BMRC supports and provides funding for research activities that will contribute to the vision of Singapore becoming a premier centre for biomedical research and development.

Our calls for proposals are aligned tightly with Singapore's current and future needs in the biomedical sciences.

Current Calls

1. First SICS Grant Call 2008

2. A*STAR - NKTH Joint Grant Call 2008

3. Joint SBIC - SIgN Grant Call 2008


First SICS Grant Call 2008 

 
Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences
First Extramural Grant Call 
Collaborative Awards in Growth, Development, and Metabolism
 
Overview
The Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS) is developing a program in Growth, Development, and Metabolism (GDM). This program focuses on translational and clinical research relevant to human development. A particular interest of the program is the role of the fetal environment in inducing developmental plasticity, in determining subsequent susceptibility to chronic diseases such as Obesity and Type II Diabetes, and in influencing cognitive development later in life.
 
Translational and clinical research often requires teams of investigators to address research questions in human health and disease. The GDM Program in SICS is seeking collaborators to participate in its comprehensive program. The goal of the program is to engage scientists working in diverse disciplines to join with SICS investigators to develop collaborative research projects that address important questions in human development as related to chronic disease.  A particular focus of the program is on epigenetic mechanisms.   Proposed projects could include any of the following: in vitro laboratory studies, model systems of development and disease including animal models, human physiological studies, and small epidemiology studies.
 
Areas of research deemed responsive to this call for proposals include (but are not limited to) studies in the following areas that are related to human development and chronic diseases:
 
-         Cellular biology and cell signaling relevant to metabolic diseases
-         Adipocyte and skeletal muscle physiology
-         Epigenetic mechanisms operative during development
-         Epigenetics of human metabolic and cardiovascular disease
-         Epigenetics of intermediary metabolism
-         Biomarker discovery
-         Animal models of human development
-         Nutritional influences on development and disease
-         Fetal influences on emotional/cognitive function related to appetite regulation and metabolic function
-         Human physiological studies related to metabolic disease
-         Human physiological studies examining the consequences of fetal environment
-         Studies of the regulation of body composition
-         Studies of the regulation of the relationship between body composition and metabolic physiology
-         Studies of the relationship between maternal state, infant nutrition and later development of obesity and metabolic disease. 
  
Eligibility
All investigators who hold a primary appointment in a Singapore public institution (including restructured hospitals, national centres, research institutes, local universities and A*STAR research institutes) are eligible to apply. These include investigators who have an adjunct appointment with SICS but who hold their primary appointment outside of SICS. There should only be one Principal Investigator (PI) who will be responsible for coordinating any team effort and managing the grant award.
 
In addition, each proposal must identify a SICS investigator as a collaborator and his/her agreement should be obtained for the proposed project prior to submission of the application. Grants will be awarded to the non-SICS PI. 
 
Funding
Each collaborative project will be funded to a maximum of S$750,000 for a maximum period of three (3) years. 
 
Review of Proposals
An international advisory panel will review all proposals that meet the eligibility requirements. 
 
Due Dates
The call for proposals will be issued on 2 October 2008 and the last day for submission of proposals will be 17 November 2008 by 5pm. Results will be announced by 31 March 2009.
 
Preliminary enquiries
No preliminary/outline proposals are required but potential applicants may seek further information or discuss their proposals in advance with Prof Peter Gluckman FRS, GDM Program Director: (pd.gluckman@auckland.ac.nz) and Prof Judith Swain, Executive Director, SICS (Judith_swain@sics.a-star.edu.sg). 
 
Submission of Proposals
Please click here to download the full application form.
 
An original application (hard copy) endorsed by the Host Institution and a soft copy (Word format) must be submitted to SICS through the Host Institution’s research office by 5pm, 17 November 2008.
 
Attention: Ms Evon Ong
Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS)
Brenner Centre for Molecular Medicine
30 Medical Drive
Singapore 117609
Tel: 6407 0100  Fax: 6776 6840
E-mail: sicsgrants@sics.a-star.edu.sg

The 2008 Call for Applications is now closed.

The Singapore Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR) and the Hungary National Office for Research and Technology (NKTH) jointly announce the first call for proposals under the A*STAR – NKTH Master Collaboration Agreement signed on 9 October 2007.

Introduction

The goal of the call for proposals is to promote R&D collaboration between (i) Hungarian-based public and private institutes, and (ii) Singapore public sector research organizations including A*STAR RIs, through joint scientific projects, technology transfer, commercialization of research deliverables, and encouraging training and staff exchange.

A*STAR and NKTH plan to hold 3 joint calls for proposals (one each in 2008, 2009 and 2010), covering fields of mutual interest such as physical sciences, communications, computational science, nanotechnology, energy and new materials, chemistry and pharmacology, biomedical sciences including biotechnology and pharmaceuticals and medical devices and technologies.

Each research team must be made up of at least one Singapore-based researcher and one Hungary-based researcher. The research project, which can last up to 3 years, must be conducted in Singapore and in Hungary. A*STAR will fund the research costs of the Singapore-based researcher, while NKTH funds the research costs of the Hungary-based researcher. The total value of a combined grant award will typically be in the range of S$440,000 to S$1,100,000 (approximately € 200,000 to €500,000).

Application to A*STAR and NKTH will be separate; however, the team of researchers must jointly submit one scientific abstract. An original application (hard copy) endorsed by the Host Institutions and a soft copy (Word format) must be submitted to A*STAR and NKTH through the Host Institution research offices. Queries on the initiative and submission of forms by Singapore-based researchers should be addressed to the following A*STAR email address:

A-STAR_NKTH_Grant_Call@a-star.edu.sg

Joint SBIC - SIgN Grant Call 2008

Introduction

The Singapore Bioimaging Consortium (SBIC) and Singapore Immunology Network (SIgN) are jointly announcing a Grant Call for collaborative research proposals. The theme for the Joint SBIC-SIgN Grant Call is “Imaging Immune System and Infectious Diseases”.

Projects under the grant call could include (but are not limited to):

• In vivo imaging of the immune response in models of infection
• Imaging immunity in physiological and pathological conditions
• Imaging tumor development in vivo
• In vivo imaging of immunity in models of inflammation

Features of the Grant Call

• SBIC is funded by BMRC and SERC, while SIgN is funded by BMRC. Under the joint grant call SBIC and SIgN will each contribute funding to make up a total grant budget of S$4M.
• Average funding per grant is about S$0.5M up to a maximum limit of S$1M.
• Grant Period ­is usually three (3) years contingent upon satisfactory progress as assessed during annual reviews.

Eligibility

The objectives of this grant call are to be achieved through innovative, collaborative, inter- and multi-disciplinary investigations.

Researchers from ALL institutions including restructured hospitals, national centres, research institutes, local universities and A*STAR are eligible to apply for Collaborative Grants.

There shall be only one (1) Network Director for each Collaborative Grant application. In the context of collaborative research the Network Director is a Principal Investigator who co-ordinates team effort and manages the grant award. The research must be conducted in Singapore. There should be at least one (1) PI from the physical sciences and one (1) PI from the biological field. Collaboration between external and A*STAR researchers is strongly encouraged and applications involving such arrangements for collaboration would generally be given preference over those without such efforts. For applications whereby the Network Director is from an A*STAR research institute (RI), justification from the Executive Director of the Institute will be required on why the proposed research could not be covered by the RI’s own budget and what the RI is planning to contribute towards the proposed research.

Inter-institutional collaborations would be preferred over intra-institutional collaborations.

Application

Kindly state as the email subject/on your hardcopy application envelope that you are applying to the “Joint SBIC-SIgN Grant Call”.

PIs of short-listed outline proposals will be informed by mid October 2008 to submit their full proposal. All full proposals will have to reach SBIC by 17 November 2008.

Full applications will be evaluated by an International panel who will also interview the applicants and the outcome will be announced by January 2009.

  The results of BMRC's past calls for proposals can be found here.