi-disciplinary (e.g., pairing medical and technology, engineering) and cross-sector expertise that can drive research and implementation. The team should include:

1. At least one healthcare cluster and three community partners in the development and implementation of their project; and.

2. At least one technical partner if their cluster and community partner do not have the relevant expertise (e.g., expertise in the technology solution that the team is planning to provide).
   

A representative from each collaborating Institution, organisation and/or Implementation Partner(s) (consists of healthcare cluster, community and/or technical partner) should be appointed as part of the Project Team as Co-Investigator (Co-I) or Collaborator.

Project teams can engage professional consultancy services* with agencies (e.g. National Health Innovation Centre (NHIC) to provide technical guidance and support for commercialisation of solution, if needed.

* This could include areas like system/platform architecture and integration, technology trends, inter-operability, security requirement, maintenance and hosting, scaling and deployment, developing business model, identification of potential IP

For shortlisted LOIs, project teams will have to seek input from the MOH division(s) assigned by the review panel on the full proposal.

Awards

The funding quantum is capped at $5mil (inclusive of 30% indirect cost) for a period of up to five years.

Singapore-registered public institutions, Institutes of Higher Learning (IHLs) and not-for-profit entities will receive full funding support for approved direct costs. Private entities will receive up to 70% funding support for approved direct costs. Only Singapore-registered Institutions that are IHLs, not-for-profit entities and public healthcare providers, may qualify for support for indirect costs. Support for indirect costs is 30% of the supportable qualifying direct costs.

Important dates to note

The timeline for key activities under the Grant Call on Translation is set out below.

Public briefing

NICPO had conducted a virtual public briefing at the NMRC July 2023 Grant Call Roadshow on Friday, 9 June 2023. Access the briefing slides for more information.

Submission

The RIE2025 Translation grant call is closed.

Contact us

For any enquiries on the Grant Call on Translation or the National Innovation Challenge, please email us at NIC_Ageing@moh.gov.sg.